Lewis Hamilton believes he has found in Ferrari a connection similar to the one he built with Peter Bonnington (Bono) at Mercedes. The British driver described Carlo Santi, his new race engineer, as his ‘Italian Bono’.
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The change happened after a difficult first season for Hamilton at Ferrari in 2025, in which the Brit failed to achieve any podium in a GP for the team. Riccardo Adami, who had already worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz, and was Hamilton’s race engineer in his first season at Ferrari, was moved to another role within the team before 2026, while Santi initially took over the position temporarily alongside the seven-time Formula 1 champion.
Hamilton explained that the relationship between driver and engineer requires time to mature, especially in the way of interpreting and transforming comments made during a race weekend. According to the Brit, it is necessary to detail the car’s behavior at different points of the corners so that the engineer understands exactly the problems faced.
“With Bono, that happened from the start. Mainly because he had a good working relationship with Michael (Schumacher), and I feel that Carlos is like my Italian Bono,” Hamilton told the press.
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Santi had already worked as Kimi Raikkonen’s race engineer and was alongside the Finn when he achieved his last Formula 1 victory, at the 2018 United States GP. In that race, Hamilton finished third, sharing the podium with Raikkonen.
Hamilton also highlighted the Italian’s experience and calmness, as well as the depth of the technical conversations between the two: “Santi seems like an older guy who has been through everything and is very calm,” concluded the experienced Ferrari driver.
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