Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies is confident Max Verstappen’s decision on his Formula 1 future will not be swayed by the loss of Gianpiero Lambiase.

Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer and close ally will leave Red Bull to become McLaren’s chief racing officer in 2028.

The shock news, which was announced during F1’s enforced five-week break, has raised further questions over Verstappen’s future in the world championship.

The Red Bull driver had already indicated after the Japanese Grand Prix that he could walk away from F1 due to his dissatisfaction with the new-for-2026 rules.

But Red Bull boss Mekies believes the departure of another close ally will not sway Verstappen’s decision.

"Absolutely not. That’s my direct answer to you,” Mekies replied when asked if recent Red Bull departures make a Verstappen exit more likely.

"Obviously, we speak with Max every day. And Max knows motorsport upside down.

"He's living and breathing this team. He knows most of these guys. He understands very well the dynamics that can happen.

"The team has been extremely successful and you can't promote everyone. And some people make some decisions.”

Verstappen said he gave his blessing for Lambiase to make the switch to McLaren.

"He told me what kind of offer he received," Verstappen revealed during a Viaplay event in Amsterdam.

"I said: you would be stupid not to do that. We have already achieved everything together. And then he gets such a great offer, also with his family in mind and the security it would give him.

"He asked me for a sort of permission and I said that he absolutely had to do it. He really wanted to hear that from me."

Red Bull bringing upgrades to Miami

The 2026 F1 season resumes this weekend with the Miami Grand Prix after an unplanned hiatus from racing throughout April.

F1 teams have been able to continue working on their cars during the break and Red Bull is among the outfits bringing an upgrade to Miami.

Verstappen tested a major upgrade for Red Bull’s RB22 at Silverstone last week in preparation for its introduction.

"One thing is sure, we haven't solved everything," Mekies said of the progress Red Bull has made during the break. "But there is no doubt that progress has been made into giving something more consistent to our drivers.

"How does that make you fit in the classifications? It's impossible to know. But in terms of us alone on the track, in terms of giving a more consistent product to our drivers, I'm confident we have made some progress.

“Do we know if we cracked everything? No, we know we didn't crack everything yet.”