F1 legend Lewis Hamilton's silence on Riccardo Adami split is deafening

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton's silence on Riccardo Adami split is deafening

Lewis Hamilton will not work with Riccardo Adami in 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 20 January 2026 08:27 Updated: 13:30

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Since it was announced that Riccardo Adami would not be Lewis Hamilton's F1 race engineer in 2026, the seven-time champion's silence has been deafening.

It was announced last week that Adami had been moved into a new role, and that Ferrari would be looking for a replacement for the Italian for next season, after some awkward moments between the pair in 2025.

At the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton seemed bemused by a lack of information coming from Adami, while the Miami GP saw Hamilton tell the team through Adami to 'have a cup of tea' after he was angered by the fact that he wasn't being let through by Charles Leclerc.

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Then came the Monaco GP, when it had appeared as though Adami had blanked Hamilton when the Brit had asked 'Are you annoyed at me?' However, that was later cleared up with Ferrari suggesting that Adami had already left the pit wall at that stage.

These moments led to suggestions that they had not gelled particularly well together since Hamilton joined the team in January last year, and team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed at the end of 2025 that there would be an evaluation of Hamilton's close team.

But Hamilton has not even issued a simple 'thank you' to Adami on social media for their season spent together.

The news was announced last week, and Hamilton's silence on the matter has been deafening.

Why has Hamilton not thanked Riccardo Adami for his services?

There's no doubt that they had a tricky working relationship, but it was thought that the pair got on fine away from the track, with reports of a 'positive dinner' between the pair circulating just before Christmas.

Adami has been handed a new role at Ferrari which should mean that the pair will still see each other, potentially a reason why Hamilton has not felt the need to issue a social media post about Adami.

Then there's the fact that Hamilton said that he would be off social media throughout F1's winter break, potentially another reason why he has not publicly thanked Adami.

But despite this apparent social media blackout, Hamilton has still found time to post about Lululemon, the brand with whom he is an ambassador, as well as posting pictures from a recent holiday.

So it begs the question, why has he not offered some level of thanks to the man who guided him through the 2025 season?

There's no doubt that Hamilton would love to have Peter 'Bono' Bonnington back in his corner, after the Brit spent 12 seasons alongside Bono at Mercedes, winning six world championships in that time, with the Mercedes man now Kimi Antonelli's race engineer.