Tom Hart to replace Gianpiero Lambiase in select Red Bull races
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 11, 2026
Verstappen and Singapore
Max Verstappen turned pole into victory at the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay, and the win carried extra weight because he said his start set the tone for the race. Verstappen said something was not right before the launch, and brief deployment issues early in the race nearly cost him the lead. Even with those problems, he held on and delivered his first Singapore Grand Prix victory, turning a weekend that began with pressure into one of control and execution. The race also showed how much the relationship between driver and engineer matters when everything gets crowded and unpredictable. Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase used coded messages to communicate during the race, a sign of how closely they worked through the laps at Marina Bay. That connection mattered because the early moments were fragile, and Verstappen needed clear guidance while he sorted out the launch and kept the race under control. The result added another layer to a Singapore weekend that already stood out for him, since he converted his first pole position there into his first win at the track.
Lambiase leaves role
The Singapore podium became a farewell stage of sorts for Lambiase, whom Red Bull sent up with Verstappen as he prepared to leave the role. Verstappen said it was special to share that moment knowing Lambiase is leaving, a comment that reflected how long the two have worked together and how tightly their roles have been linked in race weekends. The move came after a race in which radio problems kept shaping the communication from inside the car. A radio failure made Verstappen’s replies unintelligible even though he could still hear the team, and he said those issues had affected him throughout the season. He added that the problem was especially bad in Sunday’s race at Marina Bay. That turned a race that was already demanding into one that required more from the driver than usual, because the team had to work around broken communication at a moment when every instruction carried weight. Laurent Mekies said the radio issue was on Red Bull’s side and could cost time in crucial moments, which underlined how technical problems can change the rhythm of a grand prix even when the car and driver are otherwise competitive. The Singapore weekend ended with a victory, but it also made clear that communication has become one of the pressure points inside Red Bull’s operation.
Hart takes over
Red Bull is already preparing Tom Hart to step into the engineer role for Verstappen, and the move points to a gradual handover rather than an abrupt switch. Hart is set to act as Verstappen’s race engineer in Austin, Brazil and Las Vegas, giving him selected races as Lambiase moves into a head of racing role at the circuit. That setup keeps Lambiase close to the operation while giving Hart live race experience with one of the team’s most important jobs. The arrangement also reflects how carefully Red Bull is managing the transition. A permanent handover depends on Lambiase’s gardening leave and might not happen until 2027, so the change is expected to unfold over time rather than all at once. For Verstappen, that means the next stretch will involve a new voice on the radio in selected events, even as the broader structure around him stays familiar. For Red Bull, it marks a planned shift in responsibility, with Hart being groomed for a job that has been central to Verstappen’s race management and Lambiase remaining in a leadership position in the meantime. The team leaves Singapore with a win, a farewell podium for one key figure and a clear path toward the next chapter in its race engineering setup.
