What’s the situation with Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer? In Bahrain the Brit had Carlo Santi on the pit wall as his new engineer after Riccardo Adami’s exit. According to the seven-time world champion, however, this partnership is only temporary. Hamilton says he’s starting the 2026 season at a disadvantage: “I will have to learn to work with someone else again after a few races.”
Ferrari made known last January that Lewis Hamilton will receive a new race engineer for 2026. The Scuderia assigned Riccardo Adami — who regularly clashed with the seven-time world champion over the radio — a new role within the Italian outfit. Who will be Adami’s permanent successor remained unclear even during the first test week in Bahrain. Carlo Santi has taken over Hamilton’s race-engineer duties for the test week at the Bahrain International Circuit, but the Brit warns this is likely a temporary fix.
In Bahrain Hamilton was asked by the media about the whole saga surrounding his race engineer. “First of all, it was a pretty difficult decision to make with Riccardo, and I’m really very grateful for all the effort he put in last year and for his patience — it was a tough year for all of us,” the Ferrari driver said, thanking his now-former race engineer. “It’s actually a fairly difficult period, because the solution I currently have is not for the long term — it’s only for a few races, and so early in the season everything will change again and I’ll have to learn to work with someone else.”
The seven-time world champion begins the season with a deficit. “That certainly puts me at a disadvantage,” Hamilton continues. “You want to start a season with people who have worked with you for several seasons, who have been through thick and thin. I can’t do that. But it’s the situation I’m dealing with, and I’ll do my best. The team is doing everything it can to make the transition as smooth as possible.”
‘Feels a lot like rallying’
Meanwhile the test days in Bahrain are still underway for Hamilton, and the Brit set the fourth-fastest time on Wednesday morning. After the session he spoke about the brand-new F1 machinery. “There is much less downforce. The car is shorter, lighter and much easier to catch,” Hamilton concluded, having also run a short spin in the SF-26. “It’s actually quite fun, it feels a lot like rallying. I think we’re currently slower than GP2, right? At least it feels that way. It’s the lowest grip I’ve felt in twenty years. The car goes into corners like a GP2 car.”
Hamilton said the brand-new Ferrari challenger felt better in Barcelona. “In Barcelona it didn’t feel that bad. But here in Bahrain it is much windier, and also much hotter. That makes it harder to find the right balance for the car. I think everyone is struggling with that.”
