F1 | Red Bull regroups after farewells: Lambiase promoted

Following the news that sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will leave the team at the end of the season to take up the role of Team Principal at Sauber in 2025, Red Bull has decided to overhaul its management structure.

Rather than appoint a direct replacement for Wheatley, Red Bull has chosen to split his previous responsibilities across multiple people to better address the demands of today’s F1. While there has been no official announcement, Red Bull staff were informed of the changes during a factory briefing on Wednesday morning.

The main change will be the move of Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer, to the new position of Head of Racing. While he will continue to be Verstappen’s engineer, a role he has held since 2016, he will now also be responsible for all Red Bull racing activities and oversee the personnel who fall under his responsibility.

“I respect him a lot. He’s pragmatic. He’s a straight shooter, and he’s been a key part of our team since he joined as a race engineer. [per Daniil Kvyat, originariamente] in 2015. He has done an excellent job. He is the right person for the role and will remain as engineer on Max’s car for the foreseeable future and certainly for 2025,” Horner said of Lambiase’s promotion.

This will include Stephen Knowles, previously working on strategy, who will take on a new role as Head of Sporting Regulations, where he will be responsible for ensuring the team complies with all F1 rules, as well as acting as a liaison with motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, when necessary.

Another change is that Richard Wolverson, Head of Automotive Engineering, has taken on the newly created position of Race Operations Manager. In addition to the immediate on-track overhauls, Gerrard O’Reilly, Head of Red Bull Transport Operations, will take full control of the team’s logistics, helping to increase the team’s efficiency, which is vital to success in the cost-cap era.

Speaking about the new structure, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the team wanted to use the opportunity to reorganise its set-up for the future. “We are in the midst of a period of significant change and development at Oracle Red Bull Racing and, in light of the challenges that lie ahead, we have taken the decision to change the structure of the team,” Horner explained.

“These appointments will serve to give us greater capacity in a number of key areas and, ultimately, I believe, will make the team more competitive. For me, it is particularly gratifying to have promoted people from within. We have a huge resource of exceptionally talented people at Red Bull Racing and I am delighted to be able to give them the opportunity to shine in roles that were not previously open to them. It is a step forward for the entire team.”