Red Bull has moved to fill one of the most sensitive roles in its organisation, announcing the signing of a senior Aston Martin engineering figure to replace Gianpiero Lambiase — the race engineer whose radio partnership with Max Verstappen became one of the sport’s defining double acts.
The appointment of Bradley McCullough as head of racing continues a busy period of restructuring under team principal Laurent Mekies, whose rebuild of Red Bull’s technical organisation has been conducted with unusual calm by the standards of that team’s recent history. Verstappen, who recently extended his stay, has repeatedly credited the improved atmosphere — though replacing the voice in his ear is as delicate as personnel decisions get in F1.
Meanwhile, Red Bull confirmed that Isack Hadjar will miss the Italian Grand Prix as he continues to recover from injury, with pain from the existing problem persisting longer than hoped. Liam Lawson keeps the seat for Monza as a result — an extended audition that neither driver would have chosen, but one that gives Lawson consecutive weekends to make his case in machinery he describes as living on a “knife-edge”.
Verstappen will also sit out Friday’s opening practice session at Monza, handing his car over as part of the mandated rookie running teams must accommodate across the season.
The moves land against a backdrop of continued churn at the top of the sport: Cadillac’s abrupt removal of its team boss last week left Valtteri Bottas publicly recommitting to the American project, while Alpine confirmed a practice substitution for Pierre Gasly as it manages its own programme. The silly season, traditionally a driver-market phenomenon, has become a management one.
The Lambiase question
Replacing a race engineer is normally a footnote. This one isn’t, because the Verstappen-Lambiase partnership was load-bearing in ways that went beyond the radio: Lambiase was one of very few people whose criticism Verstappen visibly accepted mid-race, and their combative shorthand — often mistaken for friction by broadcast audiences — was actually the sound of total mutual trust. Institutional knowledge like that does not transfer with a job title.
McCullough arrives with a strong reputation from Aston Martin’s growth years and, crucially, no history in Red Bull’s internal politics — which after the past two seasons may be his most valuable qualification. The early measure of success will be mundane: clean weekends, tidy strategy execution, no radio blow-ups. The real measure comes the first time a race is won or lost on a marginal call, and the paddock hears how the new voice in Verstappen’s ear handles the answer.
Reporting sources: RacingNews365, Autosport, BBC Sport
