Lewis Hamilton is set to work with a new race engineer in the 2026 Formula 1 season after Ferrari confirmed on Friday that Riccardo Adami has been reassigned to a different role within the Scuderia. The move comes after a challenging first year together, with the British driver and the Italian engineer struggling to develop a smooth working relationship following Lewis Hamilton’s transfer from Mercedes in 2025.
Throughout last season, Lewis Hamilton and Adami often found themselves at odds during races, with repeated disagreements over team radio communications highlighting their lack of alignment. Despite Adami’s extensive experience, including a decade of working at Ferrari, the two never seemed to find common ground from the outset of their collaboration.
Adami initially joined Ferrari in 2015 to serve as Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer following the German driver’s move from Red Bull. He retained the role after Carlos Sainz joined the team from McLaren in 2021, building strong working relationships with both drivers. However, the same rapport did not develop with Hamilton, prompting the Scuderia to reassign Adami to lead the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) while also overseeing the team’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme.
Adami struggled to understand Hamilton’s emotional needs
Ferrari officially confirmed on Friday that the Briton will be paired with a new race engineer in 2026, with the identity of his replacement expected to be announced soon. The change had been anticipated after multiple clashes between Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami throughout the 2025 season, particularly at the Miami, Monaco, Canadian, and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.
Sources indicate that the tension between Hamilton and Adami largely stemmed from a misunderstanding of working styles. Adami reportedly never fully grasped Hamilton’s need for emotional support—a component of his approach that Hamilton had long been accustomed to with previous engineers such as Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. The result was frequent miscommunication and a mismatch of expectations during race weekends.
Hamilton, for his part, also faced difficulties in interpreting Adami’s instructions, having spent 12 seasons with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes, who had become more than just a technical engineer for the seven-time world champion. According to Top Speed, no one at Ferrari initially accounted for Hamilton’s need to establish a personal connection with his new engineer or for the pivotal role Bonnington had played in managing Hamilton’s emotional and technical requirements at Mercedes.
Vettel recommended Adami to Hamilton
Prior to Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel had personally recommended Riccardo Adami to him, providing guidance on what to expect from the Italian engineer. Despite this introduction, Hamilton’s transition was challenging, as he had developed a highly close and intuitive partnership with Bonnington at Mercedes, who fully understood his driving style, communication preferences, and psychological needs.
Bonnington remained at Mercedes after Hamilton’s departure, taking on the role of head of race engineering and continuing as the race engineer for young talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Ferrari confirmed that there is no plan to reunite Hamilton with Bonnington for the 2026 season, making it crucial for Hamilton to adapt to a new race engineer who can support him both technically and emotionally.
As the Scuderia prepares to announce Hamilton’s new engineer, it remains to be seen who will step into the role previously held by Adami. The reassignment marks the end of a challenging chapter in Hamilton’s Ferrari career, despite the initial confidence inspired by Vettel’s recommendation of Adami, which had been communicated to Hamilton before he joined the team.
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