Laurent Mekies reveals Zak Brown chat after Gianpiero Lambiase tensions

Laurent Mekies has confirmed he held clear-the-air talks with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown after back-and-forth in the press between the pair over Gianpiero Lambiase.

The Red Bull team principal said over the Miami Grand Prix weekend that Max Verstappen's race engineer was joining the constructors' champions with the same job title the Frenchman holds himself in Milton Keynes.

That suggestion, which Mekies later clarified was not a case of having misspoke, was directly at odds with the publicised chief racing officer role that McLaren has said Lambiase will take on.

When those remarks were put to Brown, he quipped back that Mekies must know something he does not, before reiterating that Andrea Stella will remain at the helm of the team.

The speculation surrounding Lambiase's role at the Woking-based squad comes amid Stella being linked to a Ferrari return, but whilst the former will take over some of the latter's extra responsibilities, McLaren insists such rumours are wide of the mark.

However, Mekies was wary of engaging in a war of words with Brown over the episode, explaining why the two spoke about the situation.

The 48-year-old underlined how often he is in communication with his peers, telling media, including RacingNews365: "I talk very often with Zak and with my other colleagues... 

"But certainly, none of us wanted to go into a ping pong about it, and we had a good chat about it, like we always do, and we moved on."

Red Bull's plan

Mekies detailed how Red Bull is addressing the departure of Lambiase, who still may not leave the six-time constructors' champions until 2028, with negotiations between the two teams expected.

Affectionately known as 'GP', he will be a considerable loss to Verstappen and the wider team, but his current boss was keen to talk up the other existing talent working for him.

"In terms of replacing GP, we have a couple of years to think about it," Mekies added with a lighthearted smile. 

"But jokes aside... Look, we are quite proud. As much as I have said many times, we don't want to be defensive about the fact that we lost some talent; it's a fact, and it's been there for three or four years.

"And, as a result of that, it's the highest priority in the team to make sure that we create the environment in order to retain, develop and attract the best talent in the pit lane.

"We feel we have the best talent already, department for department, and that starts with Ben [Hodgkinson] on the power unit side with his team, and with Pierre [Wache] on the chassis side and his team. And under them, we feel we have the best talent, department for department."

After losing numerous high-profile names in recent years, such as Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley — and Will Courtenay and Rob Marshall to McLaren, as well — Mekies explained how Red Bull is approaching the future of its project.

To shore up the strength of its programme, the team is focusing on promotion from within, which is supplemented by bringing fresh faces from elsewhere in the paddock.

"When we can, we will always try to see how we can promote internally," he said. "We have created a number of talents over the last few years, and we are proud of that. We want to continue that.

"If and when we need to go and get a specific set of skills or experience from some of our dear competitors around the pit lane, we will do it, as we have done."

Mekies highlighted the recent changes announced by the team, concluding: "You'll have seen a couple of weeks ago, we had a very good mix in our new structure, a very good mix of internal promotion with Ben Waterhouse having now extended perimeters, and with Andrea Landi joining soon from Ferrari and Racing Bulls, and that's how we look at things.

"We go and give the best chance to our talents. And if we need to go elsewhere to inject, we will do it happily."