Red Bull has chosen Briton Tom Hart to replace McLaren-bound Gianpiero Lambiase as Max Verstappen's next race engineer, sources have told ESPN.
Lambiase, known to F1 fans as 'GP' and the voice on the other end of Verstappen's radio messages, is becoming McLaren's chief racing officer in 2028.
While the timeline of his exit from Red Bull has not been confirmed, sources said the team has settled on who will take over Verstappen's race engineer duties.
Those will fall to British engineer Hart, who appears to have reversed an agreed move to Williams to work in the role alongside Verstappen.
It is understood that Hart, currently a performance engineer at Red Bull, had accepted a job as Alex Albon's race engineer at Williams but has backtracked on the move to work in the same role with four-time world champion Verstappen.
Hart recently got some experience in the race engineer role during a filming day for Isack Hadjar for Silverstone.
According to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, it is expected he will start the role properly at the start of 2027, but might take over from Lambiase at some races later in 2026.
Lambiase doubles up his role as Verstappen's race engineer with head of racing, which he was named in 2024.
Red Bull has not yet confirmed what it will do about the head of racing role.
- 4 things we learned from the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix
- Lewis Hamilton's 'heart sank' after close call with mechanic during Belgian GP pit stop, Ferrari fined
- George Russell lashes out at Mercedes in unheard team radio after crash at Belgian Grand Prix
Hart's name had been one of those focused on in recent reports on the exodus of staff from Red Bull to rival teams.
Although not a name on the level of Adrian Newey, Jonathan Wheatley or Rob Marshall, who have all left for roles at rival teams in recent years, Hart is well respected on Verstappen's side of the garage and his supposed departure appeared another major blow to the team's chances of keeping the Dutchman long term.
His decision to stay will be a welcome shot in the arm for team boss Laurent Mekies, who appeared to reference Hart's U-Turn after the Belgian Grand Prix.
"If I look at the names that have been circulating in the last few months, most of them are still in the garage," Mekies said. "Some had never wanted to leave, some have changed their mind and are staying with us."
Mekies' answer had been in response to a question about Paul Monaghan, chief engineer for car engineering, who has agreed to move to Cadillac.
Monaghan was absent from the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
