Gianpiero Lambiase going to be McLaren Team Principal? Not Chief Racing Officer?

Ahead of the official announcement, there was speculation that Lambiase was joining McLaren to become Team Principal with reports that Andrea Stella may be on his way back to Ferrari.

However, Lambiase was announced for the Chief Racing Officer role, an existing position currently handled by Stella in addition to his Team Principal tasks.

Stella recently denied any plans for him to rejoin Ferrari and said on McLaren's website last month: "Honestly, some of the recent rumors, including those regarding astronomical salaries and mythical pre-contracts, have made me smile.

"It almost seems as though the 'silly season', which usually begins before summer, has arrived early! I'm quite used to this sort of thing by now, and I take it with a smile," he added.

However, Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal, Laurent Mekies, claimed Lambiase was going to be McLaren's Team Principal.

The Frenchman was quoted by Sky Sports F1 saying: "He [Lambiase] is going to be a team principal there. It's not something that I can do anything else than wishing him well."

Sky Sports F1 claim that they confirmed with Red Bull Racing that Mekies' statement was not misunderstood.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who recently downplayed the chances of Verstappen following Lambiase to Woking, told Sky: "He [Mekies] knows something I don't, apparently.

"I've got one [Team Principal], and I've got a great one. I got the best one in the pit lane in Andrea Stella. I couldn't be happier than [I am with] Andrea," he insisted.

Brown had a chat with Mekies on race day in Miami at the Red Bull hospitality area in the Formula 1 paddock, and the latter commented on that saying: "I talk very often with Zak and with my other colleagues.

"But certainly, none of us wanted to go into a ping pong about it, and we had a good chat about it, like we always do, and we moved on," Mekies insisted.