Who is Riccardo Adami? Meet Lewis Hamilton's new F1 race engineer and Peter Bonnington's replacement

Lewis Hamilton

Who is Riccardo Adami? Meet Lewis Hamilton's new F1 race engineer

Riccardo Adami will replace Peter Bonnington as Lewis Hamilton's F1 race engineer at Ferrari in 2025

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 1 February 2025 15:02

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Lewis Hamilton will receive a new Formula 1 race engineer at Ferrari in 2025, with Riccardo Adami replacing Peter Bonnington as the champion's right-hand man.

The 40-year-old completed his switch to Ferrari in January, where he underwent his first tour of the factory in Maranello and jumped into the seat of the SF-23 for the first time.

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Taking to Ferrari's private test circuit, Fiorano, Hamilton completed his first lap as a Ferrari driver, with the moment captured in a team radio message with new race engineer Adami.

But who is Riccardo Adami, and why is he replacing Hamilton's long-term race engineer Peter Bonnington?

Lewis Hamilton made his Ferrari debut at Fiorano

Lewis Hamilton's switch to Ferrari is now complete

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Who is Riccardo Adami?

Adami began his F1 career in 2002 with Minardi, where he eventually became race engineer and remained with the team when they re-branded as Toro Rosso following Red Bull's takeover.

During his stint at the Italian outfit, he worked with multiple drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

However, Adami left Toro Rosso in 2015 and joined Vettel at Ferrari as his race engineer, until the legend's departure to Aston Martin.

Since 2021, the Italian served as Carlos Sainz's race engineer, overseeing his four race wins at Ferrari.

Hamilton will replace Sainz for the 2025 season and beyond, with Adami confirmed as the seven-time world champion's new race engineer during his appearance in Maranello.

The change in Hamilton's race engineer comes after it was revealed Hamilton's long-term ally at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington, would not be joining him at Ferrari in 2025.

Why did Peter Bonnington not join Ferrari?

Peter Bonnington will not join Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari

Bonnington, or 'Bono' as he is nicknamed, became Hamilton's race engineer when he moved to Mercedes in 2013, with his catchphrase 'It's hammer time Lewis' familiar with F1 audiences.

Hamilton won six of his seven world titles alongside Bonnington but revealed the British engineer would not be following him to Ferrari in 2025.

Bonnington was instead promoted to head of race engineering at Mercedes, with Hamilton revealing that he would have 'loved to continue' with his former engineer, but was supportive of Bonnington remaining with the Silver Arrows.

The 49-year-old is expected to become Kimi Antonelli's race engineer this season, with the Italian youngster replacing Hamilton at Mercedes to race alongside George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Formula 1 Riccardo Adami Peter Bonnington