Red Bull boss puts an end to Lambiase saga and McLaren future talk

Ahead of the weekend, the Frenchman’s comments about Max Verstappen’s race engineer had caused a stir after he claimed that ‘GP’ is “going to be a team principal at McLaren”.

That naturally prompted a response from the McLaren CEO, who was keen to reiterate the team’s full commitment to continuing with Andrea Stella, before jokingly adding: “He knows something I don't, apparently.”

Speaking to GPblog after the Miami Grand Prix, Mekies explained that he and Brown speak regularly and had no intention of turning the situation into a back-and-forth, adding that the two had discussed the matter and quickly moved on: We talk very often with Zak and with my other colleagues. Certainly none of us wanted to go into a ping-pong about it, and we had a good chat about it, like we always do, and we move on.

After spinning on the opening lap and diving into the pits under the early Safety Car, Verstappen paid the price later in the race with significant tyre degradation. Even so, the Dutchman remained firmly in contention throughout the Grand Prix and at one stage even led the race before eventually being overhauled by Antonelli and Norris, who went on to fight for victory until the very end.

Antonelli made relatively quick work of passing the Red Bull driver, while Norris found himself stuck behind for several laps in a far more intense battle that cost him crucial time in the fight at the front. Speaking in the cooldown room after the race, Norris appeared unimpressed with Verstappen’s approach, suggesting the aggressive defence ended up damaging both of their races, while also implying the Dutchman had compromised his own result in the process.