Following the exit of several personnel key to its most successful era, Red Bull is undergoing an internal restructuring process in Formula 1. However, the situation was played down by Max Verstappen. According to the four-time World Champion, personnel arrivals and departures are a natural reality in any sports team, and the squad is actively reorganizing to compensate for those losses.
In an interview with RacingNews365 published on Thursday (30), Verstappen discussed Red Bull’s ongoing transition. The Milton Keynes-based outfit enjoyed a period of major success between 2021 and 2024, but lost key figures in recent years—most notably legendary designer Adrian Newey, Engineering Director Rob Marshall, Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley, and former Team Principal Christian Horner.
Furthermore, McLaren confirmed the signing of Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer, who will join the Woking team upon the conclusion of his Red Bull contract in 2028.
Amid this transition, Red Bull lost some of its performance edge. The team watched McLaren claim the Constructors’ World Championship in 2024 and 2025, while Lando Norris took the Drivers’ World Championship last year, and Red Bull has experienced mixed form under the 2026 regulations. Nevertheless, Verstappen minimized the gravity of the situation.
“Naturally, over the last few years, some people have left, but others have come in. People always like to focus on the negative. When someone leaves, it’s always made to sound very dramatic. Of course, sometimes you think: ‘I wish certain people had stayed,’ but that’s life, and that happens in other sports too—sometimes people move on or make a change. It’s part of the culture and it’s how sports work,” Verstappen said.
“It is always difficult to keep a winning group together. Rival teams naturally go after successful figures. It’s no different in football: a club will do whatever it takes to sign a top player, whether due to sporting interest or management decisions. So it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes people blow it out of proportion, thinking this only happens to us. People are constantly coming and going. In a way, that’s just part of the sport,” Verstappen concluded.
Formula 1 is currently on its summer break. The series resumes its 2026 season activities from August 21 to 23 with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
