F1 2026: Meet the stars of team radio - race engineers as Lewis Hamilton confirms controversial Ferrari plan

Thanks to the major regulations overhaul coming into F1 in 2026, there are more changes taking place in the sport than the average fan can keep count of.

With new American squad Cadillac joining the grid, there are now 22 drivers, but thanks to Aston Martin's unusual team lineup, there will actually be more than 22 race engineers for the 2026 campaign.

Whilst the Silverstone squad have announced a two engineer structure for both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll all-season long, seven time champion Lewis Hamilton has confirmed he will be heading to the Australian Grand Prix without a permanent race engineer replacement.

Hamilton's first year with the Scuderia did not go according to plan, something which wasn't helped by his fragile relationship with race engineer Riccardo Adami.

The pair seemed an inappropriate fit and their awkward team radio exchanges often made headlines more than Hamilton's performances in 2025. But ahead of the 2026 campaign, Ferrari announced that Adami would not be retaining the role for Hamilton's sophomore season in red, although a replacement is yet to be announced.

The face of a race engineer may not always have a starring role during a grand prix, but they are a crucial part of F1's broadcast and, of course, the driver's race weekend, something which hasn't escaped Hamilton as he could be set to change race engineers twice in 2026.

A race engineer is the point of communication between the driver and the team during a session, whether that is guiding them through their strategy, helping them improve performance or coaching a driver to manage their car - or in Gianpiero Lambiase's case, calming down a foul-mouthed Max Verstappen.

Over the years, some race engineers have become household names, with the voice of Peter Bonnington (or Bono) now iconic for his motivational catchphrase towards Hamilton: "It's hammer time."

Then there's Ferrari's Bryan Bozzi whose legacy may now come down to his words of wisdom during the classic "the seat is full of water" exchange with Charles Leclerc.

But who are the race engineers for the stars of the 2026 grid? Here's what we know so far.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton questioned as Ferrari take advantage of 2026 'loophole'

Who are all the F1 race engineers in 2026?

McLaren

Lando Norris: Will Joseph

Will Joseph has a long history at McLaren, where he began his career with the team in 2006 as their rear suspension engineer, and in 2012 he moved to trackside performance engineering working with champions Hamilton and Alonso.

He became Norris' race engineer following the young Brit's arrival at McLaren, and in 2024, Joseph was also promoted as the team's director of race engineering. He will now continue to guide Norris through team radio as his race engineer for 2026 following the Brit's 2025 drivers' championship victory.

Oscar Piastri: Tom Stallard

Before becoming a race engineer, Tom Stallard was an Olympic rower who won a silver medal in the men's eight's for Great Britain at the 2008 games in Beijing.

Stallard left the sport to join McLaren and became Jenson Button's race engineer in 2014, subsequently working with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo before Oscar Piastri arrived at the team.

Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton: TBC

After his famously positive relationship with Mercedes engineer Bono, Hamilton struggled to adapt with his 2025 race engineer Adami.

With Adami switching to a role with the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and TPC manager, Hamilton shared race engineers with Leclerc for the Barcelona shakedown.

After Bryan Bozzi’s shakedown involvement, Carlo Santi took up the role of being Hamilton's temporary race engineer during pre-season testing.

Speaking ahead of the 2026 championship, Hamilton seemed to confirm Ferrari’s controversial plan to swap his engineer again after the season has begun, something which many including Hamilton have pointed out could prove to be a major setback.

Rumours over who could replace Adami permanently have circled back to former McLaren engineer Cedric Michel-Grosjean, although this is yet to be confirmed by the team.

Charles Leclerc: Bryan Bozzi

Bryan Bozzi replaced Xavier Marcos as Charles Leclerc's race engineer at Imola in 2024 and was alongside the Ferrari star during his iconic win in Monaco the same year.

Previously, Bozzi worked as Leclerc's performance engineer and originally joined Ferrari in 2012 as a wind tunnel research & development engineer.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen: Gianpiero Lambiase

Gianpiero Lambiase or 'GP', is not just there to calm Verstappen down via team radio, he is an integral part of the champion's team and has been Verstappen's race engineer throughout all four of the Dutchman's championship victories.

Lambiase started his F1 career in 2005 at Jordan and remained with the team through their various rebrands, such as Midland, Spyker, and Force India, before joining Red Bull in 2015.

Isack Hadjar: Richard Wood

After being Liam Lawson's race engineer for just two races in 2025, Richard Wood will remain in as the main point of contact during a grand prix distance for the second Red Bull seat.

With Yuki Tsunoda dropped from his full-time position as Verstappen's team-mate, Isack Hadjar will now step up, and the newly promoted Red Bull star will partner with Wood for 2026.

Wood previously served as Sergio Perez's performance engineer prior to his F1 exit in 2024 and is used to a quick turnaround of thanks to Red Bull's tendency to swap drivers.

Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli: Peter Bonnington

The iconic voice in Hamilton's ear at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington, has become synonymous with Hamilton's championship-winning years.

However, the engineer did not follow Hamilton to Ferrari and has remained at Mercedes, continuing to guide Kimi Antonelli as his race engineer whilst also balancing this with taking up the role as head of race engineering with the Silver Arrows.

George Russell: Marcus Dudley

Marcus Dudley entered F1 in 2006 as a mathematical modeller and joined Mercedes as a performance engineer in 2013. He previously worked for Honda, Arden International and Marussia.

He will continue in his role as George Russell's race engineer in 2026, a position he has held since 2023.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso: Chris Conin & Andrew Vizard

Andrew Vizard was appointed as Lance Stroll's race engineer in 2024 but moved to Fernando Alonso's side of the garage for the 2025 season.

For 2026 however, Chris Conin, who worked with Alonso in 2023 and 2024, will also step up to the role of senior race engineer as part of a restructuring, meaning Cronin will serve as Aston Martin's chief track engineer, while also being in charge of Alonso's car and Vizard will report to him.

Lance Stroll: Gary Gannon & Stephen Glass

This same restructuring format will be replicated on Stroll's team for 2026, where Gary Gannon will serve as senior race engineer and Stephen Glass will be next in the chain of command.

Aston Martin signed Gannon from Haas for 2025, and he has been promoted up the chain for 2026 as the team look to improve with F1 design gurur Adrian Newey leading them into a new era.

Gannon previously served as Nico Hulkenberg's race engineer at Haas, also working with Mick Schumacher and Romain Grosjean during his tenure at the American squad.

Alpine

Pierre Gasly: Josh Peckett

After working with long-time Alpine employee John Howard in 2024 and 2025, Pierre Gasly will take to the F1 grid in 2026 with new race engineer Josh Peckett.

Peckett has stepped up into the role having previously been a long-standing race engineer at the Enstone-based squad where he worked with Gasly's fellow countryman and ex-team-mate Esteban Ocon.

Franco Colapinto: Stuart Barlow

In 2026, Franco Colapinto will reunite with Stuart Barlow, who will continue in the role of the Argentine driver's race engineer.

Barlow moved up to race engineering after working in performance and trackside engineering roles with Alpine and took on full-time race engineer duties with Colapinto last year after he stepped in to replace Jack Doohan, whose race engineer was Peckett.

Racing Bulls

Liam Lawson: Alexandre Iliopoulos

Having held on to his seat at the junior Red Bull outfit, Liam Lawson will have Alexandre Iliopoulos as his race engineer for 2026 with Racing Bulls.

Iliopoulos joined the junior squad in 2016 when they were known as Toro Rosso, progressing through the ranks up to the role of Senior Performance Engineer in 2024.

He will now reportedly take up the role as Lawson's race engineer as the Kiwi racer tackles the new regulations in 2026.

Arvid Lindblad: Pierre Hamelin

Pierre Hamelin has served as an engineer at Racing Bulls in its various guises, such as Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri, since 2014.

After working with Hadjar in 2025, Arvid Lindblad is now the latest in a long list of drivers Hamelin has worked with at the junior squad, which previously also included Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson.

Haas

Esteban Ocon: Laura Muller

The Haas star made history as the first female F1 race engineer in 2025 and will continue to oversee Esteban Ocon's race weekends with the American outfit in 2026.

Muller previously worked in sportscar championships such as DTM, before joining Haas in 2022 where her 'determination' convinced team boss Ayao Komatsu that she was the right fit for new hire Ocon.

Ollie Bearman: Ronan O’Hare

Haas' young driver will continue to work alongside Ronan O'Hare in his second season with the squad, with the Irish engineer boasting a wealth of experience at rival F1 teams such as Mercedes, Williams and Toro Rosso.

Prior to that he was a research engineer at Brawn GP and now enters his fourth season with Haas having being promoted from the role of performance engineer.

Williams

Carlos Sainz: Gaetan Jego

Amid a barrage of changes in 2026, Sainz can feel safe in the knowledge that he is retaining the services of the race engineer that took him to two podiums with Williams in his first season with the squad.

Gaetan Jego boasts 14 years of experience at ART Grand Prix not only in single seaters but also sportscar series such as DTM.

Alex Albon: James Urwin

For 2026, James Urwin enters his fifth season as Alex Albon's race engineer and has been in this role at Williams since 2017, working with Lance Stroll and then George Russell before Albon's arrival.

Prior to F1, Urwin worked in the European Le Mans Series and British GT as a mechanic.

Audi

Nico Hulkenberg: Steven Petrik

Arriving from Ferrari in 2024, Sauber engineer Steven Petrik worked with Valtteri Bottas in his final season with the team and then joined forces with Nico Hulkenberg following his arrival at Sauber.

His eight years of experience as a performance engineer at Ferrari will hopefully come in handy at Hulkenberg's side again in 2026 as Petrik remains with the German racer through the team's transformation into Audi.

Gabriel Bortoleto: Jose Manuel Lopez

Jose Manuel Lopez arrived at Sauber to work with Gabriel Bortoleto from McLaren, where he previously worked closely with Lando Norris.

He was mainly Norris' performance engineer at the team, and even acted as his race engineer whilst Will Joseph was on paternity leave in 2023.

Like Petrik, Lopez has remained as Bortoleto's engineer as the team adopted the Audi name for the 2026 season and beyond.

Cadillac

Sergio Perez: Carlo Pasetti

After taking a year out of the sport altogether following his Red Bull axing, Perez is back with F1's 11th team, Cadillac.

The Mexican racer will be guided by the voice of race engineer Carlo Pasetti this season, who isn't exactly a new name to the six-time grand prix winner.

Pasetti was previously Perez’s performance engineer during his time at Racing Point (now Aston Martin) and was at Perez’s side during his maiden victory at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas: John Howard

After leaving Alpine for 2026, Gasly's former engineer John Howard will take up the role as Valtteri Bottas' first race engineer at Cadillac.

Like Perez, Bottas is making his full-time return to the sport with the American squad after spending a year on the sidelines as a Mercedes reserve driver.

READ MORE: F1 2025 Driver Lineup: Big names on the move as full grid complete

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