F1 2026: Lewis Hamilton out of excuses after Ferrari split

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is out of F1 excuses after Ferrari split

Hamilton will kick of the 2026 F1 season with a new race engineer

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Monday 19 January 2026 20:53

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The 2025 F1 season did nothing for Lewis Hamilton.

After experiencing two winless seasons at Mercedes in 2022 and 2023, the seven-time champion finally returned to winning ways after a 945-day drought with a commanding win at the 2024 British Grand Prix.

He went on to win the Belgian GP that same year after inheriting the victory from disqualified team-mate George Russell, but nevertheless, adding two wins to his name in what would go on to be his final year with the Silver Arrows could have nicely rounded off his stellar career.

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Instead, Hamilton sought success elsewhere and completed his childhood dream of signing with Ferrari.

However, a year on from his first outing in front of the adoring tifosi and Hamilton is running out of excuses as to why he has been unable to live up to the Scuderia's expectations of him.

Adami out, Hamilton in?

Hamilton's final interviews of 2025 mentioned the promise of better things to come, with the Ferrari driver hinting at a change in personnel before he returned for 2026.

Just two weeks into the new year, that change was confirmed.

On January 16, Ferrari announced that Hamilton's 2025 race engineer, Ricciardo Adami, had been removed from his role at the champion's side to instead move into a new job as the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager.

This news initially presented itself as positive to Hamilton fans given how frosty the duo's working relationship had appeared all-season long (for those unfamiliar with their team radio etiquette, look no further than this painful compilation).

Adami and Hamilton were far from a match made in heaven and the Italian engineer paled in comparison to the Brit's former ally, Peter Bonnington.

But not even Bono can save Hamilton now with Adami's replacement offering no comfort for the 41-year-old.

The Maranello-based squad are yet to announce Hamilton's new engineer but it doesn't matter who they call up to replace Adami, the onus is now on Hamilton to prove he was worth his reported £55 million salary.

Now that Adami has gone, Hamilton has run out of excuses for underperforming at Ferrari and time is running out for the legend to cling on to his reputation.

With new regulations set to level the playing field in 2026, Hamilton will have no one to blame but himself if he cannot take on the challenge of adapting to them.

He has risen from the ashes in the past, but if the British icon fails to resurrect his career this year, not even a harmonious race engineer relationship will save him from the argument that his move to Ferrari was career suicide.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton 2026 regulations Fred Vasseur Riccardo Adami