Lewis Hamilton race engineer gets new job after F1 split

Lewis Hamilton smiling at the Qatar Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton race engineer gets new job after F1 split

Riccardo Adami is no longer Hamilton's race engineer

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 18 January 2026 08:59 Updated: 13:43

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Following the news Riccardo Adami will no longer serve as Lewis Hamilton's F1 race engineer, the Italian has assumed a new role at Ferrari.

Throughout 2025, Hamilton and Adami appeared to be an ill-matched pair with tense team radio exchanges and miscommunications plaguing the champion's first season at Ferrari.

Hamilton's exasperated messages such as 'take a tea break' and 'are you mad at me or something' instantly come to mind, but, despite these hiccups, the Brit maintained that he enjoyed working with Adami.

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The relationship between a driver and their race engineer is crucial, with Hamilton never quite enjoying that easy bond he had with Mercedes' Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, and Adami was undoubtedly hampered his adjustment period at Ferrari.

Now, on the eve of the 2026 season — a critical year in determining the future of Hamilton — Ferrari have announced that Adami will be replaced as Hamilton's race engineer.

Instead, Adami will move into the new role as Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager.

What is the Ferrari Driver Academy?

The Ferrari Driver Academy is a driver development programme which aims to nurture young talent to help them prepare one day for F1.

Ferrari's own young driver academy has ushered in the likes of Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Ollie Bearman into the sport, with the academy currently being supervised by Jerome d'Ambrosio.

At present, Ferrari's young driver academy includes Dino Beganovic and Rafael Camara, alongside F1 Academy stars Maya Weug and Alba Larsen, training youngsters physically, technically and mentally.

In Ferrari's press release regarding Adami's departure the team said: "His extensive trackside experience and Formula 1 expertise contributes to the development of future talent and to strengthening performance culture across the program.

"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 appointment of the new race engineer for car #44 [Hamilton] will be announced in due course."

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Riccardo Adami Ferrari Driver Academy