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Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s failure to appoint him a new permanent race engineer ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season will be “disadvantaging” to his second season with the Italian team.
Ferrari confirmed in January that Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami would be moved to other parts of the organization to cope with his challenging first season with the team.
The team has yet to make any further official announcement on a replacement, but it is understood that Carlo Santi, who worked with Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari, has been appointed on an interim basis.
Hamilton confirmed during pre-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday that he would be changing race engineers again in the near future, without mentioning Santi’s name.
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Lewis Hamilton appears frustrated with the communication via team radio at various stages of the 2025 season.
Hamilton said: “It’s actually a pretty difficult period because it’s not long-term and our current solution is just a few games.
“So, early in the season, things change again and I have to learn to work with new people, so that’s not good for a season because you want to come into the season with people who have been through multiple seasons, who have been through the ups and downs, who are calm.
“But this is the situation I’m facing and I’m going to try to do the best I can. The team is doing their best to make everything as smooth as possible.”
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Jenson Button admitted it was “hard” to see former team-mate Lewis Hamilton struggle in his first season at Ferrari but backed the seven-time world champion to improve this year.
Team radio messages broadcast by Hamilton during his first season at Ferrari suggested there were communication difficulties between the seven-time world champion and Adami, but Hamilton said making the change was a “very difficult” decision.
“This is obviously a very difficult decision for Ricciardo,” Hamilton said.
“I really appreciate the hard work he put in last year and the patience he showed during a difficult year for all of us.”
Sky Sports F1 Bahrain test schedule
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Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz takes a closer look at what F1 will look like in 2026, as the sport begins a new era of rechargeable models, more electricity, new teams and engine suppliers.
Test 1: Wednesday, February 11, Thursday, February 12, Friday, February 13
- 3 p.m.: Last hour of live track and field events
- 8pm: Test ends
- 8.30pm: Ted’s Test Notebook
Test 2: Wednesday, February 18th, Thursday 19th, Friday, February 20th
- 6.50am-11.05am: Morning live broadcast
- 11.55am-4.10pm: Afternoon live broadcast
- 8pm: Test ends
Stream every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8. Watch Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
