Reigning Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen will partner with a different race engineer at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.
The Dutch four-time Drivers Champion will be without long-time engineer Gianpiero Lambiase at the Red Bull Ring.
Lambiase is set to miss the Austrian race weekend due to personal reasons.
Verstappen and ‘GP’, as he is often referred to, have worked together for years, forming a fantastic affinity and friendship.
It’s been a difficult season so far for the reigning World Champion, though.
With speculation that he could leave Red Bull unless they deliver him a better car, there are reportedly four Formula One teams that could sign Max Verstappen if things don’t improve.
And with his usual race engineer missing this weekend, it’s not going to get any easier for Max.
Max Verstappen Race Engineer To Miss Austrian Grand Prix
This will be the first Grand Prix for Verstappen without Lambiase as his engineer since joining Red Bull.
Instead, Simon Rennie will fill in on the pit wall alongside Verstappen.
As well as his role as race engineer, Lambiase has also been promoted to Red Bull’s Head of Racing.
This means his duties extend beyond just managing Verstappen’s side of the garage.
But former Renault and Lotus engineer Simon Rennie is an excellent replacement on that front.
The 45-year-old Englishman was a data engineer for Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard won back-to-back World Championships in 2005 and 2006.
He then worked as race engineer for 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus, before joining Red Bull in 2013.
Since then, he has also worked with Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo.
Following Ricciardo’s departure, Rennie switched to a factory-based role, but remains a well-known and important figure at Red Bull.
max’s race engineer for this weekend is simon rennie, who used to work with daniel ricciardo for a long time! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ABA8HI8aEY
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) June 27, 2025
Who Is Max Verstappen’s Race Engineer?
Red Bull are fully expecting Lambiase to return for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend.
Born in London to Italian parents, Gianpiero Lambiase is an Italian-British race engineer and key member of Red Bull Racing.
The 44-year-old has been Max Verstappen’s engineer since 2015, when the Dutchman replaced Daniil Kvyat.
Lambiase started his F1 career with Jordan in 2005. He stayed with the team as it went trough multiple rebrands as Midland, Spyker and Force India.
He has previously worked as race engineer for the like of Giancarlo Fisichella, Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez.
After one season with Perez at Force India, Lambiase moved to Red Bull in 2015.
In ten years of working with Verstappen, the two have developed a close relationship.
Lambiase is known for his direct and often blunt communication with Verstappen, something the Dutch driver has praised.
Red Bull Upgrades Package Hoped To Deliver Improvement
The Austrian and British Grand Prix double-header represents an important period for Red Bull.
The team are bringing in their final upgrade package before shifting focus to the 2026 season.
With a swathe of new regulations, it’s vital that teams invest the maximum testing and development time into next year.
As a result, many teams are sacrificing short-term gains in 2025 in order to make sure they hit the ground running in 2026.
Discussing the importance of these final 2025 upgrades, Max Verstappen said Red Bull’s performance over the next two weekends will determine if they are still capable of mounting a title challenge.
🚨 Gianpiero Lambiase will not be present at the Austrian GP this weekend due to private reasons
It's expected he'll be back in Silverstone
Simon Rennie will take over as Max's race engineer this weekend.
[@ErikvHaren] pic.twitter.com/jgMORIzr1d— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) June 27, 2025
“Of course, I know that too,” Verstappen said on Thursday.
“But we’ll see how much of a difference this upgrade package can actually make. There are a few races now where something is still possible, and then we’ll see where we stand.”
Verstappen admitted it was “not very realistic” to expect them to overturn the McLaren’s lead in either championship.
But noted that the Austrian track suits him, having won there five times previously.
Verstappen claimed a historic race win in Japan, as well as a victory at Imola in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
But aside from that, he has found himself a distant third to McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at most tracks.
