Lewis Hamilton’s Race Engineer Removed for 2026 as Ferrari Issue Official Statement

Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, Riccardo Adami, has been moved to a new role at Ferrari ahead of the 2026 F1 season.

Hamilton’s first season racing under the iconic F1 team’s banner did not go as well as he and the wider team would’ve liked.

The seven-time F1 champion failed to win a single Grand Prix in 2025 and was outperformed by his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, who finished 84 points ahead of the Brit in the Drivers’ Standings.

The 41-year-old failed to secure a single podium finish in 2025 but did claim victory in the Sprint during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

Throughout the season, the Brit appeared unhappy with his performance while also clashing with his team – namely Adami.

During the Abu Dhabi race, Hamilton snapped at Adami when the engineer told him that Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was ahead of him.

Lewis Hamilton struggled during his first season at Ferrari (Credit:Getty)

Hamilton said: “Stop telling me I'm racing people. I know I'm racing him, man. Just leave me to it. I'm racing everyone ahead of me."

There were also rumours that the pair had issues communicating throughout the season, although Hamilton denied this.

But on Friday (January 16), Ferrari confirmed that Adami will take over as manager of the driver academy and their programme for testing previous cars.

Riccardo Adami and Lewis Hamilton (Credit:Getty)

“Scuderia Ferrari HP announces that 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 Formula 1 expertise contributes to the development of future talent and to strengthening performance culture across the program,” a statement from Ferrari read.

“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 appointment of the new Race Engineer for car #44 will be announced in due course.”

Adami previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo at Toro Rosso in the early 2000s before he joined Ferrari and reunited with Vettel in 2015.

He has also worked with Carlos Sainz.

The 2026 F1 season will start in Melbourne, Australia, on March 6.

Before then, testing will take place in Bahrain between 11 and 13 February and in Sakhir, Japan, from February 18 to 20.