Hamilton Parts Ways With Race Engineer Adami for 2026 Season

Lewis Hamilton will enter the 2026 Formula 1 season with a new voice on his radio after Ferrari confirmed Riccardo Adami is leaving his role as the seven-time champion's race engineer. Adami, who previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz, will transition to the Ferrari Driver Academy to oversee testing of previous cars, marking a significant personnel shift following Hamilton's challenging debut season with the team.

Why it matters:

The synergy between a driver and race engineer is the backbone of race weekend operations, often determining how quickly a team can solve problems during a session. While Hamilton and Adami secured a Sprint win in China, the late-season slump and visible communication struggles suggest Ferrari believes a reset is necessary to extract maximum performance from Hamilton for the crucial 2026 regulations.

The details:

• Strategic Shift: Adami moves to the Ferrari Driver Academy, leveraging his extensive trackside experience to develop young drivers and test previous cars. Ferrari thanked him for his commitment to the trackside role.
• A Rocky Partnership: The pairing was marked by tense radio exchanges throughout 2025. Notable incidents included Hamilton's frustrated "tea break" comment in Miami during a swap decision and confusion over a lack of reply in Monaco.
• Public Defense: Despite the friction, both parties publicly downplayed the issues. Hamilton dismissed the criticism compared to other teams, and track engineering boss Matteo Togninalli claimed the external perception was worse than reality.
• Performance Review: The decisive factor likely involved Hamilton's run of early Q1 exits toward the end of the season, prompting the team to review its engineering structure over the winter.

What's next:

Ferrari has not yet named Adami's successor. Hamilton now faces a race against time to build a new rapport with his next engineer before pre-season testing begins in Barcelona. With the 2026 car launch approaching, establishing immediate chemistry will be crucial for Ferrari's title aspirations.