Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari F1 engineer accused of 'poor communication'

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Belgium, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari F1 engineer accused of 'poor communication'

Hamilton received a penalty in Mexico on Sunday

By Chris Deeley.

Wednesday 29 October 2025 13:01

Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari F1 engineer Riccardo Adami was accused of poor communication during last weekend's Mexico Grand Prix.

Adami has been working with Hamilton as race engineer since he made the switch to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season, and at times, as the pair get used to working with each other, there have been some uncomfortable moments over the airwaves.

The latest exchanges between the duo were heard in Mexico City on Sunday, with Adami forced to tell Hamilton that he had been given a 10-second time penalty for gaining an unfair advantage by cutting the corner at turn four.

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As relayed on the broadcast, Adami told Hamilton: “We have a 10-second time penalty for the incident at turn four with Verstappen.

"We don’t agree, but let’s keep the head down.”

Chandhok criticizes Adami communication

"The grip is so small there. The grip there is so low.”

However, as the radio messages were broadcast, Sky Sports' Karun Chandhok took a critical approach to Adami's communication, claiming the engineer should have made it more clear that Hamilton was being punished for emerging from the grass ahead of Max Verstappen, rather than for the fact of the off-track excursion.

Chandhok claimed that in not explaining the penalty properly, Adami had unnecessarily riled up Hamilton inside the cockpit.

“That’s poor communication, because you’ve unnecessarily riled up the driver without giving him all of the facts," Chandhok said live on air. “And I think that’s not actually true.

"He’s not been given a penalty for the incident, he’s been given the penalty because he gained time.”

The penalty proved tremendously damaging for Hamilton, who went on to finish the race in eighth position, five places below where had qualified on Saturday and started the grand prix.

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Formula 1