Lewis Hamilton says it was “a very difficult decision” to part ways with race engineer Riccardo Adami ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Hamilton’s first season as Ferrari driver was probably the most difficult of his long and illustrious F1 career due to a distinct lack of chemistry with Adami.
advertise
Also read:
Lewis Hamilton: ‘The new F1 car is more fun to drive than previous eras’
Last month, Scuderia Ferrari announced that Adami would “move to the role of former Racing Manager of Scuderia Ferrari’s Driver Academy and Testing.”
“It was obviously a very difficult decision,” Hamilton commented in Bahrain. “I really appreciate all the hard work and patience he put in last year and, you know, it’s been a tough year for all of us.”
During testing in Barcelona, Hamilton was engineered by Bryan Bozzi, who usually works with his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc and will continue to work with Monaco this year.
advertise
Starting in Bahrain, Hamilton will team up with Kimi Raikkonen’s former race engineer at Ferrari, Carlos Santi. This is a temporary solution; whether Santee will be able to finish the season has yet to be determined.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
“At the beginning of the season, everything changes again and working with new people, that’s what you have to look forward to. It’s ideal to start the season with someone you’ve spent multiple seasons with, who you’ve been through ups and downs with,” added the seven-time world champion. “But that’s where we are at the moment.
advertise
“This situation affects me as well and I try to do the best we can – we are trying to do the best we can.”
Hamilton set the fourth fastest time in a Ferrari SF-26 during the first round of pre-season testing in Bahrain, clocking 1:36.433, just one second off Max Verstappen’s benchmark. He completed 52 laps in total.
Also read:
F1 Bahrain pre-season testing: Max Verstappen tops on opening morning
To read more Motorsport.com articles, please visit our website.