'Stupid to stand in his way' – Verstappen reacts to Lambiase's McLaren move

Max Verstappen believes trying to stop race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase from joining rival Formula 1 team McLaren in 2028 "would be stupid from my side".

Lambiase – known by many as GP – has worked alongside Verstappen since the Dutchman was promoted to Red Bull from the then-named Toro Rosso outfit in 2016, with the pair enjoying great success together over the last decade.

More recently, Lambiase took on the role of Head of Racing at Red Bull while continuing to race engineer Verstappen, before it was announced earlier this month he would be joining McLaren for 2028 as the Woking-based team's Chief Racing Officer.

Ahead of this weekend's Miami Grand Prix, Verstappen was asked for his thoughts on the news and the prospect of breaking up one of F1's most successful partnerships.

"We had a good chat about that and it would be stupid from my side to try and hold him back when you get an opportunity like that," said Verstappen on Thursday's media day in Miami.

"I was very happy for him. We are still working together this year, next year. Times change in your career and that was a really good opportunity for him so I'm happy for him and as a team, we keep pushing together, keep looking forward. In the interests of the team for the future we are trying to find the best people to replace him."

During their time working together, Verstappen has amassed four Drivers' Championship titles and currently 71 F1 victories, with their partnership also helping Red Bull to the Teams' title twice.

Verstappen stated that it would be difficult to replace Lambiase, with the pair having a unique relationship among drivers and race engineers.

"The general understanding that we have with each other and the chemistry works really well," added Verstappen.

"That's very rare I think in racing. You don't see that often, a driver and engineer that gel that well together. That's of course something I'll have to try and find again. It's not that easy but sometimes that happens."