Red Bull continues its restructuring by recruiting Tom McCullough, an experienced figure from Aston Martin, to prepare for the post-Gianpiero Lambiase era.
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Red Bull continues to deeply reshape its technical organization. The Milton Keynes team has officially announced the arrival of Tom McCullough, a former key executive at Aston Martin, who will become its new Head of Racing at the beginning of 2027.
The Briton will hold a newly created position of “Head of Racing” and is expected to effectively become the successor to Gianpiero Lambiase. Responsible for race engineering and Max Verstappen’s engineer for many years, the latter has decided to leave Red Bull to join McLaren.
Red Bull recruits a key man from Aston Martin
McCullough will arrive in Milton Keynes at the start of the 2027 season after completing his mandatory leave following his departure from the Aston Martin group. His recruitment allows Red Bull to add a particularly experienced profile to a structure that has lost several key executives in recent years.
“We are delighted to welcome Tom to the team at the start of 2027 and look forward to benefiting from the great experience and expertise he will bring to this role,” Red Bull simply states in its press release.
Before his time at Aston Martin, McCullough had already worked for Reynard Engineering, Williams, and Sauber. He joined Force India, which later became Aston Martin, in 2014 as chief race engineer.
More than a decade spent within the Aston Martin structure
McCullough gradually climbed the ranks within the Silverstone team until being appointed Performance Director in January 2018. He thus accompanied the structure through several identity and ownership changes.
However, his situation changed at the beginning of 2025. After a difficult second half of the 2023 season and a disappointing 2024 campaign, Aston Martin reorganized its Formula 1 department and McCullough was removed from his direct responsibilities within the team.
He then joined Aston Martin Performance Technologies as Performance Director. His definitive departure from the British group was finally announced in August 2026, paving the way for his recruitment by Red Bull.
A successor for Gianpiero Lambiase
This arrival takes on particular importance in the context of Gianpiero Lambiase’s planned departure. The British engineer currently holds the position of Head of Race Engineering while being Max Verstappen’s main point of contact since the Dutchman’s arrival at Red Bull.
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However, Lambiase has agreed to join McLaren, and his arrival at the Woking team is expected from the 2028 season. Red Bull must therefore gradually prepare its organization to operate without one of the central figures of its recent success.
McCullough will not necessarily hold a position strictly identical to Lambiase’s, but his appointment as Head of Racing should allow him to take over a significant part of his responsibilities in the new structure.
Red Bull continues its technical transfer market
The recruitment of McCullough is the second major move recently made by Red Bull at the expense of a rival team. The Milton Keynes outfit had already attracted Gwen Lagrue from Mercedes to entrust her with an advisory role for its young driver program.
These arrivals are meant to compensate for a series of departures that have profoundly changed the team’s organizational chart. Craig Skinner, former Head of Design, notably left Red Bull, leading to a new redistribution of responsibilities.
Ben Waterhouse was thus appointed Head of Performance and Design, while Andrea Landi left Racing Bulls to take over the Performance Department.
A reconstruction that continues in Milton Keynes
Red Bull is therefore trying to gradually rebuild its management around Laurent Mekies and Max Verstappen. After several years marked by the departure of major figures from its organization, the team is now seeking to attract new experienced profiles while promoting some of its executives internally.
McCullough’s arrival fits perfectly into this strategy. His experience gained at Williams, Sauber, and especially over more than a decade within the structure now known as Aston Martin should allow him to play an important role in this new organization.
While Gianpiero Lambiase’s departure will represent a major change for Red Bull and Verstappen, the team has therefore not waited to prepare the succession. By recruiting Tom McCullough from Aston Martin, it adds another experienced piece to its technical rebuilding.
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