Albers slams McLaren: 'Zak Brown is digging his own grave with the Lambiase saga'

The situation stems from a notable moment in Miami, when Laurent Mekies spoke about Lambiase’s eventual departure from Red Bull. Mekies suggested he understood the move, given that the Briton was expected to become team principal at McLaren. That comment reportedly did not go down well with Zak Brown, prompting the McLaren CEO to raise the issue directly with the Red Bull team boss.

Brown is said to have made clear in that conversation that McLaren is fully committed to Andrea Stella, insisting the Italian is not going anywhere. However, it remains something of an open secret within the paddock that Lambiase has been promised a future role as McLaren team principal at some stage.

“But I don’t think it’s correct,” Albers responded to Zak Brown’s frustration. “Let’s be very honest, Zak is handling this the wrong way. Because look, you know of course that you’re making an offer and you know that Red Bull would always match this in terms of salary. Only they can naturally match the position that another team can promise, because Laurent already has that.”

Albers is also convinced that Lambiase will eventually become McLaren’s team principal. "I would have simply written the press release differently: ‘He’s coming to us, he’ll get the same job he has at Red Bull, but there is the prospect of a top position, in time for example the Team Principal role. Why don’t you write that down?’”

According to the former Formula 1 driver, Brown is handling this completely the wrong way. “Sorry, he’s digging his own grave here, because at a certain point if you’re poaching people—because that’s what it is—then you also have to make sure you can communicate at a perfect level. Otherwise, at some point the legs of your chair will be sawn out from under you,” Albers concluded.

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