Lewis Hamilton does not yet have a defined race engineer for the 2026 Formula 1 season, which has generated concern and expectation about how he will adapt in his second year at Ferrari. After his move from Mercedes to the Italian team at the beginning of 2025, Hamilton initially worked alongside veteran engineer Riccardo Adami, who had previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. However, the pair faced adaptation difficulties, and even during the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, signs of chemistry issues emerged between the two.
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With Adami being removed from his position in January and reassuming roles in testing programs and young driver programs at Ferrari, Hamilton remains without a permanent engineer just days before the start of the 2026 season. For the first races of the year, he is working with Carlo Santi, who was Kimi Raikkonen’s engineer in 2018, when the Finn achieved his last Formula 1 victory at the US GP.
Anthony Davidson, former F1 driver and 2014 World Endurance Championship (WEC) champion, expressed surprise that Hamilton has not yet had the chance to work with his definitive future engineer during pre-season testing: “It’s a very special relationship, you need to have good chemistry with your engineer. I was surprised and intrigued that he hasn’t had that opportunity. I hope, for his sake, that the new engineer is a better match,” he added.
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With the 2026 season about to begin with the Australian GP on March 8, the issue of Hamilton’s chemistry with his new engineer, whether it be Santi himself or someone else, remains an important point for the driver’s performance at the Scuderia.
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