2026 Formula 1 Drivers threadFormula 1 

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Dreadmed
Woke up this morning to see reports from multiple outlets (van Haren/Sky Sports/BBC) that Gianpiero Lambiase aka GP is jumping ship to Mclaren next year:

www.bbc.co.uk

Max Verstappen's Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to join McLaren

Red Bull's Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen's race engineer, agrees to join McLaren from 2028.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Now it seems like it's a question of when Max decides to begin his sabbatical (permanent or otherwise) rather than if...
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Oh wow. That's huge.
 
Dreadmed
Woke up this morning to see reports from multiple outlets (van Haren/Sky Sports/BBC) that Gianpiero Lambiase aka GP is jumping ship to Mclaren next year:

www.bbc.co.uk

Max Verstappen's Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to join McLaren

Red Bull's Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen's race engineer, agrees to join McLaren from 2028.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Now it seems like it's a question of when Max decides to begin his sabbatical (permanent or otherwise) rather than if...
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I saw that in my feed this morning as well. Poor max ( sarcasm )
 
He will soon inherit Alonso's long distant stare.
 
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I have no doubt that Verstappen's management is out there negotiating with other teams, but whether they actually pull the trigger is hard to say.

For Verstappen, he'd be joining a team with people he already knows who were poached from Red Bull. Make a huge amount of money, would likely have a better car, and would also have opportunities in sports cars once he's done with F1.

As for Piastri, I think the whole papaya rules fiasco really damaged his relationship with the team. It probably doesn't help that his manager is one of the most famously outspoken former number 2 drivers in F1. He's also Red Bull's first choice as a replacement.

I'm all for the swap happening. It would be very interesting to see Norris and Verstappen in the same car. And Piastri gets a fresh start in another big team.
 
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Fezzik
Max/Oscar swap - yay or nay?
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That would be crazy but hey I didn't think Lewis was ever going to Ferrari but it happened so I guess weirder things have happened.

But to see Max at Mclaren after all this time with Red Bull would be so weird 😂
Considering how cringy things got because of how Mclaren handled things last season between their 2 so called #1 drivers, I can't wait to see what that dynamic would be like with Lando and Max in the same car/team.

Oscar might just get what his manager wants for him, the "#1" driver that is if he can beat Isack because that kid is doing a damn fine work in that second red bull car.

Lastly, wasn't there a rumour regarding Red Bull trying to get Lando to partner Max? And now it might actually be Max getting pulled to partner Norris at Mclaren? The silly season is always so funny 😆
 
It’s a crazy thought. The door to Mercedes might be closed because Toto (imo rightfully) thinks he has the next Verstappen and probably wants another Bottas long term (which George is not and that’s why they are treating him the way they do) and not anther Verstappen.
So maybe McLaren is the next logical choice?
 
GlamFM
It’s a crazy thought. The door to Mercedes might be closed because Toto (imo rightfully) thinks he has the next Verstappen and probably wants another Bottas long term (which George is not and that’s why they are treating him the way they do) and not anther Verstappen.
So maybe McLaren is the next logical choice?
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McLaren already has Norris too, though. Max is not significantly better then Norris, and he's 2 years older then Norris. I don't think you could have both those egos on the same team without one of them wanting out very quickly

Just staying at Red Bull for now seems like the way to go. He could add some cool things into his contract like letting him do the LM 24 etc which should keep him somewhat happy even if they dont have the fastest car


Colton Herta is not doing well in F2, which surprises me. I thought he would be running consistently in the top 10 minimum, but he's running around 15th every race now. He's just behind his teammate, so I think a big part of the issue is the team isn't very good this year. I think Cadillac is better off letting him run a second year in the series to see if he improves instead of pushing him to F1 next year, unless he shows alot of improvement through the second half of the year. Haters will say he is overrated, when the reality is he soundly beat Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson as teammates in Indycar. He's beaten guys who've been in F1, but thats in an Indycar. Hes struggling with the Pirelli tires maybe
 
Earth
Colton Herta is not doing well in F2, which surprises me. I thought he would be running consistently in the top 10 minimum, but he's running around 15th every race now. He's just behind his teammate, so I think a big part of the issue is the team isn't very good this year. I think Cadillac is better off letting him run a second year in the series to see if he improves instead of pushing him to F1 next year, unless he shows alot of improvement through the second half of the year. Haters will say he is overrated, when the reality is he soundly beat Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson as teammates in Indycar. He's beaten guys who've been in F1, but thats in an Indycar. Hes struggling with the Pirelli tires maybe
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Personally I think Cadillac needs him up to the main team ASAP so he can get acclimated to F1 as quickly as possible (if Herta is their long term "project," for what it's worth).

Cadillac could also continue to run Perez and Bottas for next year. Since they're using this year to set and continue building the team up, it stands to reason that they're both not running at their best and any attempt to compare them head-to-head is moot. To me, though, since they're just gathering data, I think it would be in their best interest to get Herta ready to take over a seat as soon as possible.
 
Ocon out? Not sure how legit this source is.

Rafael Camara will become a new Haas driver in 2027. According to Rossomotori.it, the Brazilian of the Ferrari Driver Academy is the profile chosen by the American team for the next phase of their journey in Formula 1, also confirming the close link with the Prancing Horse.


The decision would not have been so obvious. For some time the main candidate for the seat was Yuki Tsunoda. A name particularly appreciated, both by team principal Ayao Komatsu and by Toyota Gazoo Racing partners. Lately, however, Ferrari would push decisively on Camara's candidacy, overturning the balances and getting the final go-ahead
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Earth
I think Cadillac is better off letting him run a second year in the series to see if he improves instead of pushing him to F1 next year, unless he shows alot of improvement through the second half of the year.
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They can't put him into F1 because he lacks the needed points for the Superlicense which is the main reason he is in F2 now to collect the missing points but is far off getting them.
 
Earth
Max is not significantly better then Norris, and he's 2 years older then Norris. I don't think you could have both those egos on the same team without one of them wanting out very quickly
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oh really, not sure how you figure that. McLaren's car was so good last year and locked up constructors so early, that if Norris was anywhere near Max's level then he would have wrapped the WDC title with a number of races remaining. He almost was beat by a 3rd year driver, and the inconsistency in the first half season for a 7th season in the sport was pretty average - he was incredibly lucky the car had a massive advantage at the start of the year when he had less consistency and that the times he team mate was inconsistent it wasn't as many 'free points' advantage in the car relative to the competition.... I think Lando likes Max, if they were team mates Max would crush Norris on track, but he'd be mates off the track and Lando's ego wouldn't be that big an issue.

Earth
Haters will say he is overrated, when the reality is he soundly beat Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson as teammates in Indycar. He's beaten guys who've been in F1, but thats in an Indycar. Hes struggling with the Pirelli tires maybe
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Yeh, I agree and surprised he isn't doing better... maybe there's something on the tyres, maybe there somethings on the team workings, and maybe there's something a bit more with the balance of the car setups.
 

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