Ted Kravitz says McLaren realised they needed Gianpiero Lambiase after costing Oscar Piastri a win

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McLaren are hoping that signing Gianpiero Lambiase will give them the ‘racing smarts’ they are currently lacking, Ted Kravitz says.

McLaren have won the last two constructors’ world championships, as well as the 2025 drivers’ title with Lando Norris. But Max Verstappen’s comeback, which ultimately saw him finish just two points behind Norris, arguably highlights a problem with in-race execution.

For most of last season, McLaren appeared to have comfortably the fastest car, and even Verstappen said he would have won the championship much earlier if he had swapped machinery with his competitors.

Ted Kravitz: McLaren’s Qatar GP blunder highlighted need for Gianpiero Lambiase

McLaren made some major blunders during the 2025 run-in, most notably in Las Vegas and Qatar.

First, both cars were thrown out of the Vegas GP after recording excessive plank wear. Then, a week later, they elected not to pit either car during an early safety-car period.

Piastri was leading Norris in a one-two at the time but, after the rest of the field filtered into the pits, they finished second and fourth respectively.

Kravitz suspects that Lambiase, who has helped Verstappen win four world championships, may have prevented those blunders.

Speaking on Ted’s Notebook, he said: “What they’re looking for from GP is the kind of racing smarts he was always good at at Red Bull Racing, maybe making up for some of the issues that they would have had, like not pitting under the safety car in Qatar last year, like running the floor a bit too nervous and getting disqualified in Las Vegas.

“It’s all that kind of thing. McLaren know they have a little bit of a deficit.

“Watch the Drive to Survive episode from Qatar. I thought there was a crucial moment where Zak Brown says to Andrea Stella, ‘Have we made a mistake here?’

“I just wondered, there was a pit wall shot, and I could imagine GP being around there and taking that responsibility or Andrea Stella can delegate that.”

How the Gianpiero Lambiase move caused tension between McLaren and Red Bull

McLaren confirmed in April that Lambiase would be joining them ‘no later’ than 2028, when his Red Bull contract expires.

Red Bull insist Lambiase will honour his deal rather than making an earlier move. Teams often negotiate an early departure in such circumstances, recognising that it tends to benefit both parties.

In Miami, Red Bull said Lambiase would become McLaren’s team principal, much to the surprise of the Woking outfit, who have strongly denied that Andrea Stella will move on. Their statement says he will become the chief racing officer, effectively Stella’s number two.

Red Bull were unhappy with McLaren’s statement, which proudly mentioned their other acquisitions from Milton Keynes – aerodynamicist Rob Marshall and strategist Will Courtenay.

With both parties contradicting one another, there was tension in the air in Miami, but Zak Brown went to meet Laurent Mekies in an attempt to defuse it.