It is claimed that Max Verstappen's right-hand man, Gianpiero Lambiase is to leave Red Bull for McLaren.

There has been speculation over the London-born Italian's future for some time, having been linked with both Aston Martin and Williams.

Having entered F1 in 2005 with Jordan, Lambiase remained with the Silverstone-based outfit in its various guises until moving to Red Bull in 2015. Initially race engineer to Daniil Kvyat, he then worked with Max Verstappen when the Russian was demoted to Toro Rosso the following season. The rest is history, Lambiase being the calm, guiding voice in the Dutchman's headphones for 71 Grand Prix wins and four titles.

He was promoted to the role of Head of Racing following Jonathan Wheatley's departure to Sauber, in the aftermath of Christian Horner's sacking last summer, effectively becoming the third most senior member of the team, reporting only to (Technical Director) Pierre Wache and Laurent Mekies.

He missed the Austrian and Belgian grands prix last year, and it was subsequently revealed that his wife, with whom he has three children, has been battling cancer.

Amidst mounting speculation at the start of the year that he was leaving Red Bull, well-placed sources in the Dutch media insisted that he was staying, at least for this year, as his contract runs until 2027.

Now, De Telegraaf is claiming that Lambiase will see out his contract and then head to McLaren in 2028. The Woking outfit has previously lured both Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay away from Red Bull.

It is not clear what his position will be but it is said to be a "senior" role, and while there is talk of him replacing Andrea Stella as team principal and the Italian returning to Ferrari, McLaren would be insane to lose the Italian, who is both Team Principal and Technical Director at Woking.

Verstappen, who is already considering his future in the sport, has previously lost his number one mechanic, Matt Caller, who followed Wheatley to Audi, as did Lead Trackside Power Unit Engineer, David Geoffrey Mart, while earlier this week it was revealed that long-time engineer Ole Schack is leaving the team.

Neither Red Bull nor McLaren is commenting on the reports.