F1 insider reveals major Ferrari change planned for Lewis Hamilton at Miami GP
Formula One photographer and reporter Kym Illman has dropped a bombshell about Lewis Hamilton's plans for the Miami Grand Prix.
With both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix cancelled due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the Miami Grand Prix is now the next race on the 2026 Formula One calendar.
The lights in Miami will not go out until the weekend beginning Friday, May 1, giving the 11 F1 teams five weeks since the previous round in Japan to prepare.
Because of this, it is widely expected that several teams may make some major changes to prepare for the remainder of the season.
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After the Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said that it could be a 'different championship' due to all the upgrades teams will bring to Miami.
But it appears that it's not just Ferrari's car that will be different in Miami, as F1 insider Illman has claimed that Hamilton will likely have a new race engineer for the next race.
Posting on Instagram, the photographer and social media star claimed that Cedric Michel-Grosjean will take over as Hamilton's race engineer.
He wrote: "It looks like Lewis Hamilton will have a new race engineer in Miami; this man, Cedric Michel-Grosjean.
"Ferrari has not yet confirmed this but I had wind of the change in Australia and chatted with Cedric about it on the Saturday of that race weekend.
"Shortly after we spoke, one of the Ferrari crew asked me what we were talking about. I replied, 'his step up to working alongside Lewis' and was asked not to say anything at that time.
"Over the past couple of days there have been numerous reports about Cedric's transition to the role so I expect an official announcement from Ferrari prior to the next race."
Since arriving at Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season, Hamilton has notoriously had issues with his race engineers, so it would come as no surprise should he look to bring in someone new.
Last season, Hamilton had several heated moments with race engineer Riccardo Adami, prompting the Italian to leave ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Carlo Santi took over but it has never been certain that he would stay in that role long-term, leading to the rumours that Michel-Grosjean will take his place.
The Frenchman previously worked with McLaren both as Lead Trackside Performance Engineer and as Oscar Piastri's performance engineer.
He left the British team at the end of last year, with his future seemingly unclear.
But now, it seems that his next step will be to work closely with Hamilton, with other reports suggesting that he is currently finding his footing within the team before taking on his new role.
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Formula 1
Ben McCrum