Red Bull Racing may face a new challenge off the track. The team has been warned about a growing ‘brain drain,’ with the departure of key figures, putting pressure on team principal Laurent Mekies to contain further losses.
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This concern increased after the confirmation that Gianpiero Lambiase (GP) will leave the team by 2028 to take on the role of sporting director at McLaren, where he will work under Andrea Stella’s leadership. The departure is considered significant, especially due to the close relationship between Lambiase and Max Verstappen, of whom ‘GP’ is race engineer.
In recent years, Red Bull has already lost important names such as Rob Marshall, Will Courtenay, Adrian Newey, and Jonathan Wheatley. Additionally, the team also dismissed former principal Christian Horner, and later, the now former team consultant Helmut Marko left the team.
Former Formula 1 driver and current commentator Karun Chandhok believes Red Bull needs to act quickly to avoid further losses. According to him, despite good performance until last year, the team is facing internal changes that could impact its structure.
“At the end of the day, you look at Red Bull last year, they won six of the last nine races,” Chandhok said. He also highlighted that the car evolved a lot and, at several moments, was the fastest on the grid, or at least equivalent to competitors in 2025.
Even so, the commentator believes that success on the track alone is not enough to retain talent: “Clearly, people need more than just success. For some reason, this brain drain is happening and there has been a cultural shift within the organization,” he said.
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Chandhok stated that Mekies and Red Bull management in Austria need to find a solution: “There is a lot of work to understand how we will stop this and make the team attractive again,” he said. For him, Red Bull should seek outstanding professionals, especially from Mercedes, which is currently going through a very competitive phase, unlike Red Bull Racing itself.
The commentator also warned of the risk of further departures after the already announced change of Lambiase: “Good people attract other good people. How long until ‘GP’ starts calling other engineers and inviting them to the Woking team?” he questioned.
Chandhok recalled that this type of movement has happened many times in Formula 1. He cited examples such as Adrian Newey and Ross Brawn, who when changing teams took other professionals with them.
For Chandhok, Red Bull needs to react with a high-profile signing: “They need a big name, not just for the skills, but also for the people that professional can attract,” he added.
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