Lewis Hamilton braced for Ferrari chaos over new race engineer plans

F1 testing is just six days away and Lewis Hamilton doesn't have a new race engineer at Ferrari. If you're not alarmed, you should be.

Once we were over the news that Riccardo Adami would be stepping down as Hamilton's race engineer, attention then turned to who his right-hand man would be (spoiler, it's probably not Peter Bonnington).

Yet, as we sit here, a week away from the first round of testing in Barcelona, Hamilton still doesn't have a replacement and most likely won't during his first laps in the SF-26.

According to Italian publication Corriere della Sera, Charles Leclerc's race engineer Bryan Bozzi will be looking after both Ferrari drivers during their private test, an outcome, it feels, only Ferrari could consider a solution.

Ferrari's star man will head into the 2026 season — a year repetitively described as a challenge and a huge unknown — unaccompanied by a key member of his entourage. This doesn't sound like a team that, for want of a more eloquent phrase, have their s*** together.

Which leads to the first question: Why did Ferrari announce Adami was stepping down when they didn't have a replacement lined up anyway?

Hamilton race engineer debacle equals chaos

Without a race engineer for testing, Adami's departure appears to be an abrupt decision, devoid of the appropriate structures in place to support Hamilton and a plan to ensure a smooth transition.

It's paramount that Hamilton doesn't have a repeat of his relationship with Adami; but how can he begin to start working on that bond if he doesn't even have a race engineer during his first test?

Everything about these tests will be important, from the tyres to reliability, more so than any test before thanks to the new regulations. So, why on earth have Ferrari decided to instigate upheaval and saddle Hamilton with uncertainty at such a crucial moment of the year? Just bizarre.

The idea of 'sharing' a race engineer is also odd. We're told time and time again that a driver's relationship with their race engineer is that integral link between the person sitting in the cockpit and with the rest of the team. It's not easy for drivers and race engineers to get along, Ferrari have proven that themselves (even Leclerc and Bozzi still don't have a perfect rapport over team radio). With this considered, how can Bozzi possibly divide his attentions effectively?

Who can forget Leclerc's 'I have the seat full of water' to which Bozzi replied 'must be the water'? Hamilton hates this vague style of communication, he needs a race engineer who is clear and factual, but most of all, someone who is on his side. Someone he feels who will back him up, lift him up when even he is doubting himself.

Maybe that's not Ferrari's intention with the Barcelona tests? Instead of having a Hamilton and Leclerc camp, they are one entity united around understanding the SF-26 as Ferrari rather than as individual drivers.

Nevertheless, if Bozzi does indeed split his responsibilities in Barcelona, then it proves two things. Ferrari's processes haven't improved and their operations are still a mess. Doesn't exactly bode well for 2026, does it?

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