Was Lewis Hamilton's first 2026 F1 interview a swipe at Riccardo Adami?

Hamilton in his Ferrari F1 car with image of Hamilton in conversation with Adami edited behind, red, yellow and black block background — Photo: © IMAGO

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Was Lewis Hamilton's first 2026 interview a swipe at Riccardo Adami?

Hamilton will receive a new race engineer for the 2026 championship

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 27 January 2026 08:58

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Ferrari F1 star Lewis Hamilton has spoken for the first time following his maiden outing in the SF-26, and it appears as though he used the interview to deliver a dig at Riccardo Adami.

The 41-year-old was all smiles following Ferrari's 2026 car launch last Friday, delighted to greet the passionate tifosi at the gates of the Fiorano Circuit.

The seven-time champion appeared refreshed despite the jam-packed testing schedule ahead of him, but he may have also been feeling excited for the year ahead now that a major personnel change for the upcoming season has been confirmed.

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Much of Hamilton's first year at Ferrari did not go plan but one issue that stuck out like a sore thumb was the Brit's incompatibility with new race engineer Riccardo Adami.

The champion once known for his effective working relationship with Peter Bonnington was now at the centre of headlines around team radio frustration and a communication breakdown.

Hamilton 'removing things that don’t serve him' ahead of second year at Ferrari

Ahead of the Scuderia's first 2026 shakedown, it was announced that Adami would be moving into a new role with the Scuderia, with Hamilton set to be handed a new race engineer for the upcoming campaign.

Hamilton went silent regarding the issue on social media following the team's announcement, but now in his first official interview of the year with F1.com, he appears to have sent a jibe the Italian's way.

After his first outing in Ferrari's 2026 challenger, Hamilton said: "It’s been such a focus on resetting, having a good break – even though it’s been the shortest one we’ve ever had, it was just what was needed – and I think just learning new patterns and undoing patterns, and removing things that don’t serve me or bring the right energy, making sure you’re just showing up in the right way.

"So I’m excited about the first test – obviously today you don’t get to push it, but it feels cool at Ferrari. But obviously next week we’ll start to try and stretch the legs and see what this new generation of car is going to bring to all of this.

"And then it’s kind of knowing what other people have, what cars, what tricks that other people may or may not have, and what concepts and all those sort of things, and I think for us just keeping our heads down and focusing on our job.

"The team feels refreshed, and [there’s been] so much work from so many different departments here – it’s awesome to see, so we’re going to take this energy and just take it one day at a time."

Ferrari did not take to the track in Barcelona for the first day of private pre-season testing on Monday, but he and the Scuderia are set to take part in the mandated three days of running from Tuesday onwards.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 2026 regulations Riccardo Adami