Max Verstappen's high profile race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, has reportedly rejected offers from both Ferrari and McLaren, according to recent reports.
Italian publication Corriere dello Sport revealed that Lambiase, also known simply as 'GP', was approached by Ferrari with an offer to become Lewis Hamilton's race engineer from 2025, a proposal he turned down. Other sources suggest he also declined an approach from McLaren.
Referring to the Ferrari offer, Corriere dello Sport stated: "Several names have said no and declined the honour, including Lambiase, for whose arrival Vasseur strongly advocated for."
This attempt to lure Lambiase was just the latest in a series of moves by Red Bull's rivals to poach valuable staff. Red Bull's sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, for instance, is set to leave and take on the role of team boss at Audi.
Dr Helmut Marko explained that Red Bull couldn't compete with Audi's offer for Wheatley.
"He (Wheatley) started as a mechanic and has an incredible career, which he can be very proud of, and he wanted a position that was more demanding for him," Marko said on the Inside Line podcast.
"Unfortunately, the offer came from Audi, which we couldn't match, whether because of the position or the money they offered him. I understand him, he went for his opportunity."
Speculation suggests that Red Bull may have convinced Lambiase to stay by offering him some of Wheatley's responsibilities.
"We have a team with many young people and we have the opportunity to assign Jonathan's role to other people and we believe that we can manage this situation internally," Marko commented.
