Red Bull told to make 'big name' Formula 1 signing from rival after Gianpiero Lambiase becomes latest confirmed departure

Red Bull need to make a "big-name signing" from elsewhere on the Formula 1 grid to start turning the tide of rivals hiring their senior figures, says Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok.

The unexpected announcement last week that Gianpiero 'GP' Lambiase, Max Verstappen's engineer and the team's head of racing, would be joining McLaren from 2028 represented what will become the latest high-profile departure from the former world champion team since the end of 2023.

Lambiase will follow the path to McLaren taken by former colleagues Rob Marshall (chief designer) and Will Courtenay (head of strategy), while Adrian Newey (chief technical officer) and Jonathan Wheatley (sporting director) have also defected to rivals.

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Last year also saw the seismic exit of Christian Horner as team principal after 20 years, while the influential Helmut Marko left his long-standing advisor role.

Speaking on the latest edition of The F1 Show podcast, Sky Sports F1 pundit Chandhok said new team boss Laurent Mekies and Red Bull's Austrian hierarchy - whose outfit have also endured a challenging start to F1's new era of rules in 2026 - clearly had work to do to stop the "brain drain" of long-serving talent from Milton Keynes.

"At the end of the day, you look at Red Bull last year, they won six out of the last nine Grands Prix. The car improved a hell of a lot. They arguably had the fastest car at a lot of that back end of the season last year, or at least equal fastest," said Chandhok. "Clearly, people need more than just success on track.

"And I think for whatever reason, this brain drain has gone on and there's a cultural shift that has happened throughout the organisation.

"There's a big job there for Laurent Mekies and the ownership from Red Bull in Austria to figure out 'how are we going to stop this? How are we going to stop the brain drain? How do we make ourselves attractive?'.

"Right now, you want to attract people from Mercedes. They're the ones winning. You have to try and rebuild.

"And I think one of the things that they've got to be worried about is good people attract other good people.

"How long before 'GP' starts calling the other 20 people who are sitting in their engineering office and saying, 'hey, you know what, guys? This place down at Woking, this is a really nice place to work. How do you fancy coming down here?' And all of a sudden, how long before that core group starts to break up?

"We've seen it so many times.

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"Adrian Newey went from team to team to team and dragged good people. Ross Brawn did the same. I think that's something Red Bull really needs to be worried about. They need a big-name signing, not just for the skill set that person can bring, but the people that they will attract."

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft also told the podcast: "They've lost a lot of staff now. And not just the headline staff, but people underneath as well. The number one mechanic that's been there right from the early days left last week.

"It's not people deserting a sinking ship, but it's people thinking that their success in their careers can lie elsewhere outside of Milton Keynes.

"For many years, that was never the case. People were loyal to Red Bull, loyal to Christian Horner, and loyal to the overall game of winning championships.

"Red Bull have not always been the most successful team on the grid. It's peaks and troughs. And at the moment, they're heading towards a bit of a trough and need to recruit.

"They could do with a big-name signing, but I don't know who that will be."

Red Bull, who have produced their own engine for the first time this season but struggled with their R22 car's handling and overall performance, will resume the season in Miami in two weeks' time sitting sixth in the Constructors' Championship on just 16 points.

Formula 1 returns on May 1-3 with the Miami Grand Prix, the season's second Sprint weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime