Laurent Mekies has confirmed he held direct discussions with Zak Brown following conflicting public statements regarding Gianpiero Lambiase’s future role at McLaren.
The issue arose after the Red Bull Racing team principal suggested Lambiase would take on a role similar to his current position, contradicting McLaren’s official structure which lists him as Chief Racing Officer. Brown responded by reaffirming that team leadership remains under Andrea Stella.
From an operational standpoint, the Chief Racing Officer role carries broader strategic responsibilities compared to a traditional race engineer, including cross-department performance coordination and high-level race decision-making. This distinction is key to understanding McLaren’s evolving technical structure.
Mekies stressed that direct communication was necessary to avoid escalation in the media and to maintain professional relationships within the tightly connected Formula 1 paddock.
“We speak quite often, and none of us wanted this to turn into a back-and-forth in the media. We had a good discussion and moved on,” Mekies stated.
Lambiase’s departure forms part of a wider trend of key personnel exits from Red Bull in recent seasons. Known as ‘GP’, he has played a crucial role in technical communication with Max Verstappen, particularly in real-time strategic decisions during races.
In response, Mekies outlined Red Bull’s long-term approach focused on internal development and targeted recruitment. He highlighted the team’s technical structure led by Ben Hodgkinson on power units and Pierre Wache on chassis as the backbone of its current strength.
By combining internal promotion with selective external hiring, Red Bull aims to sustain competitiveness amid personnel changes. This strategy will be critical as the team prepares for upcoming regulatory phases and seeks to maintain performance stability across the remainder of the season.
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