The shakedown begins
During Tuesday, January 27, Ferrari’s first choice to take to the track during the Barcelona shakedown, Lewis Hamilton completed a total of 56 laps at the wheel of the SF-26 during the afternoon session. It was a smooth and trouble-free outing for the seven-time world champion, who also provided positive feedback after the run. The British driver was not only able to complete his programme without issues, but also drove in wet track conditions, gaining valuable data in less-than-ideal circumstances.
The temporary race engineer
Precisely during these tests, Lewis Hamilton is working with a new and provisional race engineer. Following the end of his collaboration with Riccardo Adami, Sir Lewis is currently working alongside Bryan Bozzi, who is also the race engineer of his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. However, according to recent reports from AutoRacer, once the test programme has been completed, Hamilton’s new dedicated race engineer could be Cedric Michel-Grosjean, who is set to arrive from McLaren.
Chandhok’s concern
Nevertheless, the absence of a permanent race engineer already during testing is an aspect that has raised eyebrows for former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok, now a television pundit for Sky Sports. The Indian believes Ferrari are missing a perfect opportunity to allow Lewis Hamilton to immediately build an ideal working relationship with his engineer, potentially placing their driver on the defensive even before the world championship has begun.
An aspect that, according to Karun Chandhok, is genuinely worrying. “The thing that rings alarm bells for me is the situation with his engineer,” he explained. “As far as we know, Bryan Bozzi has been running the car also for Lewis. That honestly confuses me. That relationship between the driver and the race engineer is very, very important. They haven’t created a situation in which Lewis can build that relationship over the winter.
“I would have liked to see him spending time in the simulator, going out in a TPC car (testing of previous cars, ed.). You need to integrate that person into the engineering group and into the race team. The public hears the driver–engineer radio conversation, but that is only a microcosm of the much wider discussions that take place within that technical office.
“For me, I’m a bit confused by the fact that, while we’re sitting here and testing has already started, that bond and that relationship-building process still hasn’t begun, especially after a season that wasn’t positive.”
