Lewis Hamilton is on the lookout for a new race engineer ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season, and it looks like Ferrari has found their pick. The seven-time champion spent 2025 paired with Riccardo Adami, who’d previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.
Lewis Hamilton is on the lookout for a new race engineer ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season, and it looks like Ferrari has found their pick.
The seven-time champion spent 2025 paired with Riccardo Adami, who’d previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. The two didn’t always see eye to eye, with several disagreements throughout the season.
A radio exchange in Abu Dhabi stood out as a clear sign that things weren’t working between them. Adami has since moved into a new role within Ferrari, leaving Hamilton in need of someone fresh for the upcoming campaign.
Ferrari had been looking at options both inside and outside the organisation. One name linked to the job was Luca Diella, who’d been part of Hamilton’s team at Mercedes from 2019 through 2024 before joining him again at Ferrari in 2025.
McLaren’s Cedric-Michel Grosjean is reportedly heading to Ferrari
Cedric-Michel Grosjean, who left McLaren in December after a season working alongside Oscar Piastri, has emerged as the likely replacement. The Frenchman is highly regarded within the paddock but has yet to take on a full race engineering role.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Slater explained: “People will be reading about the name Cedric Grosjean and thinking that the chronology of what appears to be Ferrari signing him from McLaren is significant in this regard.
“He was not a race engineer at McLaren. He’s a French engineer, pretty much bilingual, speaks very good English. Worked on Oscar Piastri’s side of the garage last year, was maybe instrumental in Piastri being able to harness all the data and really maximising his performance.
“So it’s someone on an upward trajectory in engineering terms, but I have to say, it will be a big first job as a race engineer, without having been a race engineer in F1, to go to Ferrari and to engineer the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
“So, I think Ferrari if that is what they are planning for him – and I haven’t had confirmation of that yet – they must think he’s a pretty special talent.”
Ferrari hand new role to Adami
Hamilton spent the 2025 season working with Riccardo Adami, who had previous experience alongside Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. However, their partnership never really clicked, with several on-air disputes catching attention over the year.
A particularly tense radio exchange during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix highlighted their issues. Following that season, Adami moved into a different position within Ferrari, leaving Hamilton in need of a new voice on the pit wall for 2026.
The team have been reviewing several options for the role, both from within Ferrari and outside. One name that has come up is Luca Diella, who worked with Hamilton at Mercedes before joining him at Ferrari in 2025.
During pre-season testing in Barcelona, Bryan Bozzi – who currently works with Charles Leclerc – will support Hamilton while the team runs single-car sessions. However, it appears Ferrari have now made their choice regarding who will take over full-time responsibilities.
Has Lewis Hamilton found new energy at Ferrari ahead of 2026?
After struggling through what many considered his worst season yet – going without a podium finish for an entire calendar year for the first time – he’ll be looking for any edge that can help him turn things around.
A change behind the scenes could provide exactly that. While Grosjean doesn’t bring direct race engineering experience into this role, early indications suggest Hamilton is open-minded about what they might achieve together.
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Category: General Sports
