It is difficult to see Lambiase\u2019s departure \u2013 albeit it will not happen for a while yet \u2013 doing anything other than hastening a split between Verstappen and Red Bull.<\/p>\n
Verstappen has been talking about taking time out from F1, slamming the new regulations weekly. He could do so as soon as next year. Although Verstappen is in theory contracted to Red Bull until the end of 2028, in practice he can leave if Red Bull are not competitive enough.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the Dutch driver was able to trigger an exit if he was outside the top three in the drivers\u2019 championship by the summer break. This time, it is understood he can leave if he is placed third or lower.<\/p>\n
He could leave the sport altogether, presumably to drive Grand Tourer cars and compete in Le Mans and whatever else he fancies. If he doesn\u2019t step away, he is almost certain to join another, more competitive team. Mercedes have long been circling and will doubtless keep trying. But it could be anyone. Perhaps even McLaren, now that Lambiase is headed that way?<\/p>\n
One thing is clear: it is another big blow for Red Bull, who find themselves in a tough spot less than a year after ousting Horner.<\/p>\n
Lambiase has been a central figure in Verstappen\u2019s success, working alongside the Dutchman since his promotion to Red Bull\u2019s senior team from Toro Rosso in 2016. The two enjoy a famously close relationship \u2013 almost like an old married couple in the way they bicker over the radio.<\/p>\n
At the end of last season, after losing out to Lando Norris by just two points in the title race, Lambiase was the first to console his driver: \u201cMax, you have given everything \u2013 you can be proud of that, mate. Hold your head up high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen, knowing the emotional journey his friend had been on last year, with his wife battling breast cancer, paid fulsome tribute in return.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, he is my race engineer, but I see him as my friend,\u201d he told the media later. \u201cWe have lived through so many emotional things together and fantastic achievements. I\u2019m sure he was a bit emotional after the flag. So, I\u2019m really looking forward to leaving here and catching up with him because it\u2019s not been easy at times for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just very proud to be able to work with someone that good. A proper example of someone that never gave up this season, even through the difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is difficult to see Lambiase\u2019s departure \u2013 albeit it will not happen for a while yet \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3515,194139,3516,194138,111,139,69,11107,2022,213,1177,162728],"class_list":{"0":"post-371278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-formula-1","9":"tag-formula-1-grand-prix","10":"tag-max-verstappen","11":"tag-mclaren-f1-racing","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-red-bull-racing","16":"tag-sport","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-standard","19":"tag-us-content"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}