Riccardo Adami as Ferrari race engineer for Lewis Hamilton in 2025: why Fred Vasseur believes it is right option

Scuderia Ferrari is putting into practice its restyling process with the long-term goal of returning to the top in Formula 1. A path littered with various pitfalls but navigated with full awareness. This is the first significant feedback we have seen firsthand after the first two races of the 2024 Formula 1 season, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The SF-24 car currently satisfies both the technicians and the two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. It’s clearly not the car to beat, but it’s still capable of leading the pack of pursuers behind the mighty Red Bull RB20, with encouraging prospects for the rest of the season.

For now it is a good start, we can call it that. However, considering the goal of the ongoing racing campaign, the next evolutionary steps must accurately confirm the effectiveness of the work done by the Maranello team during the winter. The desire to match the performance of the Milton Keynes team must not remain just a wish. On the contrary, it requires concrete results, a clear target that must necessarily be present in the Ferrari pits. All the necessary tools seem to be there to achieve this.

We discussed this morning through a dedicated article, outlining the technical-operational plan with which the Prancing Horse intends to enhance the SF-24 in the upcoming months. During April, we will find out if the measures implemented by the Maranello team will be effective. Although the target does not include winning the 2024 Formula 1 championship, giving meaning to this season is still important. It’s a direct signal to Buckinghamshire, the British county that hosts the factory of the reigning world champion team.

Leaving the present behind, let’s take a quick look into the future. Carlos Sainz has a deadline looming over him. His contract has not been renewed as Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann, among others, has opted to do without the Spaniard, counting on the support of Sir Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion will join the Italian side starting from the next Formula 1 championship, bringing with him, along with the immense experience accumulated throughout his lengthy career, much of the know-how gathered during the extraordinary dominance experienced at Mercedes.

Ferrari 2025: Lewis Hamilton with Riccardo Adami, a highly assorted pair

In the wake of the Lewis Hamilton to Scuderia Ferrari announcement, much has been said about the technical implications of such an operation. A move that could convince important technical figures working in Brackley to change their home address, finding their daily resting place on Italian soil. One of these could have been the English engineer Peter Bonnington, who has worked (and still is) closely elbow to elbow with the British driver. Unfortunately, in this case, the “anti-poaching” clause complicates significantly the hypothetical move of Bono to undoubtedly more pleasant places from a meteorological point of view.

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We are talking about a wisely inserted clause in Lewis Hamilton’s contract by the entourage of the German team, aimed at preventing a sort of poaching from rival teams. It is evident that the multi-championship-winning team had foreseen such a scenario, considering the one plus one year agreement signed by Lewis Hamilton in 2023. According to information reported by the Italian media, this factor has reinforced a thought already present in Frederic Vasseur’s mind: Riccardo Adami is adequately prepared to pair with the seven-time Formula 1 world champion. A solution also welcomed by the British driver, apparently.

Ricky has a gentle character. In the five years since we have followed every single weekend aboard the two red cars, we have witnessed his qualities firsthand. We’re talking about a super-prepared engineer in every respect who has always shown a precise characteristic: the ability to always maintain composure, even in the most hectic moments of a race weekend, offering the drivers a safe haven to catch their breath and not be swept away by events. Riccardo Adami joined Ferrari in 2015 to follow Sebastian Vettel. Six seasons alongside the German driver during which he demonstrated his true worth.

The latest evidence of this was last week when the fifty-year-old Italian engineer perfectly guided the young and inexperienced British rookie Oliver Bearman. A lot of sensitivity in making comfortable someone who obviously wasn’t, considering that Ollie was thrown into the world of Formula 1 without notice or any previous experience. A comprehensive, technical, and emotional support that made the daunting task easier. For these reasons, pending official confirmation, Scuderia Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur seems to have dispelled the few reservations he had, wanting to entrust Riccardo Adami with the task of managing the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time.