F1 Australian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton's new Ferrari race engineer spotted at Albert Park

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton's new Ferrari F1 race engineer spotted at Australian Grand Prix

Cedric Michel-Grosjean left McLaren at the end of last year

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Friday 6 March 2026 12:56 Updated: 15:13

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Lewis Hamilton's next race engineer has finally joined up with Ferrari for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, after several weeks of speculation.

Cedric Michel-Grosjean is the man in question, being parachuted in from McLaren and now out of his mandatory period of gardening leave.

A couple of pictures of Michel-Grosjean in Ferrari gear at Albert Park have been circulating on social media, with The Times corroborating that the Frenchman is with the team in Melbourne, and that his gardening leave is over.

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He won't, however, be jumping straight onto the radio this weekend. The team is said to be taking their time to integrate him, with Carlo Santi in place as an interim race engineer for the seven-time world champion.

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All of this is necessary because of the departure of Riccardo Adami from the role in the off-season, with cracks appearing in his and Hamilton's relationship fairly early in their sole year together.

The catty radio messages started as early as the sixth race of the season in Miami, with Hamilton's infamous 'tea break' jab, and sarcastically asking if he should let Carlos Sainz past.

Only time will tell whether Michel-Grosjean and Hamilton gel better than Hamilton and Adami, with the Frenchman's lack of experience as a race engineer providing precious few data points to extrapolate from about his style.

His last role at the end of his near decade-long stint at McLaren saw him working closely with Oscar Piastri last year as lead trackside performance engineer.