Hamilton faces early 2026 engineer shuffle at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has acknowledged that a late change in his race engineer for his second season at Ferrari will be "detrimental" to his 2026 Formula 1 campaign, with a permanent replacement for Riccardo Adami not set to be in place for the opening races.

Why it matters:

The 2026 season introduces sweeping new technical regulations, making stability and a well-drilled team environment more valuable than ever. A mid-season engineering change, especially so early, disrupts the critical driver-engineer synergy needed to develop a new car and extract maximum performance, putting Hamilton at an immediate disadvantage in a high-stakes year.

The details:

• Ferrari moved Riccardo Adami off Hamilton's car and into a Driver Academy role just a week before its 2026 car launch, following a difficult 2025 season marked by some awkward radio exchanges.
• For pre-season testing in Bahrain and the early races, Hamilton will work with Carlo Santi, a former race engineer for Kimi Räikkönen, on a temporary basis.
• The team has reportedly identified a full-time successor to Adami, but they are not immediately available, suggesting the candidate may be serving a period of 'gardening leave' from another team on the grid.
• Hamilton expressed frustration with the timing, noting the value of long-term partnerships: "A season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that have been through thick and thin - and I can't."

What's next:

Hamilton and Ferrari must now navigate a compressed timeline of adaptation. The seven-time champion will need to build a working relationship with Santi for the critical opening phase, only to restart the process when the permanent engineer arrives. This adds a significant layer of complexity to Ferrari's mission to return to the front under the new rules, placing extra pressure on the team to manage the transition seamlessly and minimize performance loss.