Ferrari Shuffles Hamilton’s Race Engineering Team After Strained 2025 Season

Ferrari is shaking up Lewis Hamilton’s support structure after confirming that Riccardo Adami will step down as the seven-time champion’s race engineer. The move comes after a season marked by awkward radio exchanges and follows Martin Brundle’s observation that Hamilton "terribly missed" a trusted ally like Peter Bonnington during his debut year at Maranello.

Why it matters:

The relationship between a driver and their race engineer is the cockpit's lifeline. Without seamless communication and implicit trust, strategic execution suffers, particularly during high-pressure moments. Hamilton’s struggle to find that rhythm with Adami highlights the immense challenge of integrating into a new team culture, especially when compared to the telepathic understanding he had at Mercedes or the dynamic Max Verstappen enjoys with GP Lambiase.

The details:

• Role Change: Adami will transition to managing Ferrari’s junior driver scheme and Testing of Previous Car (TPC) efforts, leaving Hamilton’s engineer slot for 2026 vacant. Ferrari has not confirmed if the replacement will be internal or external.
• Radio Tension: The pair struggled to gel throughout 2025. Notable friction occurred in Miami over team orders—where Hamilton sarcastically suggested a "tea break"—and in Monaco, where he asked if Adami was "upset with me" over the radio.
• The "No-Poaching" Factor: Hamilton was unable to bring long-term confidant Peter Bonnington to Ferrari due to a contractual clause preventing him from poaching Mercedes staff, forcing him to build a new relationship from scratch.
• Brundle’s Insight: The Sky F1 pundit pointed to the Verstappen-Lambiase partnership as the gold standard, noting that Hamilton lacked someone who "understands what they’re saying, what they need, all the little nuances" to translate feedback into performance.

What's next:

Ferrari has yet to announce Adami’s replacement, leaving the door open for an internal promotion or an external hire. Hamilton hinted at a broader reset for 2026, stating on social media that "the time for change is now" and acknowledging the need to analyze and improve his personal team structure over the winter to ensure a more efficient campaign.