Scuderia Ferrari has confirmed a significant personnel change for the 2026 Formula One season, removing Riccardo Adami as Lewis Hamilton's race engineer. The move follows a challenging debut year for the seven-time world champion with the Italian team, which he himself described as a "nightmare".
A Fractious Partnership on the Pit Wall
The relationship between Hamilton and Adami appeared strained throughout the 2025 campaign. The pair were involved in several terse radio exchanges, with Hamilton often sounding frustrated and confused. A notable moment came at the Monaco Grand Prix, where Hamilton pointedly asked his engineer, "Are you upset with me or something?" at the end of the race, seemingly receiving no reply.
While Hamilton publicly dismissed rumours of a poor working relationship as "BS" at the time and praised Adami as "amazing to work with", the on-track results told a different story. Hamilton endured the worst statistical season of his illustrious career, failing to secure a single podium finish. He ended the year in sixth place in the drivers' championship, behind teammate Charles Leclerc in fifth, while Ferrari finished a distant fourth in the constructors' standings, 435 points behind champions McLaren.
Hamilton's Demand for Change
The British driver was unequivocal about his dissatisfaction as the season concluded. After being knocked out in Q1 at the final race in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton expressed "an unbearable amount of anger and rage". He made it clear that the status quo was unacceptable, intimating that he expected changes to be made.
"My surroundings in terms of personal personnel, team personnel, how you utilise people, whether people need to move into different positions to work better, all these different things need to be looked upon in my personal space so that we can optimise our teamwork," Hamilton stated explicitly in Abu Dhabi.
Ferrari's Response and the Road Ahead
Ferrari's announcement on Friday indicates the team is heeding its star driver's calls for a reshuffle. The statement confirmed that Riccardo Adami will transition to a new role as the academy and test previous cars manager within Ferrari's driver academy. Adami, who previously served as race engineer for Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz, is therefore being moved sideways from one of the most pivotal trackside roles in F1.
The team stated that Adami's replacement as Hamilton's race engineer—the crucial link between driver and team strategy on the pit wall—will be announced "in due course". This shake-up represents Ferrari's first major step in attempting to rebuild and provide Hamilton with the support structure he demanded after a deeply trying season, as they look ahead to the 2026 campaign.
