The Lewis Hamilton Race Engineer Drama Has To Stop
Enough is enough, I won’t have another year of Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer complaints. Ferrari needs results in 2026, and this is doing nothing to help the team.
When I wrote about the brilliant Bahrain testing sessions Ferrari had ahead of the opening race of the Formula 1 season, I mentioned that Lewis Hamilton stated his happiness and, in general, he looked pleased with the current setup. However, the F1 world seems to have instantly forgotten this, as drama now surrounds Hamilton’s race engineer heading into the 2026 Australian Grand Prix.
This is a major distraction that we didn’t need to be having. The 2026 Formula 1 season is already going to be a challenge, as many of our rivals also looked strong in Bahrain. Yes, we had an amazing testing period, with new technology and consistent running, but this will all mean nothing if Hamilton is unhappy. We saw what the damage this exact situation caused last season, and I don’t want to see that happen again.
What’s Happened To Lewis Hamilton’s Race Engineer?
Technically, nothing has changed in the current Ferrari setup that Lewis Hamilton had during testing. Former Kimi Raikkonen race engineer Carlo Santi will still be in Hamilton’s ear during the opening races of the season, but they had planned to find a permanent engineer to work with the British driver throughout the rest of the 2026 campaign. However, as of right now, Ferrari hasn’t found Santi’s replacement.
So, you may be wondering why this has become such a big story, and to be honest, I’m not 100% sure. Even in Hamilton’s own words, he seems to be taking it all in his stride, but I think him using the word “detrimental” when speaking about the situation to the media has fueled this fire. When talking to the F1 media on February 11th, Hamilton said:
“It’s actually quite a difficult era, because it’s not long-term, the solution that I currently have – it’s only a few races, and so early on into the season it’s going to all be switching up again and I’ll have to learn to work with someone new. So that’s detrimental for me too, [going into] a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that have been through thick and thin, and I can’t. But it is the situation that I’m faced with, and I’ll try and do the best that I can. The team is trying to do the best they can to make it as seamless as possible.“ - Lewis Hamilton on the Ferrari race engineer situation.
But this situation concerns me as a Ferrari fan. I don’t understand why this is such a big issue. I understand that he didn’t enjoy working with Riccardo Adami, who is now nursing talent in Ferrari’s Driver Academy system, but to put all the blame on Riccardo is unfair.
Is Lewis Hamilton The Problem?
To be honest, I would like to think that a seven-time Formula 1 Drivers’ World Champion could walk into most teams and drive the car. I mean, when you look at one of the greatest Ferrari drivers of all time, Niki Lauda, he had a reputation for being outspoken and somewhat difficult to work with. However, Lauda pushed the team into success via his complaints, he didn’t hinder his or the team’s performance on the track. Whereas Hamilton’s race engineer issues have and will hinder us on race day. We saw proof of this last season, and I don’t want to see it again.
Now, just like it wasn’t fair to put all the blame on Riccardo Adami, it’s also not fair to put all the blame on Lewis Hamilton. But, we all had high expectations when Hamilton joined Ferrari, and as of right now, these haven’t been lived up to. This is very much a non-issue, I believe if Riccardo Adami and Max Verstappen worked together at Ferrari, Verstappen would have been just fine and probably would have outperformed Charles Leclerc. I personally feel these are just distractions, and our drivers should instead focus on winning. Ferrari obviously has to do a better job of keeping our drivers happy, but right now Hamilton has a race engineer and I’m sure we will find him a permanent solution in the near future - so let's just focus on Melbourne, shall we?
What do you think about the Lewis Hamilton race engineer situation? Am I too harsh on Hamilton, or do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments below!
