‘Stirring it’: McLaren slams ‘poisoned’ rumours after signing key Verstappen ally

McLaren has denied reports that team principal Andrea Stella could be bound for Ferrari in 2028 despite signing of Max Verstappen’s race engineer to the senior role of chief racing officer.

Gianpiero Lambiase, who also holds the role of head of racing at Red Bull Racing alongside his duties with Verstappen, will join McLaren in or before 2028.

The story was broken by Dutch newspaper De Limburger, which further reported that Lambiase’s arrival would coincide with Stella being out of contract with the reigning constructors champion and that the Italian had already signed a precontract to return to Ferrari, where he would be line to replace Frédéric Vasseur as team principal.

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McLaren, however, has strenuously denied that Lambiase is part of an explicit succession plan, with CEO Zak Brown telling Sky Sports that the rumour was planted by rivals in a bid to unsettle his team.

“I can confirm that’s total nonsense, and a team or two [is] stirring it,” he said. “A great part of our sport is everyone likes to destabilise teams, but that doesn’t work here.

“Andrea is very committed to McLaren. We’re very committed to Andrea [and] couldn’t be happier.

“Andrea at the end of the day is the one who hired GP [Lambiase].”

Stella, via a statement on the McLaren website, also denied reports that he had been lured back to Maranello on a big-bucks contract.

“Some of the recent rumours, including those regarding astronomical salaries and mythical precontracts, have made me smile,” he said. “It almost seems as though the ‘silly season’, which usually begins before summer, has arrived early.

“I’m quite used to this sort of thing by now and I take with a smile.

“It almost looks as if some envious pastry chef has tried to spoil the preparation of a good dessert at the McLaren patisserie.

“However, we do know very well how to distinguish the good ingredients from the poisoned biscuits.”

His “poisoned biscuits” line is a clear reference to Red Bull Racing. McLaren used the phrase to describe what it said were cultural problems at Red Bull Racing during the 2024 season, presumably pinning blame for the rumours on the Austrian-owned team.

Rather than moving to Woking as a potential Stella replacement, Lambiase will work to support the team principal, whose remit has grown since taking the reins ahead of the 2023 season.

Stella’s role encompasses both the traditional team principal position as well as the de facto roles of technical director and racing director.

The Italian boss said the accumulation of responsibilities had been deliberate but that the time was right to add depth to the hierarchy.

“Zak and I have built a flat team structure, in which it is essential to ensure all leaders are properly empowered,” he said. “But at the same time we must guarantee there is always the necessary level of long-term support.

“The role of team principal has also become more complex.

“Today’s Formula 1 is very different from when I started my career, over 20 years ago. The size of a top team has more than doubled; just consider that our workforce has grown by over 20 per cent in numerical terms over the last three years.

“It goes without saying that, with this approach, the dual role I currently hold could not be sustainable in the long run.

“Gianpiero’s arrival is the classic icing on a cake that already has all the right ingredients in the first place.”

VERSTAPPEN’S FUTURE UNCLEAR

The loss of Lambiase is a considerable blow to Red Bull Racing as the latest in a growing line of senior staff to depart the team as it slips down the competitive order.

In recent seasons Milton Keynes has lost chief designed Rob Marshall (McLaren), chief mechanic Lee Stevenson (Audi), chief technical officer Adrian Newey (Aston Martin), sporting director Jonathan Wheatley (Audi, since resigned), head of strategy Will Courtenay (McLaren), team principal Christian Horner (dismissed), motorsport adviser Helmut Marko (retired).

McLaren made specific mention of the growing number of ex-Red Bull Racing staff on its books in the press release announcing Lambiase’s arrival.

Other personnel with less public and senior positions have also departed the team during the same period.

Lambiase’s exit — officially at the end of 2027 but likely earlier following negotiations between the two teams — comes at an uncomfortable time for Red Bull Racing as it seeks to keep Verstappen engaged in the sport beyond the end of the season.

Verstappen raised the prospect of an early retirement following the Japanese Grand Prix owing to his deep dislike of the new engine formula. The rules will be in place until the end of 2030. Further regulations changes on top of the tweaks made this month are likely, but the engine architecture is fixed for five years.

Lambiase has been Verstappen’s race engineer since he joined Red Bull Racing early in the 2016 season, and the two share a tight bond, as attested to by the fact he has remained with the Dutchman on the pit wall despite taking on the hefty role of head of racing in 2024.

Verstappen went so far as to say in a 2021 interview that Lambiase would be the only race engineer he worked with and that “as soon as he stops, I stop too”.

However, his father, Jos Verstappen, has played down the chances of his son quitting the sport at the end of the year.

“I think things have changed [since 2021],” he told Racexpress. “Especially after four championships, you have achieved a lot together.

“The last one is up to Max, but I just think he will continue.”

Verstappen has since revealed that Lambiase consulted him on the decision and that he encouraged his long-time ally to take the opportunity.

“He told me what kind of offer he received,” Verstappen told Viaplay. “I said, ‘You would be stupid not to do that. We have already achieved everything together’.

“Then he gets such a great offer, also with his family in mind and the security it would give him.

“He asked me for a sort of permission, and I said that he absolutely had to do it. He really wanted to hear that from me.”

Verstappen has said that Formula 1 knows what changes need to be made to the rules to keep him interested, with the four-time champion saying refinements made for 2027 would be key to his commitment.

The sport has made some changes to the regulations in time for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, but more significant changes to the ratio of combustion and electrical energy appear likely for next season.