Ferrari move Adami as Hamilton awaits new race engineer

Written by Kavi Khandelwal, Edited by Benjamin Crundwell

Scuderia Ferrari has officially confirmed a major shake-up within its technical ranks, announcing that Riccardo Adami will no longer serve as the race engineer for Lewis Hamilton.

Credit: Ferrari

In a strategic pivot ahead of the 2026 season, Adami has been moved to a management role within the Ferrari Driver Academy and the "Test Previous Cars" (TPC) program, effectively ending a partnership that many insiders felt was on borrowed time throughout 2025.

The official statement from Maranello describes the move as a transition to ensure the veteran's skills are utilised for the long-term future of the brand.

The team stated: "Riccardo Adami has moved to a new role within the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy as Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager, where his extensive trackside experience and F1 expertise contributes to the development of future talent and to strengthening performance culture across the programme. Scuderia Ferrari HP would like to thank Riccardo for his commitment and contribution to his trackside role and wishes him every success in his new position."

The decision follows a tumultuous debut campaign for Hamilton in the famous scarlet car. For the first time in his legendary career, the seven-time World Champion finished a year without a single podium, a result that exacerbated visible frustrations between him and his engineer. The cracks in the partnership were evident almost immediately last year.

The radio communication between the two often turned terse with many high-profile incidents. Their lack of chemistry was a major topic of discussion during the 2025 season.

While it was expected for the driver and race engineer to take some time to form a working professional relationship, it never materialised. At one point, a clearly exasperated Hamilton asked Adami over the radio, "Are you upset with me or something?" after receiving delayed or insufficient data.

While Hamilton publicly dismissed the friction as "just noise" during press conferences, the body language and verbal barbs suggested otherwise. From sarcastic comments in Miami where he suggested the team was having a "tea break" while deciding on strategy, to blunt instructions for Adami to "leave me to it" during the heat of battle, the duo never seemed to find the seamless rhythm Hamilton enjoyed for over a decade with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes.

Team Principal Fréd Vasseur had recently admitted that the team was evaluating all options to ensure Hamilton has the specific support system he needs to return to the front of the grid. By moving Adami to a development role, Ferrari is effectively hitting the reset button on Hamilton’s garage just weeks before the 2026 season opener.

Adami leaves the pit wall with a distinguished resume. Since starting at Minardi in 2002, he has engineered high-profile drivers including Sebastian Vettel, guiding him to his first win at Toro Rosso and later reuniting at Ferrari, as well as race winners Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz Jr.

The team has yet to name a replacement for the crucial engineering role, concluding their announcement by noting that "the appointment of the new race engineer for car No. 44 will be announced in due course."

With 2026 bringing sweeping new technical regulations, the pressure is on Ferrari to find a voice that can provide Hamilton with the clarity and confidence that was so noticeably absent throughout his difficult first year in Italy.