Red Bull chooses Max Verstappen’s new F1 race engineer to succeed Gianpiero Lambiase

Red Bull has chosen who will replace Gianpiero Lambiase as Max Verstappen’s next F1 race engineer. 

Tom Hart will step into the hot seat when Lambiase leaves for McLaren to become the next voice in four-time world champion Verstappen’s ear, according to a Dutch publication De Telegraaf. 

A report by respected Dutch journalist Erik van Haren, who is a credible source when it comes to all things Verstappen, claims that Red Bull has reached a deal with Hart to takeover from Lambiase. 

Hart, who has been Verstappen’s performance engineer since 2020, was set to leave Red Bull in order to join Williams. 

But he will now stay with Red Bull after all following a dramatic U-turn, with Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies and Williams counterpart James Vowles reaching an agreement to resolve the matter. 

Hart would not be the first performance engineer to end up being promoted into the role as race engineer. 

Marcus Dudley previously acted as Lewis Hamilton’s performance engineer at Mercedes before he was appointed to become George Russell’s race engineer in 2023. 

Lambiase, who has been Verstappen’s race engineer for the past decade, has agreed to join McLaren and become the team’s chief racing officer from 2028. 

Verstappen’s own future remains up in the air amid rumours he could follow Lambiase to McLaren.

Despite being contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028, Verstappen has a performance clause in his current deal that would enable him to leave at the end of the year if he so wished. 

Verstappen has refused to engage with the rampant speculation surrounding his future, but manager Raymond Vermeulen recently revealed the 28-year-old’s intention is to see out the rest of his Red Bull contract. 

Even if Verstappen were to leave, Hart would take up the position of race engineer at Red Bull. 

"We had a good chat about that and it would be stupid from my side to try and hold him back when you get an opportunity like that," Verstappen said of Lambiase’s move to McLaren back at the Miami Grand Prix. 

"I was very happy for him. We are still working together this year, next year. Times change in your career and that was a really good opportunity for him so I'm happy for him and as a team, we keep pushing together, keep looking forward. In the interests of the team for the future we are trying to find the best people to replace him."