Ferrari have chosen to accommodate Lewis Hamilton for the 2026 Formula 1 season. A move considered necessary, even though the team worked extensively to keep Riccardo Adami as the British driver’s race engineer. A common ground was never fully found and Riccardo, also for the good of the team, decided to step aside. This decision includes a specific working plan designed to finally resolve Hamilton’s adaptation to Ferrari’s methods.
Lewis: a disastrous first approach with Ferrari
The seven-time world champion closed the statistically most difficult season of his entire Formula 1 career. Reducing the issue by placing the blame solely on the driver would be an analytical heresy: the talent from Stevenage ran into a technical-operational system that, based on the numbers, showed deep structural shortcomings. The direct comparison with his teammate was rather unforgiving, all elements that have already been widely discussed.
The Monegasque driver developed a specific sensitivity, a sort of set of antibodies to Italian cars, allowing him to compensate for the endemic weaknesses of the project. Charles Leclerc has shown he can adapt his driving style to mask, if we want to call them that, the flaws of the cars he has driven. A valuable trait, certainly, but also symptomatic of a technical criticality that forces the driver to drive “over the problems”.
For Lewis, the scenario was diametrically opposite. The Briton’s difficulties were not linked to language barriers, but rather to a deep methodological mismatch. The transition from Mercedes’ operational protocols, refined over years of dominance, to the working ecosystem of Maranello generated an adaptive shock. The Italian team operates with dynamics and workflows that proved to be less effective.
They can almost be described as conceptually distant from the analytical approach Hamilton was accustomed to during his years in Brackley, where he claimed six world titles. Within this framework of operational misalignment, the key figure of his former race engineer Riccardo Adami comes into play, whose role effectively became the balance needle. A tear between driver and car needed to be stitched up, and it was the engineer from Brescia who ultimately paid the price.
Hamilton’s media exposure did not help his first Ferrari experience
This analysis must also consider the show-driven approach promoted by Liberty Media, where everything, regardless of context, must be entertainment. For this reason, from free practice to qualifying and the race itself, only the most “murky” team radio messages are selected, while all the communications that would normalize the situation and remove drama remain, unsurprisingly, in the shadows.
This clarification is important, because it helps to understand how ordinary and routine heated radio exchanges actually are. For all teams. Driver and engineer are not there to have fun, but to compete under extreme pressure. And when Ferrari are involved, the picture becomes even more intense: insistence, urgency, emotional and psychological weight. These are the factors that go on track together with the cars and ultimately change the overall scenario.
As explained some time ago, that spark between Lewis and Riccardo never truly ignited, unlike what happened, for example, with the strong relationship built with Carlos Sainz. On top of that came Ferrari’s crucial mistake which, by Frédéric Vasseur’s own admission, involved a significant underestimation of both the timing and the process required for the seven-time world champion to settle into a very different environment. This brings us to the core of the issue.
Hamilton and Ferrari: the evolution of the working method with Adami
Adding to this underestimation was the limited competitiveness of the Ferrari SF-25, a car that proved difficult to drive and poorly suited to the Briton’s characteristics. As reported on December 17, Ferrari attempted to work on strengthening a pairing that, in reality, did not function as expected. Adami is an extremely serious professional, without doubt one of the best race engineers currently in Formula 1.
The working methodology that had been highly effective for Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz did not meet Hamilton’s needs. During the winter, the Italian team tried to clarify and fix the situation. After long reflections, including several meetings at headquarters and private external discussions, and despite the desire to confirm the duo, the conditions to do so never truly materialised. These things happen, and it is not the end of the world.
Although the potential to achieve great things was there, chemistry, methods and procedures never found common ground. Was it right to give Lewis the opportunity to receive greater support? Absolutely yes. A choice that sends an important initial signal. Ferrari needed to back up intentions with actions, and those actions have arrived, because the desire to fully support the former Mercedes driver in his second season in red is clearly present.
The historic team’s decision is also a way to increase Hamilton’s integration within the squad. A move that could provide full support and unlock greater operational ease, especially under the new F1 2026 regulations, where the new controls will be numerous, different and far more impactful than in the recent past. The hope is that Ferrari’s plan to resolve these adaptation issues will prove to be the right one.
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