Why Ferrari’s decision to replace Riccardo Adami puts Lewis Hamilton at a disadvantage. Just days before the Barcelona tests, Ferrari reshuffles Lewis Hamilton’s side of the garage again.

Just a few days before the Barcelona tests, Ferrari has once again reshuffled Lewis Hamilton’s side of the garage, a decision that could weigh heavily on preparation, confidence and results at the most delicate moment.

Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari had been presented as one of the most carefully planned and protected transitions of the modern Formula 1 era, yet the first season in red, in 2025, showed just how much more complex the adaptation proved to be than expected.

After a year already marked by communication issues and a feeling with the team that never fully blossomed, 2026 opens for Lewis Hamilton with a fresh element of instability. Just days before the pre-season tests in Barcelona, Ferrari decided to reshuffle the cards once again on the seven-time world champion’s side of the garage, removing Riccardo Adami from the role of race engineer despite his confirmation coming only a week earlier.

It is a decision that carries significant weight, especially given its timing and context. The tests represent the first real proving ground of the new technical era, and the relationship between driver and race engineer is one of the most delicate junctions in the process of building performance. Changing the voice in the driver’s ear so close to the on-track debut means sacrificing continuity, established routines and trust, elements that Lewis Hamilton is still trying to consolidate after his first year in Maranello.

Why the sudden change could put 2026 at risk

Throughout 2025, communication difficulties surfaced on multiple occasions. Requests for clarification over the radio, responses arriving late or at the wrong moments, and information management that did not always help the driver feel fully supported. In this scenario, the decision to start again with a new race engineer risks amplifying already known issues rather than resolving them.

Lewis Hamilton comes from more than a decade of absolute stability with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes, a bond built over time through shared language and mutual trust. At Ferrari, by contrast, the British driver is once again forced to adapt, learn new dynamics and rebuild a technical relationship at a crucial phase of the SF-26’s development.

The risk is not so much technical as it is organisational. The Ferrari heading into 2026 needs certainty, especially around one of the figures expected to lead the project into the new regulatory cycle. Every unplanned change, every signal of internal instability, ends up draining energy from a path that should be as linear as possible.

There is time to recover, but it is limited. The tests will also serve this purpose: to understand whether the new structure can withstand pressure and whether the Briton can finally find the operational continuity that was too often missing in 2025. In a year zero like 2026, starting with one more problem is a luxury Ferrari simply cannot afford.

The sudden replacement of Riccardo Adami as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer highlights a persistent lack of stability within Ferrari as they head into the 2026 season. By disrupting the driver-engineer bond just days before the Barcelona tests, Ferrari is forcing Lewis Hamilton to navigate yet another learning curve instead of focusing purely on the performance of the SF-26. As the seven-time champion tries to find the synergy he once enjoyed at Mercedes, this latest internal shake-up suggests that the “cultural adaptation” at Maranello remains a significant hurdle for both the team and its star signing.