Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Bahrain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

He's here? Lewis Hamilton's new race engineer snapped at Australian Grand Prix

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

Chris Deeley

Friday 6 March 2026 23:04

The man tipped to become Lewis Hamilton's new F1 race engineer has been spotted in the Australian Grand Prix paddock.

Cedric Michel-Grosjean has reportedly been parachuted in from McLaren and his period of gardening leave may be over.

A couple of pictures of Michel-Grosjean in Ferrari gear at the Australian Grand Prix have been circulating around 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.

Who is Lewis Hamilton's new race engineer?

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.

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