Vasseur leaves door open to switch Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer for 2026 after fraught first Ferrari season
Fred Vasseur isn’t ruling anything out. After a bruising first year of the Hamilton–Ferrari experiment, the team boss says the Scuderia is assessing whether Lewis Hamilton should have a new race engineer in 2026.
“We are evaluating all options,” Vasseur told Italy’s Corriere della Sera when asked if Riccardo Adami would remain in Hamilton’s ear next season. It’s a pointed line after months of scratchy radio between driver and engineer that came to define a lot of Hamilton’s 2025.
The partnership never quite clicked. There were uncomfortable moments, like Miami, where Hamilton bristled at instructions arriving in the braking zone before firing off that now-infamous “have a tea break while you’re at it” quip as the pit wall dithered on team orders. In Monaco, the silence was louder than the tifosi: Hamilton asked, “Are you upset with me or something?” and got nothing back.
This wasn’t simply theatre for the world feed. Communication misfires had real consequences for a season that left Hamilton without a single podium and well behind Charles Leclerc in the final standings. Vasseur didn’t dodge that, admitting that a lack of “understanding” between team and driver helped undercut Hamilton’s year.
“We need to improve our collaboration,” he said. “He needs to try to get more out of the car he has. Every detail counts. It’s also about understanding each other better… Knowing what Lewis needs, what he wants. I also need to understand what he wants.”
If Ferrari does pull the trigger, it would be a significant call but hardly a seismic one by F1 standards. Race engineer changes happen—Leclerc switched mid-2024 to Bryan Bozzi and hasn’t looked back. The difference here is Hamilton’s personal history with the role. At Mercedes, he spent 12 seasons with one constant: Peter Bonnington. The pair built a shorthand that shaved seconds off strategy calls and built trust that’s not replicated overnight.
Hamilton couldn’t bring Bonnington with him to Maranello—contractual limitations at Mercedes meant no poaching his old crew. Bonnington was subsequently promoted to head of race engineering in 2024 and stayed on the pit wall this year, guiding Andrea Kimi Antonelli. That left Hamilton to build something new with Adami, a proven operator who previously engineered Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. On paper, it made sense. On Sundays, it often looked like two elite performers speaking slightly different dialects.
So where does Ferrari go from here? Vasseur will know this isn’t just about swapping voices on the radio. It’s about rhythm and clarity under pressure—how much information, when to deliver it, how to challenge a driver without creating friction. Hamilton is notoriously exacting but fair; he wants precision, accountability, and a partner who can pre-empt as much as they react. That takes chemistry and reps.
There’s also timing. With the 2026 regulations looming and power unit philosophies evolving, Ferrari can’t afford to experiment through spring. If a change is coming, it needs to happen early—well before winter sim camps, so the new pairing can do the unglamorous work: language, code words, tyre model nuances, what the driver means by “front bite” at Turn 3 versus Turn 13. That’s the stuff that turns radio into reflex.
Ferrari has options in-house. The Scuderia’s engineering roster is deep, with several experienced voices who know the car concept and the cadence Vasseur wants on the pit wall. Adami himself remains a respected figure and could be repositioned elsewhere, as Ferrari has done before to good effect. The important part is aligning the engineer’s style with Hamilton’s decision-making tempo—and making the call quickly.
One caveat to all this: don’t mistake a season of static for a permanent state. Ferrari’s 2025 wasn’t short of speed in Leclerc’s hands, and Hamilton showed flashes of the old menace without converting them. If Vasseur believes the package for 2026 will suit Hamilton more—and if the radio clears up—the results can swing. We’ve seen Hamilton recalibrate relationships before; it’s just that, in the past, he didn’t have to meet his engineer halfway. At Ferrari, everyone is learning each other in real time.
“We are evaluating all options” sounds diplomatic. It’s also a message. Ferrari wants to remove excuses and raise the ceiling. For Hamilton, who’s never been shy about the standards he expects, clarity in his ear might be the most powerful upgrade they can deliver this winter.
