Red Bull finds its Lambiase McLaren replacement
Tom McCullough is reportedly set to leave Aston Martin and take over Red Bull's trackside engineering operations as F1's reshuffle continues.
Red Bull has identified Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough as the man to fill the enormous gap left by Gianpiero Lambiase. It is one of the most significant personnel moves in the F1 paddock this season.
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The Lambiase McLaren Red Bull replacement story explained
This all started when Max Verstappen’s long-time race engineer Lambiase announced he would be leaving Red Bull. On 9 April 2026, it was confirmed that Lambiase had signed with McLaren as its chief racing officer, joining the Woking outfit in 2028, if not before.
Lambiase will join the papaya team as its chief racing officer, reporting directly to team principal Andrea Stella. Interestingly, Lambiase had previously turned down an offer from Aston Martin to be their team principal, but McLaren proved more attractive after he held talks with their bosses.
Lambiase is most famous among F1 fans for being Verstappen’s long-standing race engineer, but his importance to the team runs much deeper. His role evolved over the years until he reached his current position as Head of Racing, which itself was an evolution from the Head of Race Engineering role he occupied from the start of last season.
So finding a Lambiase McLaren Red Bull replacement was never going to be simple. Red Bull needed the right person, and fast.
Who is Tom McCullough?
McCullough has been with the Silverstone-based team for over 10 years, throughout its time as Force India, Racing Point and Aston Martin. Prior to his time at the Silverstone outfit, McCullough served as a data engineer at Williams before becoming a race engineer, working with drivers such as Nico Hulkenberg, Rubens Barrichello and Bruno Senna, and had a brief stint at Sauber as head of track engineering.
He was moved away from the core Formula 1 program in early 2025 during a management restructure, with Mike Krack taking over his trackside duties. It had already emerged that McCullough will leave Aston Martin at the end of 2026 after more than a decade with the Silverstone-based operation.
Under the recent administrative restructuring led by Andy Cowell, McCullough also contributed to expanding Aston Martin Performance Technologies, the team’s engineering and consulting arm, into other motorsport disciplines.
What McCullough will actually do at Red Bull
His new role will consist of various trackside responsibilities, including all operational matters on a race weekend, as well as coordinating the work that Red Bull’s engineers undertake at a Grand Prix.
Crucially, Lambiase’s other role as Max Verstappen’s race engineer will be filled by Tom Hart, who reversed his decision to move to Williams specifically to work alongside the four-time World Champion. So the Lambiase McLaren Red Bull replacement situation is actually being handled by two people, not one.
The exact date of McCullough’s arrival at Milton Keynes is yet to be confirmed, with the British engineer expected to serve some form of gardening leave upon his exit from Aston Martin at the end of the year.
That should time well with Lambiase’s long-announced departure for McLaren for the 2028 season, with the possibility of a proper handover to start the new era.
Red Bull’s bigger rebuilding picture
Red Bull is clearly not sitting still. This move is part of a broader rebuild at Milton Keynes. In recent years, the Red Bull team has seen a significant part of its senior staff move on, with exits including Rob Marshall, Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley, Christian Horner, and Helmut Marko.
McCullough becomes a key figurehead in Red Bull’s ongoing F1 restructuring process, which recently included the signing of former Mercedes manager Gwen Lagrue to head its driver academy. You can read more about the contract situation around the team’s most important driver in our article on whether Verstappen is about to sign Red Bull’s big deal.
The Lambiase McLaren Red Bull replacement move, combined with the Lagrue signing, suggests team principal Laurent Mekies is moving quickly and decisively to stabilise the operation. These are not panic signings. They look like a plan.
What this means for the rest of the 2026 season
For now, nothing changes on the pit wall. Until his planned departure, Lambiase continues in his roles as head of racing and as race engineer to Max Verstappen. Both men are still fully committed to Red Bull’s results in the second half of this season.
The reshuffling of engineers and senior staff is becoming one of the defining storylines of 2026 alongside the on-track battles. For context on how the driver landscape is also shifting, check out our piece on Antonelli leading the F1 title race as the second half of the season gets underway.
McCullough brings enormous experience to Red Bull. He knows the F1 paddock deeply. Whether he can help Red Bull return to the very front of the grid remains to be seen. But this is a smart piece of business from a team that badly needs momentum. Keep up with all the latest team news and standings on our F1 results page.
