Hamilton to work with new race engineer for 2026

Adami, who partnered with Hamilton for his first season at Ferrari, will now oversee testing of previous cars for the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, bringing his extensive trackside experience to the development of young drivers.

A successor for Hamilton’s race engineer role has yet to be announced.

Hamilton teamed up with Adami after the Italian had previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz, joining the seven-time world champion for what proved a challenging debut year in red.

The pairing produced early success, including Hamilton’s sprint race win in China, but the season also saw several difficult moments on the radio.

Hamilton frequently defended the partnership, saying after the Australian Grand Prix: “Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers, they’re far worse.”

Ferrari head of track engineering Matteo Togninalli added during the Qatar Grand Prix weekend: “What you see from outside is worse.”

Nevertheless, there were a number of tense exchanges, including Hamilton’s frustrated comment in Miami during a swap decision with Charles Leclerc: “Not good teamwork,” and a sarcastic suggestion to Adami to take a “tea break while you’re at it.”

In Monaco, Hamilton also questioned whether Adami was upset after receiving no reply to a message on a cool down lap — an incident Ferrari later explained was due to a lack of direct communication at that point on the track.

Hamilton’s debut season at Ferrari concluded with a run of early Q1 exits, prompting the team to review its engineering setup over the winter.

Adami’s new role will see him contribute to the growth of future talent while strengthening performance culture across the Ferrari Driver Academy, with Ferrari thanking him for his commitment to the team.

“Scuderia Ferrari HP would like to thank Riccardo for his commitment and contribution to his trackside role and wishes him every success in his new position,” the team said in a statement.

Hamilton now faces the task of establishing a new working relationship with his next race engineer ahead of pre-season testing in Barcelona and the launch of Ferrari’s 2026 car.