Australian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton F1 nightmare returns just one day into 2026 season

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton F1 nightmare returns just one day into 2026 season

New year, same issue for Lewis as F1 returns at the Australian Grand Prix

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 6 March 2026 20:40

Someone better call Bill Murray because it's Groundhog Day for Lewis Hamilton, who immediately faced a familiar problem at the F1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Much about Hamilton suggests he has banished the demons of 2025, from a fighting statement on social media where he claimed he 'lost his way', to his belief the 'winning mentality' has returned to Ferrari.

While early sessions indicate newfound pace for Ferrari and Hamilton, one major weakness persists in the seven-time champion's arsenal. His lack of a race engineer.

Article continues under video

For the first few races of the season, Hamilton will work with Carlo Santi on a temporary basis as he, presumably, waits for a more permanent arrival.

F1 pundits have commented on the disadvantage of not replacing Riccardo Adami in the off-season, with Sky Sports' Karun Chandhok saying that 'alarm bells were ringing' over the situation. Even Hamilton himself admitted the 'missing link' will hurt his 2026 season.

Communication between a driver and their race engineer in 2026 will be ever more crucial given the sweeping new regulations - which mean new cars and energy management posing a major challenge for the driver.

Already in 2026, the very scenario which threatened to play out following Ferrari's race engineer blunder, has occurred on the very first day.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton avoids major crash as McLaren star tops day one of 2026 season

Hamilton and Santi in communication breakdown

During FP1 on Friday at the Australian GP, Hamilton requested feedback from Santi and asked: "I need more feedback of where that four tenths is."

Santi replied: "Two tenths in the first sector, power limited.”

Hamilton responded with: "I understand it’s two tenths but where is that power limit?"

The exchange didn't stop there, with Santi reporting: "Power limit is between two and three. Same second sector. Same third sector."

Clearly needing more from his race engineer, Hamilton then asked: "Two and three is not helping. Is it apex speed? Is it exit?"

Santi then replied it's 'power limit', without expanding further, which was clearly unhelpful for the seven-time champion, who said: "That does not help me, mate. Is it the exit or is it the apex? I don’t care about power limit."

Again a simple response from Santi, who answered: "It’s the apex."

Hamilton pushed for more, unhappy with the current method of communication, and said: "Okay. Is apex too high or too low? Give me some feedback…”

What about Cedric Michel-Grosjean? The man tipped to become Hamilton's engineer?

During the off-season, reports claimed that former McLaren performance engineer Cedric Michel-Grosjean was 'Ferrari bound', although it was not confirmed whether he would become Hamilton's race engineer.

Michel-Grosjean's LinkedIn indicates he left McLaren in December 2025, and has been on a 'career break' under the heading 'relocation'.

Recently, Michel-Grosjean has been snapped in the Melbourne paddock in Ferrari gear, following reports that his period of gardening leave is over.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Australian Grand Prix