Williams has reportedly joined Aston Martin in opening talks with Max Verstappen’s long-term Red Bull Formula 1 race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.
The British-Italian engineer was linked with a potential switch to Aston on Sunday, according to a report by The Race.
Lambiase has been apparently targeted by the Silverstone-based squad with a potential to taking on a senior role, that could lead to becoming CEO or Team Principal.
But Autosport is now reporting that Williams, fresh off the back of a competitive and fruitful 2025, is also in the frame to land Lambiase.
Broadcaster Radiobox has also reported that Lambiase was close to securing a deal with the James Vowles-led Grove-based outfit before Christmas.
The contact with Aston Martin may have slowed this process, and there might now be a race between the two midfield rivals to see which can get Lambiase’s signature.
Do Aston Martin hold an advantage over Williams for Lambiase’s signature?
Aston’s advantage is potentially threefold, with, first and foremost, the likelihood that money may be less of an issue, but sporting implications may also help its cause.
Lambiase is said to be held in high regard by Managing Technical Partner and forthcoming Team Principal Adrian Newey, with whom he worked at Red Bull prior to his exit last year.
This could also dovetail into a long-term plan to tempt Verstappen away from Red Bull, with whom Lambiase shares a close friendship away from the track.
Additionally, Lambiase has, in essence, worked there previously, having started his career at Jordan, before working for Midland, Spyker and Force India – three teams that preceded the genesis of Aston Martin.
There has also been talk that Lambiase could be shifted to a revised role at Milton Keynes, which would not require him to be present at every Grand Prix.
Lambiase missed the Austrian and Belgian Grands Prix in the most recent campaign due to personal reasons, and was replaced on the pit wall by Simon Rennie.
Speculation about that and his future with Red Bull was heightened immediately after the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, when the 45-year-old was shown to be visibly emotional on the pit wall after Verstappen took the victory, but ultimately lost the World Championship.
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