Max Verstappen: 'I'd be an idiot' to block Gianpiero Lambiase Red Bull exit

Max Verstappen believes he would have been "an idiot" to try and block Gianpiero Lambiase's impeding exit from Red Bull. 

During F1's April break, it was announced that Verstappen's long-time engineer Lambiase, would be leaving Red Bull ahead of the 2028 season to take up a senior position at McLaren.

The Verstappen-Lambiase race engineering partnership is the second most successful in F1 history, only behind Lewis Hamilton-Peter Bonnington, with 71 wins and four drivers' titles, but it will end when Lambiase leaves.

Verstappen has previously indicated that he would not want to drive with another engineer, but has softened that stance and has made clear that Lambiase goes with his blessing and that "it is not only about me all the time," given the huge financial offer which enticed Lambiase to swap Milton Keynes for Woking.  

"Well, otherwise, I don't get to drive," Verstappen explained when asked by RacingNews365 of his previous comments about not wanting to drive with an engineer who was not Lambiase. 

"I will have to work with someone else, but I think times change, and the offer that he got, I would be an idiot to try and keep him. It's not only about me all the time.

"It is also about his career and moving forward, so for me, it was a no-brainer to be honest, but we are looking to the future now, and working with different engineers, and I'm sure we'll find solutions for that.

"I explained it in Holland about what happened, and we have a very honest and open relationship, so it was all good. 

"I already said that I wish him the best and that there are no hard feelings, and that as a team, we look to the future and want to innovate and improve."

When asked if Lambiase's departure had any impact on his decision to stay with Red Bull long-term, Verstappen simply replied that: "It has got nothing to do with it."