Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard believes Red Bull will inevitably be forced to place Max Verstappen’s departing race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on gardening leave to protect highly sensitive future car developments.
Lambiase, affectionately known as GP, has signed to join McLaren in 2028 as chief racing officer. While the move will come when his current contract with Red Bull expires, Coulthard questioned why the Milton Keynes outfit would keep Lambiase in his role through 2027.
“He’s still got a contract with Red Bull. We expect him to still continue in that contract,” Coulthard said on the Up To Speed podcast. “But of course, one of the tricky moments for Red Bull is, he can’t walk out of the factory with a laptop with all the data at the end of the year, but what’s in your mind, you’re allowed to take with you.
“So, there’ll be a point where they’re going to want to say, ‘Look, you can’t really be working on this car, or you certainly can’t be across any of the discussions about developments going into 2027 and beyond.’ So, that becomes an awkward scenario.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, David Coulthard
Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
Drawing on his own experience when he was leaving Williams for McLaren at the end of 1995, the Scotsman added: “And I’ve been there as a driver. At the end of 1995, I’d already signed to join McLaren, and you still go about the race weekend in a normal fashion.
“But I wasn’t allowed to go into certain areas in the factory when I went to Williams, understandably so, because I’m moving to another team. So it just starts to erode the relationship and make it a little bit of a compromise.
“So what McLaren, I’m sure, would be hoping is that Red Bull would release GP early from his contract, release the obligation to pay his salary and allow him to join McLaren early. But on the other side, why would they want to do anything that gives your competitors an advantage?”
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