Major Ferrari Issue Will Be “Detrimental” to Lewis Hamilton’s Season

Lewis Hamilton has conceded that the ongoing quest to find a permanent race engineer at Ferrari will be "detrimental" to the start of the new Formula 1 season.

The seven-time champion worked with Ricardo Adami during what transpired to be a difficult maiden campaign with the Scuderia last term as he struggled to gel with the car and failed to secure a grand prix podium - though he did with the Chinese Grand Prix sprint.

His relationship with Adami often came under scrutiny with several heated exchanges over team radio throughout the season, with the decision made in January to move Adami across to a managerial role focused on the driver academy and the TPC [testing of previous cars] program.

Starting the day the right way ☕ pic.twitter.com/kD8zCGICp1
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) February 12, 2026

Hamilton's "difficult period"

"The first thing with Riccardo is that it was obviously a very difficult decision to make," Hamilton told media at the first Bahrain pre-season test, as per RacingNews365. "I'm really, really grateful for all the effort he put in last year and his patience. You know, it was a difficult year for us all."

The temporary solution for Ferrari and Hamilton is for Kimi Raikkonen's former race engineer Carlo Santi to fill the gap, alongside his role as head of remote engineering.

That partnership will continue for the first cluster of races before a permanent appointment is announced, which has been widely reported to be former McLaren employee Cedric Michel-Grosjean.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, pre-season test, Bahrain — Scuderia Ferrari

It will be a tough ask for that partnership to gel so quickly, given the complexity of the new regulations, which every other driver is currently able to work through with their race engineers.

"It's actually quite a difficult period, because the solution that we currently have is not long-term. It's only going to be a few races," explained Hamilton. "So early on into the season, I'm going to be switching up again, and I'll have to learn to work with someone new.

"That's detrimental to a season where you want to arrive with people who have done multiple seasons, who have been through thick and thin, and are calm. It is the situation I'm faced with, and I'll try and do the best I can. The team is trying to do the best it can to help make it seem as seamless as possible."

Hamilton drove the SF-26 on the first morning of the three-day test before handing over duties to Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque took full control on day two, with Hamilton back in the car for the entirety of Friday's running.

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