Ferrari has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will work with a different race engineer going into his second season with the Scuderia, marking another internal reshuffle as the team continues to refine its structure around the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion. Riccardo Adami, who previously occupied the role, has been reassigned to a new position within the company as part of a broader organisational adjustment.
Riccardo Adami arrived at Ferrari with an impressive résumé, having contributed to almost 20 Grand Prix victories during his time working with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. However, during Lewis Hamilton’s debut season at Maranello, a number of strained radio exchanges surfaced, beginning as early as the opening round in Australia. While Lewis Hamilton consistently downplayed any suggestion of friction and publicly maintained that there were no underlying issues, the dynamic inevitably drew attention throughout the year.
Ultimately, Ferrari’s decision appears to be driven less by public perception and more by results. Lewis Hamilton concluded his first campaign with the team without securing a single Grand Prix podium, a statistic that stood in stark contrast to expectations surrounding one of the most successful drivers in Formula 1 history. In response, Ferrari has opted to recalibrate its operational approach rather than persist with a setup that failed to deliver the desired performance gains.
Before his move to Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton spent 12 highly successful seasons at Mercedes working alongside Peter Bonnington. Together, they formed the most accomplished driver–engineer partnership the sport has ever seen, claiming six World Championships and setting numerous records along the way. Their working relationship was widely praised for its clarity, trust, and strategic sharpness under pressure.
Ferrari unlikely to lure Peter Bonnington from Mercedes
Unsurprisingly, any change involving Lewis Hamilton quickly reignites speculation about a potential reunion with Peter Bonnington. Similar rumours circulated when Lewis Hamilton first announced his switch to Ferrari, but those hopes were swiftly extinguished. Peter Bonnington instead committed his future to Mercedes by signing a new contract and accepting a promotion to head of race engineering, a role that significantly broadened his responsibilities within the team.
In that capacity, Peter Bonnington has played a key role in guiding Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton’s successor at Mercedes. The young Italian demonstrated impressive potential during his rookie season, securing three podium finishes and reinforcing Mercedes’ confidence in its long-term driver strategy.
With Riccardo Adami’s reassignment now confirmed, discussion around a possible Lewis Hamilton–Peter Bonnington reunion has naturally resurfaced. However, a source based in Italy, quoted by the Daily Mail, has dismissed the idea outright, indicating that there is effectively no possibility of Peter Bonnington making a move to Ferrari in the foreseeable future.
Instead, Ferrari is widely expected to follow its established internal promotion pathway. This was the same approach adopted in 2024, when Bryan Bozzi stepped into the race engineer role on Charles Leclerc’s side of the garage, replacing Xavi Marcos. That transition highlighted Ferrari’s preference for continuity and in-house development rather than external recruitment for such critical positions.
Why Lewis Hamilton’s transition remains under scrutiny
Sky Sports reporter Craig Slater revealed in 2024 that Lewis Hamilton was extremely satisfied to see Peter Bonnington promoted within Mercedes, even though it definitively ended their long-standing collaboration. This reaction suggested that Lewis Hamilton understood the broader strategic context, rather than viewing the situation purely through a personal lens.
There has been no indication that Lewis Hamilton has actively pushed Ferrari to pursue Peter Bonnington, despite the obvious theoretical benefits of reuniting with a trusted ally. Nonetheless, former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle has previously argued that Lewis Hamilton would have benefited from bringing one or two familiar figures from Mercedes to ease his transition into Ferrari.
According to Martin Brundle, Lewis Hamilton entered his Ferrari chapter without a sufficient number of his own long-term collaborators around him, making adaptation more complex. Brundle has often pointed to historical precedents, most notably Michael Schumacher’s move from Benetton to Ferrari in 1996. Schumacher successfully convinced key technical figures such as Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne to join him at Maranello, a move that proved instrumental in Ferrari’s eventual return to championship-winning form.
As Ferrari prepares for the next phase of Lewis Hamilton’s tenure alongside Charles Leclerc, the focus will now shift to whether an internally promoted race engineer can unlock greater consistency and competitiveness. With expectations still sky-high and long-term ambitions firmly in place, Ferrari’s latest decision could prove pivotal in shaping the direction of its future success.
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