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McLaren addresses “total nonsense” Gianpiero Lambiase F1 team boss rumours
Zak Brown rubbishes “total nonsense” claims about Gianpiero Lambiase replacing Andrea Stella.
Zak Brown has branded claims that Gianpiero Lambiase could replace Andrea Stella as McLaren’s Formula 1 team principal “total nonsense”.
During F1’s enforced break, McLaren announced that Lambiase would be joining the team as chief racing officer once his Red Bull contract ends at the end of 2027.
This led to speculation that Lambiase was being lined up as a potential successor to current McLaren boss Stella, with some media outlets even going as far as to claim that the Italian has a pre-contract agreement with Ferrari.
But the rumours have been rubbished by McLaren Racing CEO Brown, who has made it clear that Lambiase will work with Stella and allow him more freedom to focus on the leadership aspects of his role.
Brown suspects rival teams have been “stirring” the speculation in an attempt to try and “destabilise” McLaren.
“I can confirm that’s total nonsense, a team or two stirring it,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.
“A great part of our sport is everyone likes to maybe destabilise teams but that doesn’t work here.
“Andrea is very committed to McLaren, we’re very committed to Andrea and couldn’t be happier and you are going to see him in a McLaren outfit for quite some time.”
Brown added there’s “zero chance” that Stella will leave his role and hand over the reins to Lambiase, insisting: “Andrea at the end of the day is the one who hired GP.”
Asked if there is a chance Lambiase could join McLaren early, Brown replied: “There’s always a chance, but he has a contract and we’re going to respect that.
“Obviously in conversations with Red Bull, they obviously need to I presume have a solution and then once and if that’s in place, open to have a dialogue.
“But we’re prepared to wait to ’28 and that’s what we’ll do if that’s what ends up happening.”
Brown also shut down the possibility of McLaren signing Max Verstappen to reunite with his long-serving Red Bull race engineer.
“From McLaren’s point of view, I couldn’t be happier with Lando and Oscar,” Brown stressed.
“We have long-term agreements with them, and I think it’s the greatest driver pairing on and off the track, so we have no intention of replacing any of our two superstars. Obviously if one were to go away, yeah, Max is a huge talent but I’m not anticipating that.
“Where might he go? If I had to bet, I’d say to Mercedes.”
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Zak Brown rubbishes “total nonsense” claims about Gianpiero Lambiase replacing Andrea Stella.
Zak Brown has branded claims that Gianpiero Lambiase could replace Andrea Stella as McLaren’s Formula 1 team principal “total nonsense”.
During F1’s enforced break, McLaren announced that Lambiase would be joining the team as chief racing officer once his Red Bull contract ends at the end of 2027.
This led to speculation that Lambiase was being lined up as a potential successor to current McLaren boss Stella, with some media outlets even going as far as to claim that the Italian has a pre-contract agreement with Ferrari.
But the rumours have been rubbished by McLaren Racing CEO Brown, who has made it clear that Lambiase will work with Stella and allow him more freedom to focus on the leadership aspects of his role.
Brown suspects rival teams have been “stirring” the speculation in an attempt to try and “destabilise” McLaren.
“I can confirm that’s total nonsense, a team or two stirring it,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.
“A great part of our sport is everyone likes to maybe destabilise teams but that doesn’t work here.
“Andrea is very committed to McLaren, we’re very committed to Andrea and couldn’t be happier and you are going to see him in a McLaren outfit for quite some time.”
Brown added there’s “zero chance” that Stella will leave his role and hand over the reins to Lambiase, insisting: “Andrea at the end of the day is the one who hired GP.”
Asked if there is a chance Lambiase could join McLaren early, Brown replied: “There’s always a chance, but he has a contract and we’re going to respect that.
“Obviously in conversations with Red Bull, they obviously need to I presume have a solution and then once and if that’s in place, open to have a dialogue.
“But we’re prepared to wait to ’28 and that’s what we’ll do if that’s what ends up happening.”
Brown also shut down the possibility of McLaren signing Max Verstappen to reunite with his long-serving Red Bull race engineer.
“From McLaren’s point of view, I couldn’t be happier with Lando and Oscar,” Brown stressed.
“We have long-term agreements with them, and I think it’s the greatest driver pairing on and off the track, so we have no intention of replacing any of our two superstars. Obviously if one were to go away, yeah, Max is a huge talent but I’m not anticipating that.
“Where might he go? If I had to bet, I’d say to Mercedes.”
Zak Brown has branded claims that Gianpiero Lambiase could replace Andrea Stella as McLaren’s Formula 1 team principal “total nonsense”.
During F1’s enforced break, McLaren announced that Lambiase would be joining the team as chief racing officer once his Red Bull contract ends at the end of 2027.
This led to speculation that Lambiase was being lined up as a potential successor to current McLaren boss Stella, with some media outlets even going as far as to claim that the Italian has a pre-contract agreement with Ferrari.
But the rumours have been rubbished by McLaren Racing CEO Brown, who has made it clear that Lambiase will work with Stella and allow him more freedom to focus on the leadership aspects of his role.
Brown suspects rival teams have been “stirring” the speculation in an attempt to try and “destabilise” McLaren.
“I can confirm that’s total nonsense, a team or two stirring it,” Brown told Sky Sports F1.
“A great part of our sport is everyone likes to maybe destabilise teams but that doesn’t work here.
“Andrea is very committed to McLaren, we’re very committed to Andrea and couldn’t be happier and you are going to see him in a McLaren outfit for quite some time.”
Brown added there’s “zero chance” that Stella will leave his role and hand over the reins to Lambiase, insisting: “Andrea at the end of the day is the one who hired GP.”
Asked if there is a chance Lambiase could join McLaren early, Brown replied: “There’s always a chance, but he has a contract and we’re going to respect that.
“Obviously in conversations with Red Bull, they obviously need to I presume have a solution and then once and if that’s in place, open to have a dialogue.
“But we’re prepared to wait to ’28 and that’s what we’ll do if that’s what ends up happening.”
Brown also shut down the possibility of McLaren signing Max Verstappen to reunite with his long-serving Red Bull race engineer.
“From McLaren’s point of view, I couldn’t be happier with Lando and Oscar,” Brown stressed.
“We have long-term agreements with them, and I think it’s the greatest driver pairing on and off the track, so we have no intention of replacing any of our two superstars. Obviously if one were to go away, yeah, Max is a huge talent but I’m not anticipating that.
“Where might he go? If I had to bet, I’d say to Mercedes.”
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