Lewis Hamilton's performance engineer has announced that he is leaving Maranello and F1 in a statement.
On Friday afternoon, the Formula One season gets back underway as the grid compete in Sao Paulo's Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Fans of Ferrari star Hamilton will be hoping that, given his impressive performances in Brazil in the past, he may finally be able to get a podium finish for the first time this season.
Since joining Ferrari at the start of the season, Hamilton has failed to reach the heights that many expected he would, with his best finish being P4 at the Austrian Grand Prix, the British Grand Prix, and the US Grand Prix.
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But the seven-time world champion has been dealt a major blow as his performance engineer, Riccardo Corte, has released a statement confirming he is leaving F1.
Corte has spent the last 11 seasons working for Ferrari’s F1 team, first as a driver coach for Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc before taking over the performance engineer role with former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.
After Sainz was dismissed at the end of the 2024 season, with Hamilton coming in as his replacement, Corte assumed the same role with the Brit, helping the 40-year-old get accustomed to life with his new team.
However, after the Belgian Grand Prix in July, Corte was moved into a lesser development role and he has now confirmed that he has left the team altogether to join the Supercars series as a race engineer for rookie Kai Allen in 2026.
“I’m really proud to be joining Grove Racing at such an exciting time for the team,” Corte said in a statement announcing the move.
“The progress they’ve made in recent seasons is impressive, and the Bathurst 1000 win shows what’s possible with the right people and mindset.
“After 11 years at Ferrari F1, I’m looking forward to bringing that experience into Supercars, helping the team keep pushing forward and maximising every opportunity on track.”
Grove Racing finished second in the Teams’ Championship last year and recently won the won the famous Bathurst 1000 race on the final lap.
Since being taken over by the current owners in 2021, Grove has seen significant progress, something that team owner Stephen Grove believes they can continue to do with Corte.
Grove explained: “Riccardo’s appointment represents another major step forward for Grove Racing.
"His 11 years of experience at Ferrari F1 and his work as Lewis Hamilton’s performance engineer earlier this year bring incredible depth and understanding to our program. We’re proud to welcome him to the team, and it speaks to the calibre of people we have at Grove Racing.”
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Motorsport
Ben McCrum