Bernie Collins calls for more Ferrari radio support after Lewis Hamilton penalties. Ferrari radio support questioned after Lewis Hamilton collects four penalties.

Bernie Collins believes stronger Ferrari radio support could help Lewis Hamilton avoid further costly mistakes after the seven-time world champion accumulated four penalties across three consecutive Formula 1 weekends. While several of the infringements involved driver error, Collins suggested that more timely reminders from race engineer Carlo Santi could make an important difference.

Her assessment centres on an element of Hamilton’s move from Mercedes that cannot be replaced immediately: the detailed understanding built during his 11-year partnership with Peter Bonnington. Santi and Hamilton have made an encouraging start together, but recent incidents have demonstrated why the relationship between a driver and race engineer requires time to mature.

Lewis Hamilton’s four penalties increase focus on Ferrari radio support

Hamilton’s sequence began at Silverstone, where he received a penalty for a false start. The controversial British Grand Prix sanction divided the Formula 1 paddock, but it was followed by three further infringements over the next two rounds.

At Spa-Francorchamps, the Ferrari driver was penalised for causing a collision with George Russell. Hamilton maintained that the contact had been a racing incident, but the five-second sanction still added to his recent points losses.

Two more penalties followed at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton was demoted three grid places after impeding another driver during qualifying before being given five seconds for exceeding the pit-lane speed limit in the race. The latter infringement was particularly narrow, with the Briton recorded at only 0.1 km/h above the Hungary pit-lane limit.

Although three of those four sanctions can be attributed primarily to mistakes by the driver, Collins argued that Hamilton could also benefit from greater assistance from the pit wall. She identified Santi as an important part of the process of preventing small lapses from developing into penalties.

Carlo Santi partnership remains a work in progress

Carlo Santi is Hamilton’s third race engineer in as many Formula 1 seasons. The British driver’s departure from Mercedes ended his highly successful partnership with Peter Bonnington, who had worked alongside him for 11 years and developed an instinctive understanding of what information he needed in different situations.

Riccardo Adami then became Hamilton’s race engineer during his first Ferrari campaign, but the partnership did not develop as the team had hoped. That prompted another reshuffle for 2026 and placed Santi on the other side of the radio.

Hamilton has spoken extremely positively about the new partnership, particularly following his victory for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix. Nevertheless, the recent penalty sequence has underlined that Santi is still learning the precise moments when his driver may need a warning, reminder or steadying intervention.

Peter Bonnington had built a detailed understanding of Hamilton

Speaking on the F1 Show, Bernie Collins rejected the suggestion that Hamilton’s mistakes should simply be attributed to the pressure of pursuing championship leader Kimi Antonelli. She noted that Hamilton had spent substantial periods of his career either fighting for the championship or approaching a title contest without regularly committing errors of this kind.

In Collins’ view, Bonnington had provided a steadying presence during their years together. Over time, he had accumulated a detailed understanding of the situations in which Hamilton might need additional information or a carefully timed prompt from the Mercedes pit wall.

That level of communication is developed through experience rather than created immediately. An engineer gradually learns when to warn a driver about approaching traffic, when to reinforce the need to maintain concentration during qualifying and when to issue a simple reminder about procedures such as the pit-lane speed limiter.

Collins pointed to the Hungarian Grand Prix as a clear example. Hamilton released the limiter approximately five metres too early while leaving the pits, turning a very small misjudgement into a five-second penalty. During qualifying, greater awareness of traffic approaching from behind might similarly have prevented the impeding incident that cost him three grid places.

Collins warns penalties could leave Hamilton frustrated

Hamilton’s frustration over the qualifying incident could already be heard in his radio exchanges. Collins believes that feeling may become even stronger at the end of the season if he reviews his championship and identifies a significant number of points lost through avoidable penalties.

The Hungary sanctions formed part of a wider collection of errors that contributed to Ferrari missing the Hungaroring podium. For a team involved in a close championship contest, small procedural mistakes can carry consequences far beyond the race weekend on which they occur.

Bonnington remained at Mercedes following Hamilton’s departure and now works with Kimi Antonelli. Their partnership has flourished during 2026, although the Italian driver has not been immune from disciplinary setbacks and has received three penalties of his own for track-limit infringements and failing to respect yellow flags.

Collins’ argument is therefore not that an established engineer can eliminate every error. Instead, her assessment highlights the value of the accumulated knowledge behind a successful driver-engineer partnership. Ferrari and Santi may eventually build the same understanding with Hamilton, but the recent penalty run shows that the process is not yet complete.