Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, it’s happening. The time is almost ripe to see the seven-time Formula 1 world champion in red. The technological evolution in the most important category of motorsport has given increasing importance to “race engineers,” who work closely with their drivers over race weekends. The reason is simple: compared to the past, the multitude of real-time information available allows engineers to provide the driver with precise directions on the strategy to follow and inform them about what is happening during the race.
In turn, the driver provides their collaborator sitting in the pit wall with sensations at the wheel of the car, which may align with the data gathered from the numerous sensors on the vehicles or highlight issues not detected by the monitoring devices. In this regard, we recall what Charles Leclerc experienced in the free practice sessions of the last Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he told Bryan Bozzi that he was facing a serious drivability issue with his SF-24, and then exclaimed: “Guys, I can’t drive this car anymore, I’m going to the pits. It’s impossible that it’s not visible from the data.”
As often happens, the driver’s sensitivity had detected a problem with the steering box. But for top drivers, the track engineer is not just a provider of real-time technical information, but also plays the role of a true psychologist. How many times have we heard motivational team radio messages based on little white lies for good reasons? It’s no coincidence that the most successful drivers have a close (human) relationship with their track engineer. In this regard, Michael Schumacher was a pioneer.
The total trust in Ross Brawn first, and Luca Baldisseri later, was one of the secrets behind the numerous successes of the German legend. Andrea Stella, the current world champion team principal with the historic British team McLaren, grew professionally through a long partnership with Fernando Alonso, first at Ferrari and then with the Woking-based team. At present, the most prolific professional collaboration in Formula 1 is that between Lewis Hamilton and Peter Bonnington, whose records could be challenged by the Max Verstappen – Gianpiero Lambiase pairing.
For the English engineer of clear Italian origin, the relationship with Jos’s son is very direct. Sometimes very rough. But it is precisely this type of communication that makes their partnership very special. “I told him: when he decides to retire from F1, I will stop attending the Grands Prix too. I only want to work with him,” declared the Dutch driver after winning his first world title. Words spoken by a young man who doesn’t like empty phrases and speaks his mind very clearly, for better or worse. We’ll see if that is indeed the case.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to continue his collaboration with Peter Bonnington at Ferrari. The sudden “sports betrayal” by the seven-time Formula 1 world champion was not appreciated by the Prancing Horse, which swiftly shut down any potential moves of loyal figures from Mercedes to Maranello. Welcoming him will be Riccardo Adami, former track engineer for Carlos Sainz and even earlier for Sebastian Vettel. “Ricky,” as Carlos used to call him, is a very skilled engineer and, above all, resilient. A real asset for the Maranello team.
We have been following every single Formula 1 session via on-board footage since 2019. Therefore, we have learned to know the engineer from Brescia. We are talking about an engineer with an enormous technical background who, at the same time, is able to combine his high technical level with the practicality of information. It’s hard to recall any mistakes when reflecting on the past. It is not at all trivial to establish a relationship of mutual trust with completely different drivers, as Daniel Riccardo has been able to do. Trained at Minardi, later acquired by Red Bull, he has worked with several drivers.
He was also the track engineer for Vitantonio Liuzzi, Daniel Ricciardo, and Sebastian Vettel, with whom he reunited in 2015 when the German driver was hired by Scuderia Ferrari. We are talking about an engineer who certainly isn’t afraid of change, just like his driver’s achievements. It should be remembered that when Sebastian Vettel arrived at Ferrari with his four Formula 1 world championships, he was the most decorated driver on the grid by far, considering the fact that only Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had won two. With him, in the middle of Mercedes’ dominance, the Scuderia returned to victory in Malaysia at the second Grand Prix.
The flexibility of the Italian engineer and Lewis Hamilton’s great desire to focus on every little detail will ensure that this new professional collaboration will certainly not be a problem for the team led by Frederic Vasseur. On the contrary, it will be quite interesting to see what comes out of their mutual contribution, because, in our opinion, with Riccardo Adami, the British driver will learn a lot, and vice versa. A partnership that, if confirmed, could form an explosive and potentially lethal duo on the track. Just a few more days, and we will know more about it.
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