Big shake-up at Red Bull, Lambiase promoted to head of racing activities
Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen's engineer since 2016, is to be promoted to a more expanded role. A decision that demonstrates Red Bull's desire to reorganize its team in an attempt to find solutions to the problems it faces.
A wind of change is blowing at Red Bull. On the track, the Austrian team is no longer what it used to be and is now just a shadow of itself and has just <a href="/f1/actualite/34765-les-evolutions-classements-apres-lazerbaidjan-mclaren-red-bull-ferrari-dans-mouchoir-poche.html" title="The rankings after Azerbaijan: McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari neck and neck.
Losing the lead in the constructors' championship to McLaren. The consequence of another disappointing Grand Prix this weekend in Baku, marked by a fifth place for Verstappen and a retirement for Sergio Perez while the Mexican was fighting for the podium.
The harmful environment surrounding the team obliges them to react, both on the track, with its recent improvements (modification of its diffuser in Azerbaijan, editor's note), and off the track. The Milton Keynes team unveiled several changes in its track personnel during a briefing this Wednesday morning.
A renewed organizational chart
The most notable change concerns Gianpiero Lambiase. According to Autosport, the Italian, who has been Max Verstappen’s race engineer since the Dutchman joined the team in 2016, will be promoted within the Austrian team. This will be his second promotion, after initially serving as the head of race engineering. He will now be the new head of race operations. This role will give him overall responsibility for the race teams, car construction, and all race-related activities such as strategies. Despite this promotion, Red Bull has confirmed that he will continue to be Max Verstappen’s engineer and will be in charge of overseeing the staff under his supervision.
Among them, we find Stephen Knowles, the senior strategic engineer, who is one of the people accessing a new responsibility. Working under the orders of Lambiase – himself accountable to Pierre Waché, the technical director – the former strategic engineer at Mercedes will become the head of sports regulations. He will be responsible for ensuring that the team complies with the F1’s sporting regulations and will have to report to the FIA. A daunting task due to the numerous existing rules in Formula 1, which can lead to sanctions if not complied with. The latest example, the disqualification of George Russell after his victory in Spa, due to a car below the FIA’s authorized weight.
Another reshuffle concerns Richard Wolverson, currently a senior automotive engineering engineer, whose role is expanding as he becomes the new head of the race team’s operations. He will have to be able to manage all the tasks that take place during a race. Red Bull’s current head of freight operations, Gerrard O’Riley, is becoming the new head of race team support and team logistics.
This decision is important to improve Red Bull’s efficiency in this area, the Austrian team needing to save money in order to develop its car while respecting the budget cap. Finally, chief mechanic Phil Turner has also been promoted, as he becomes the director of the team’s factory operations and reports to Wolverson.
Changes to cope with the departure of many executives.
This deep reshuffling of the team was necessary to compensate for the many important departures it has had to face recently, like Adrian Newey, who Will join Aston Martin next year , and Jonathan Wheatley, former sporting director within the Milton Keynes structure, who has joined the Audi project. Speaking about this reorganization, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner revealed that the team was looking to prepare for the future by surrounding itself with the best possible individuals and entrusting them with positions in which they are highly qualified.
« We are going through a period of important changes and developments at Oracle Red Bull Racing, and in light of the upcoming challenges, we have made the decision to modify the racing team’s structure. These appointments will provide us with greater capability in several crucial areas and, ultimately, I believe it will make the team more competitive. For me, it is particularly rewarding to promote people internally. We have a huge pool of exceptional talents at Oracle Red Bull Racing, and I am thrilled that we can offer them the opportunity to shine in roles that were not available before. It is a step forward for the team as a whole », said the Briton.
With all this renewal, the Austrian team hopes to find a new lease of life to get out of the rough patch they are in, after ceding the lead of the constructors’ championship to McLaren last weekend in Baku.
