From Holland: Andrea Stella linked to a return to Ferrari

McLaren, Lambiase in and Stella out This morning the Dutch newspaper De Limburger revealed a real scoop regarding the F1 technical market: Gianpiero Lambiase would have accepted the court of McLaren to join the team from 2028, after the expiry of his current contract with Red Bull. The astronomical economic offer would have been the key to convincing Max Verstappen’s current race engineer and Head of Racing Red Bull. De Telegraaf with the always well-informed Erik Van Haren then clarified that Lambiase will arrive at McLaren with the prospect of becoming its future team principal. We read in the Dutch newspaper: “With the arrival of Lambiase for 2028, McLaren is already preparing for a possible departure of Andrea Stella. The current team principal enjoys a good reputation in Woking, but is being linked to a return to Ferrari.”
In August 2024, McLaren announced the renewal of the multi-year contract with Stella, team principal from 2022.
The current Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur signed an extension last year which is considered valid at least until the end of the 2027 season. The career of the Orvieto team principal Andrea Stella, an aerospace engineer who graduated from Sapienza, began his career in Formula 1 in 2000 with Ferrari, working as a track engineer for drivers such as Schumacher, Räikkönen and Alonso. In 2015 he moved to McLaren, rapidly climbing the internal hierarchy until being appointed Team Principal in December 2022, replacing Andreas Seidl. Under his technical and strategic direction, the Woking team experienced a sporting rebirth, returning to the top of the world championship. As Team Principal, Stella led McLaren to victory in the World Constructors’ Championship in 2024, bringing the title back to the team after a 26-year wait (the last one in 1998). The success was repeated in 2025, the year in which the team once again won the Constructors’ title and also triumphed in the World Drivers’ Championship with Lando Norris. To date, his management has racked up over 20 Grand Prix victories.