As part of an upcoming personnel reorganization, Red Bull has confirmed a number of internal advancements, including GianPiero Lambiase’s elevation to the position of Head of Racing.
In addition to continuing to serve as Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Lambiase, who was previously Head of Race Engineering at the team, will assume a more senior role and assume some of the responsibilities left by departing sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. This comes as other senior Red Bull figures also declare their support for Christian Horner’s team.
Red Bull internally promotes GianPiero Lambiase to a new job.
In addition to his current responsibilities as head of the race engineering team, Red Bull announced that Lambiase will assume overall leadership of the team’s sporting regulations operations and strategy group in addition to leading the company’s race, heritage, and car build teams. Lambiase will report directly to technical director Pierre Waché in his new role.
This promotion also implies that Lambiase will continue to be the voice in Verstappen’s ear on the pit wall, extending a partnership that dates back to his 2016 debut with Red Bull, according to PlanetF1.com, which understands the driver previously committed his future to the team with a new contract before the summer break.
Red Bull has chosen to promote from within as they go forward in the upcoming season, with important figures choosing to take on new challenges starting with the following season. Adrian Newey will be managing technical partner at Aston Martin, and Wheatley will take on his first role as a team principal with Audi.
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When Wheatley’s departure was announced, team principal Horner spoke of the “tremendous strength and depth” inside the Red Bull ranks, and he has done a wonderful job of seizing the “opportunity to elevate others within the team.”
In the most recent reorganization, a number of other senior members of the team, including Lambiase, pledged their futures and received promotions. Senior strategy engineer Steve Knowles assumed the role of Acting Head of Sporting, reporting to Lambiase and concentrating on regulatory affairs.
Rich Wolverson, a senior engineer, has also been elevated to the position of Head of Race Team Operations. He will now oversee the day-to-day management of the race and heritage teams, which are now under Lambiase’s purview, and will report directly to “GP.”
Chief mechanic Phil Turner will be promoted to Race Team Factory Operations Manager, reporting to Wolverson, while head of freight operations Gerrard O’Reilly, who will also answer to Lambiase, has been given a new role as Head of Race Team Support & Logistics.
All of these adjustments will take effect at Red Bull as soon as sporting director Wheatley departs the team on January 1, 2025. He will then go on gardening leave before moving forward with the Sauber-Audi project by July of the following year.
