MILTON KEYNES, England (AP) — Max Verstappen’s race engineer and close ally GianPiero Lambiase is set to leave the Red Bull team in 2028 and will join Formula 1 rival McLaren as its chief racing officer.

Red Bull said Lambiase, who is also Red Bull’s head of racing, will leave when his current contract expires.

“’GP’ is a valued member of the team, which he joined in 2015,” Red Bull said. “Until his planned departure, ‘GP’ continues in his roles as Head of Racing and as Race Engineer to Max Verstappen. The team and he are fully committed to add more success to our strong track record together.”

The move to McLaren will see team principal Andrea Stella delegate part of his current role. Lambiase would answer to Stella.

“The role of the Chief Racing Officer already exists within the team’s structure with overall leadership of the race team. These duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella in addition to his role as Team Principal,” McLaren said.

The move could fuel speculation around Verstappen’s future in F1. The four-time champion has been a vocal critic of the increased reliance on electrical power in the new generation of F1 cars, has his own racing projects outside of F1 and has talked about wanting to spend more time with his family.

He told BBC radio last month he would consider his future and didn’t rule out leaving the sport at the end of the season.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing