The 2026 Formula 1 season began with a strong commitment to change.

The new regulations, with lighter cars and a greater presence of electrical energy, opened a different era within the category. But while all this was trying to take shape on the track, off it began to appear signs that did not go unnoticed.

Several drivers began to show their discontent with the adaptation to these changes and, among them, Max Verstappen was one of the most prominent. His feelings did not go unnoticed and, as the weeks went by, rumours began to emerge pointing to a very possible end at the end of the 2026 season.

It was not something confirmed, but it was enough to generate noise in an environment that, until then, seemed to remain stable.

In the midst of this scenario, when everything was still trying to find its balance, news appeared that changed everyone’s expectations.

Gianpiero Lambiase, the race engineer who has accompanied Verstappen since 2016 and the constant voice on his radio, will leave Red Bull Racing in 2028 to join McLaren.

It’s not an immediate change, but it is one that begins to touch a sensitive part of the team.

Because Lambiase has not only been just another engineer, he has been the direct connection with Max, a constant piece in a project that, for years, has been built around someone important.

And that’s where the story changes

For Red Bull, Verstappen is not only their main driver, he is the axis around which much of their sporting structure revolves and their projection within the category.

That’s why, when your surroundings start to move, reading is no longer simple.

In 2021, Max himself left a phrase that today takes on another meaning: when his engineer stopped, he would also consider stopping. At the time, it did not seem like a close decision.

Today, with that departure already announced, the context is different.

Added to this is what happens off the track. In 2025, Max became a father alongside Kelly Piquet, in a personal stage that can also influence how he projects his future.

And while none of this defines a decision on its own, together it begins to build a different scenario.

If Max were to decide to change course, whether to another team or even out of Formula 1, the impact would be no less.

It would not only be a matter of losing a driver, it would be a matter of moving the heart of the project and, when that happens, structures that seemed firm begin to come to an end.

For now, everything remains in the realm of possibility, but in a Formula 1 that is already changing on the track, there are off-track moves that are starting to say otherwise.

If that scenario ends up coming to fruition, it might not be the end of Red Bull Racing, but it would be the end of a very important era.