Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, will not be at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix due to personal matters. In his place, long-time Red Bull engineer Simon Rennie will take over the role.
Red Bull shared this update with ESPN before the first practice session on Friday in Austria.
Lambiase, often called ‘GP’ in the paddock, has played a major role in Verstappen’s success in recent years. He is the engineer fans hear talking to the four-time world champion during races.
He is expected to return to his position on the Red Bull pit wall at next weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Rennie has previously worked with drivers like Alex Albon, Daniel Ricciardo, and Mark Webber at Red Bull. He now holds a factory-based position as the group leader of simulation engineering. Before joining Red Bull, he collaborated with Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus and began his trackside career as a data engineer for Fernando Alonso’s Renault in the mid-2000s.
Currently, Verstappen has won five races at the Red Bull Ring and sits 43 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri with 14 races remaining this season.
