Guenther Steiner says Gianpiero Lambiase had to leave Red Bull while his ‘value’ was still high

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Former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner has claimed that Gianpiero Lambiase had to leave Red Bull while his ‘value’ was still high. 

Earlier in the month, the Formula 1 world was stunned by the confirmation that Lambiase had agreed to leave Red Bull for McLaren in 2028.

The 45-year-old, who has worked as Max Verstappen’s race engineer, is set to become McLaren’s Chief Racing Officer.

Over the years, Lambiase became one of the key figures in Red Bull as he played a major role in helping Verstappen win four consecutive world titles. 

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Guenther Steiner claims Gianpiero Lambiase is leaving Red Bull while his ‘value’ is high

Speaking recently on The Red Flags podcast, ex-Haas team principal Steiner claimed that Lambiase had to leave Red Bull while his value is still high. 

The 61-year-old said that if Lambiase had stayed longer and Red Bull continued to decline, the opportunities may not be there for him. 

Steiner explained: “I think if you see a lot of these F1 teams, you know, it’s cyclical. They have a lot of success, but the success goes away. Adrian leaves, and other people leave.

“And they say, hey, in the moment we are still doing good. Now is the opportunity to go somewhere else which will be, which seems to be doing good for the future.

“Let’s go there when my value is high. When I can ask money, when I can ask position. If I stay with Red Bull and they keep on declining, in two years, maybe nobody wants me, and I’m forced to stay here.” 

He added: “The opportunities come along when you are successful, not when you are not successful, you know. So, I think it’s just happening all the time, and Red Bull will go back and restructure themselves again. 

“They will start to poach from other teams again and build themselves up again. It goes around in a circle, but I think it started last year when Adrian left, then Jonathan left and then Christian, all that stuff and people just follow things like this.”

READ MORE: Ferrari tried to sign Gianpiero Lambiase two years ago but hit F1 cost cap obstacle

Zak Brown labels Andrea Stella exit rumours as ‘nonsense’

After the confirmation of the Lambiase deal, doubts were raised about current McLaren team principal Andrea Stella’s future.

Reports were linking Lambiase as Stella’s replacement, with the Italian linked with a return to Ferrari.

However, speaking recently to Sky Sports, McLaren CEO Zak Brown rubbished those rumours. 

He said: “Can I confirm that’s total nonsense? I can confirm that’s total nonsense. A team or two stirring it to… 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 McLaren, to Andrea. Couldn’t be happier. Andrea, at the end of the day, is the one who hired GP.”