F1 2026: Lewis Hamilton howler disturbs Ferrari harmony

Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton howler disturbs Ferrari F1 harmony

Ferrari had a positive pre-season testing in Bahrain

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 22 February 2026 20:28 Updated: 22:41

While Ferrari's F1 2026 preparations appear to be going well, there is one problem on Lewis Hamilton's side which threatens to disrupt the harmony, according to a former racer.

Seven-time champion Hamilton suffered a dismal first season at Ferrari, but has begun 2026 in a positive light, revealing that he's 'in a much better place' and actually enjoying driving the new SF-26.

His lightning fast practice start during Bahrain pre-season testing, coupled with Charles Leclerc's blistering lap time on the final day of testing, has ensured Ferrari are entering the 2026 season full of positivity.

Article continues under video

But former F1 driver Ivan Capelli has said the lack of a race engineer for Hamilton will be bugging the Brit before the season, and might just disrupt what he described as a 'calm' feel within the team thanks to their 'harmonious' car design.

Ferrari opted to replace Hamilton's 2025 race engineer Riccardo Adami at the start of 2026 following a difficult first year spent together in 2025, in which a number of tense radio messages between the two were recorded.

Despite replacing the Italian, however, Ferrari didn't appear to have an immediate replacement lined up, and indeed Bryan Bozzi was the race engineer of both Leclerc and Hamilton during Barcelona testing, while Carlo Santi helped out in Bahrain.

Speaking about Ferrari's overall testing performance, former Ferrari driver Capelli told Gazzetta: "The car impressed me because you can see that it has its own logic, starting from the front and extending to the rear. It's a very linear and harmonious car in terms of its design. There have been cars in the past that seemed disjointed to me, almost as if the parts didn't communicate with each other, but that's not the case here."

Asked if the atmosphere at Ferrari seemed positive, he replied: "It was certainly calm. The tests gathered all the information they hoped for, completing the programmes without any problems or hitches."

Then asked about Hamilton's lack of a race engineer, Capelli went on to speak from experience, questioning the Scuderia's strange choice not to have a replacement lined up for Adami.

"In 1992, I had a similar situation: I met my track engineer on the plane on the way to our first race," the Italian continued.

"This doesn't help: rapport with your engineer has to be built up over time, and only then can you count on automatic responses and mutual trust in the stressful moments of competition.

"I am surprised that in recent months they have not yet managed to find someone suitable to fill this role in time for Hamilton."

Who is Hamilton's race engineer in F1 2026?

While nobody has been permanently hired for the role as Hamilton's race engineer, they will be looking to get somebody in the door pretty sharpish, with the season-opening Australian Grand Prix fast approaching.

It's thought that Santi will continue as an interim solution for that race, and a few of the opening races of the season, but then a new permanent hire will take over.

That's rumoured to be former McLaren engineer Cedric Michel-Grosjean, who recently took to LinkedIn to say that he was taking a break while he 'relocated', with this thought to be potentially a move to Maranello.

His last F1 experience listed on the professional social media platform is 'Lead Trackside Performance Engineer' at McLaren, a role he held between January 2025 and December 2025, and he could well be in a period of gardening leave, hence the need for Hamilton to have an interim race engineer in Santi.

But Hamilton has already spoken out about the fact that Ferrari's lack of action around hiring a permanent race engineer could seriously hamper his 2026 chances, telling media at pre-season testing that having to change engineers again after the campaign has become will be, 'detrimental to a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons'.

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

View full biography

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari pre-season testing Riccardo Adami