Max Verstappen handed 'nothing is forever' verdict over shock F1 exit

Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has insisted that "nothing is forever" in relation to Gianpiero Lambiase's upcoming departure from Red Bull.

In a shock announcement in early April, it was confirmed that Max Verstappen's long-time race engineer will be leaving Red Bull to join McLaren at the end of next season.

Lambiase has acted as Verstappen's race engineer since the Dutchman's first grand prix for the Milton Keynes-based team, the 2016 Spanish in which he scored a stunning debut victory after a first-lap collision between Mercedes rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

However, he will join McLaren as its chief racing officer at some point during 2028, ending one of the longest driver–race engineer partnerships.

Lambiase joins a list of key departures from Red Bull, which includes the likes of Jonathan Wheatley, Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall, and Will Courtenay.

While the Austrian outfit has endured a run of major exits, Steiner believes it is simply a natural "cycle", with Red Bull reaching the peak of F1 before embarking on a new journey as a power unit supplier.

"I think, as you will see in Formula 1, everything is cyclical. Everything goes around," Steiner said on the Drive to Wynn podcast. "And I think there is a cycle now.

"Red Bull were so good for such a long time, and some people want something new. Some people see that their value is highest now.

"Red Bull, at the moment, are still good — they are still third or fourth. I would say the fourth-strongest team there. So it's not bad, but they are not winning everything anymore.

"And obviously, the value of these people is there when they are winning or when they are doing well. If these guys are not leaving now, maybe they have to wait until it comes back to Red Bull, that they win again.

"I think if one starts to do that, a lot of people follow. And every time, the team becomes weaker and then goes backwards, and more people leave. But I think it's just one of these things. It happens in life — nothing is forever. All good things come to an end."