Ferrari Retains Race Engineers for Hamilton and Leclerc in 2026
Ferrari has decided to keep Riccardo Adami as Lewis Hamilton's race engineer and Bryan Bozzi with Charles Leclerc for the 2026 season, ending recent speculation about potential shake-ups.
Ferrari has opted for stability, confirming that Lewis Hamilton will continue with race engineer Riccardo Adami and Charles Leclerc will remain with Bryan Bozzi for the 2026 season. The decision ends speculation that the team might reshuffle its pit wall personnel following some tense radio exchanges during the season. Team principal Frédéric Vasseur had previously emphasized the need for the team to improve its support and communication with its drivers.
Why it matters:
Maintaining continuity is crucial as Ferrari prepares for a major 2026 season with a new driver lineup and significant regulatory changes. The driver-race engineer relationship is one of the most critical on the grid, requiring deep trust and understanding to extract maximum performance. Avoiding a personnel shake-up allows the team to focus its resources on car development and on-track execution rather than rebuilding communication channels from scratch.
The details:
- Confirmed Pairings: Riccardo Adami will continue as Hamilton's race engineer, while Bryan Bozzi remains with Leclerc, ensuring stability despite the driver lineup changing for 2026.
- Source of Speculation: Rumors of a change circulated after several radio messages during the season revealed moments of frustration from both drivers, leading to public questions about their on-air chemistry.
- Vasseur's Stance: Team boss Frédéric Vasseur had previously stated that Ferrari as a whole needed to work more effectively to help Hamilton extract performance, indicating the issue might be systemic rather than solely with the engineer.
What's next:
With the personnel decisions settled, the focus now shifts to fostering strong chemistry ahead of Hamilton's highly anticipated debut season in red. The true test will be how these established pairings perform under pressure during pre-season testing and throughout the 2026 campaign. All eyes will be on Maranello to see if this stability translates into the results needed to challenge for championships.