Red Bull Racing will have an important backstage change, with Max Verstappen getting a new race engineer following the announcement of Gianpiero Lambiase’s departure from the team. Tom Hart was chosen to take on the role, in a move that maintains continuity within the group working with the four-time Formula 1 world champion.
Read more F1: Lawson explains disadvantage after missing update at Racing Bulls
This decision ends Red Bull’s search for a replacement for Lambiase, who will leave the team to take on a position of greater responsibility at McLaren starting from the 2028 season. Hart already has a long-standing connection with Verstappen, having worked as the driver’s performance engineer since January 2020.
According to information released by the newspaper De Telegraaf, Red Bull reached an agreement to release Hart from a previously agreed commitment with Williams. The engineer had agreed to join the British team at the end of 2025, as part of the rebuilding process of the team led by James Vowles.
The agreement was brokered between Laurent Mekies, head of Red Bull, and Vowles, allowing Hart to remain at Red Bull and take on the role of Verstappen’s race engineer. The change keeps close to the Dutch driver a professional who has already been part of the structure responsible for the four consecutive world titles won by Verstappen.
Read more F1: Leclerc says yellow flag contributed to him losing position at Spa
It is not yet defined when Lambiase will officially leave his duties as Verstappen’s race engineer. The professional also holds the position of head of race engineering for Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, and the expectation is that his departure will happen gradually, with less participation in important meetings and in the team’s future plans.
This transition from performance engineer to race engineer is a well-known path in Formula 1. A recent example was Marcus Dudley, who performed a similar role with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes under the leadership of Peter Bonnington, who was the heptachampion’s race engineer at the German team before taking on his own role as George Russell’s race engineer.
With Hart taking over direct communication with Verstappen during races, Red Bull bets on an internal solution to preserve the stability of the operation and maintain the harmony built over the past few years.
Read more F1: Hamilton thanks Ferrari, but says «something was not the same» after crash in TL3
