Between Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami there is a solid and well-established professional relationship that Ferrari has not yet managed to exploit to its full potential. This remains the fixed and unavoidable point of the entire situation. The Italian team is determined to ensure that this pairing remains intact even in the 2026 Formula 1 season. Ferrari has been working in this direction for quite some time, with clear signs of openness from both sides. The belief inside the team is that two top-level professionals, each considered among the very best in their respective roles, can achieve significant results together if placed in the right conditions. What is required are more streamlined procedures, clearer operational processes, shared working methods and a number of technical and organisational adjustments on which the Maranello-based squad is already actively working.
Charles Leclerc was already well accustomed to the nightmare that caught Lewis Hamilton off guard
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion put together what can objectively be described as the worst season of his long and extraordinary Formula 1 career. Fourteen words are enough to perfectly summarise the nightmare that Lewis Hamilton had to endure throughout the year. Is it entirely his fault? Answering yes to that question would be unreasonable and unrealistic. Even Lewis Hamilton’s most outspoken critics should avoid reaching that conclusion, because the Stevenage-born driver was thrown into a scenario that was problematic on multiple levels and full of structural weaknesses.
Charles Leclerc, however, performed much better overall and even managed to step onto the podium no fewer than seven times with the Ferrari SF-25. This is undeniably true. However, the work that the Monegasque driver has carried out with Ferrari over more than five seasons has led to the development of a whole series of adaptive mechanisms that allow him to extract performance even from cars that are far from ideal. While this demonstrates his technical sensitivity and resilience, it is certainly not something that should be celebrated. Adapting or modifying one’s natural driving style to compensate for the shortcomings of Ferrari projects is not a positive achievement and highlights deeper issues within the technical package.
Despite this, Charles Leclerc has always shown a willingness to make those compromises, primarily because of his strong emotional bond with the Prancing Horse. As a pure racer, he has never been willing to lower his performance expectations or reduce his competitive ambitions. At this stage of his career, Charles Leclerc is thinking exclusively about Ferrari and the long-term project with the Maranello team. This focus is so strong that he reportedly asked his manager not to discuss potential future opportunities with other teams. His mindset is fully directed towards the 2026 world championship, with no interest in distractions or external contexts that do not align with his objectives.
Returning to Lewis Hamilton, the British driver struggled significantly to settle in. More precisely, adapting to the Italian team environment proved to be extremely demanding. This difficulty had nothing to do with the Italian language, which could have helped but was never the core issue. The real challenge lay in the working methods and internal processes of the historic Ferrari team, which were clearly ineffective in certain areas and fundamentally different from what Lewis Hamilton had been accustomed to during his long career at Mercedes. From this point, attention inevitably shifts to his race engineer, Riccardo Adami.
The team radio messages broadcast by the international television direction often aim to take events out of their proper context. News always has to be presented in the most dramatic and impactful way possible in order to maximise engagement. This is the prevailing approach when it comes to Ferrari team radio communications. The introduction of public access to radio messages has completely changed how Formula 1 races are experienced by fans. However, there are very different ways to use this privileged access. First of all, one crucial detail must be clarified, something Liberty Media has been exploiting for years: the international broadcast only airs what it deliberately chooses to show.
Given the strong emphasis on entertainment and spectacle from the American ownership, where everything must be turned into a show regardless of the sporting context, only the most controversial and emotionally charged radio messages are selected during free practice sessions, qualifying and the race itself. Meanwhile, the vast majority of routine communications that would help normalise the situation and reduce drama remain completely unseen and unheard.
This clarification is essential, because it helps explain how common and ordinary heated radio exchanges really are in Formula 1. This applies to every single team on the grid. Drivers and race engineers are not there to entertain the audience, but to compete at the highest level under enormous pressure. This is even more true when Ferrari is involved, where insistence, urgency, emotional strain and psychological weight are always present. These factors effectively take to the track alongside the cars and have a direct influence on the overall competitive scenario.
Hamilton and Adami: a relationship that struggles to take off partly because of Ferrari
To be completely clear, there was never any sense of immediate chemistry between Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami. It was certainly not a case of instant understanding. However, the responsibility for this does not lie with either individual, but rather with the system as a whole, which failed to function properly. Ferrari made a significant mistake by not providing Lewis Hamilton with the level of support he required, operating under the assumption that the driver alone should adapt to every aspect of the team. This approach is fundamentally flawed when dealing with a driver of Hamilton’s stature, especially one who arrived in Maranello at the end of his career after spending his entire professional life within the British racing environment.
What was needed was a very different level of support across all areas. It is entirely possible that Lewis Hamilton is not the easiest driver when it comes to adaptation, and that remains a valid consideration. Nevertheless, team principal Frédéric Vasseur has repeatedly acknowledged that Ferrari underestimated the complexity of this transition and did not anticipate the need for such extensive support. Formula 1 steering wheel controls vary significantly from team to team, and the same applies to power unit mappings and the operational logic behind their usage.
Even these factors alone created difficulties for the British driver, who reasonably pointed out how unnecessarily complex the car had become to manage. This led to modifications to the steering wheel layout, which will be discussed in greater detail elsewhere, highlighting the key differences between Ferrari and Mercedes. These changes help illustrate what Lewis Hamilton had to endure during his adaptation process. Beyond this, the matter of his relationship with Riccardo Adami remains central, especially considering that Adami is widely regarded as one of the best race engineers currently working in Formula 1.
This point deserves to be emphasised, because Riccardo Adami is known for being exceptionally well prepared, methodical and consistently composed. He is a true professional and represents a genuine added value to any driver he works with. Figures such as Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz would readily confirm this assessment based on their own experiences. Lewis Hamilton, however, was coming from an 11-season partnership with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes, a collaboration that had reached a level of understanding where verbal communication was barely necessary.
This distinction is important because the relationship between driver and engineer extends far beyond what happens on track. It also includes extensive work carried out away from the car, from simulator sessions to technical debriefs and long-term development discussions. Did Riccardo Adami’s working methods clash with those Lewis Hamilton was used to? To a large extent, yes. There is nothing unusual about this, especially considering everything that has already been outlined. The first season together served as a crucial learning period, allowing both sides to better understand each other and gradually improve their collaboration. This leads directly to the central issue.
Ferrari working to optimise the Hamilton and Adami relationship towards the 2026 world championship
Several important discussions are currently taking place behind the scenes. Ferrari wanted to assess whether assigning an additional engineer to Lewis Hamilton, regardless of other considerations, would be the correct approach. The idea was that a British engineer with experience working in the United Kingdom might naturally align more closely with Hamilton’s way of thinking and working. Exploring this possibility was considered legitimate and was therefore pursued. This was never a question of competence or quality, but purely one of operational effectiveness.
Based on the information available, the current direction points towards confirming the Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami pairing. This reflects Ferrari’s strong belief in the potential of this combination. That is precisely why work has been ongoing for an extended period, with the objective of providing both individuals with a working framework capable of fully aligning them. Nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but this remains the primary goal, given that both are considered number one figures in their respective roles and, together, can achieve significant success.
Ferrari has also carefully studied how to streamline internal procedures and operational methods ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season. With a genuinely competitive car and race scenarios where the objective extends well beyond simply fighting for a few points, everything would become significantly easier for both Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami. The team is working to strengthen this partnership and unlock its still largely untapped potential. While a change of race engineer for Lewis Hamilton cannot be completely ruled out, as things stand this is not the preferred or primary objective.
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