Max Verstappen said race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase wanted his blessing to move to McLaren before making the decision.
Last week McLaren confirmed Lambiase, currently Red Bull’s head of race engineering, will become the team’s chief racing officer by 2028 at least.
His Red Bull contract runs until the end of 2027.
Lambiase is better known to F1 fans as ‘GP’ based on his long stint as Verstappen’s race engineer and the voice on the other end of the four-time world champions’ radio messages ever since his Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix -- Verstappen has claimed all of his four world championships and 71 F1 race victories since that partnership started.
Speaking at a Viaplay event in Amsterdam this week, Verstappen said he encouraged Lambiase to make the move.
“He told me what kind of offer he received,” Verstappen said. “I said: you would be stupid not to do that. We have already achieved everything together. And 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.”
The timing of Lambiase’s departure was unclear when the news was confirmed last week.
Red Bull’s announcement was he would leave the team in 2028, although senior sources told ESPN McLaren are hoping to negotiate an earlier move.
Lambiase’s imminent exit comes amid growing speculation about Verstappen’s own future in F1.
The Dutchman has grown increasingly exacerbated with Formula 1’s new style of battery-powered racing and has spoken candidly about his mindset shifting towards an early exit from the sport.
While many saw Lambiase’s imminent departure as further reason for him to leave, Verstappen’s father Jos has since downplayed the idea of his son leaving at the end of 2026.
“I think things have changed [since 2021],” he told Racexpress last week. “Especially after four championships, you have achieved a lot together. The last one is up to Max, but I just think he will continue.”
Formula 1’s teams are set to meet with CEO Stefano Domenicali and key figures from the governing FIA to discuss rule tweaks ahead of the Miami Grand Prix on May 3.
F1’s new cars, which feature a near 50-50 split between combustion and electrical power, have been widely panned by current drivers.
Verstappen has labelled the current cars “anti-racing” and compared the new Formula 1 to Mario Kart.
