Riccardo Adami’s final radio message to Carlos Sainz shows Lewis Hamilton what he’s missing at Ferrari

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Lewis Hamilton’s relationship with Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami has appeared strained at times during his first season. Perhaps it was never going to live up to his historic partnership with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes, one that delivered six world championships in 12 seasons.

But it was still surprising to hear Hamilton snap at Adami on occasion. Most notably, he sarcastically told Adami to ‘take a tea break’ in Miami as Ferrari debated whether to swap their cars.

On his debut in Australia, Hamilton complained that Adami was overloading him with information. And even by the final round in Abu Dhabi, he was frustrated with his engineer for confirming track limits breaches from other cars.

Martin Brundle thinks Hamilton is missing Bonnington, who signed a new deal and received a promotion at Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton must try to replicate Carlos Sainz’s relationship with Riccardo Adami

Adami previously worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz at Ferrari. Sainz spent four years at Maranello, winning four races and scoring 25 podiums.

After he crossed the line in Abu Dhabi last year and bagged a P2 in his final race for the team, Adami issued a warm farewell message.

“Thanks for all your hard work in those four years,” he said. “It’s been quite a pleasure to work with you – outstanding talent, commitment and passion for this sport. Thank you.

“Thank you Ricky, thank you Ferrari,” Sainz replied. “It’s been a pleasure driving for you guys. Forza Ferrari sempre.”

Right now, it’s difficult to imagine this kind of exchange between Hamilton and Adami. Sainz’s radio transcript shows him what he’s missing.

There were, of course, moments where Sainz was frustrated with his engineer too, but these always felt like anomalies rather than an overriding trend.

What has Lewis Hamilton said about his Ferrari race engineer?

Hamilton and Adami don’t need to be close friends to win races, but there does appear to be an underlying tension, and that must be addressed. If not, it’s bound to hamper the British driver’s execution during sessions.

Speaking in June, Hamilton insisted his relationship with Adami was ‘great’ and called the external speculation ‘BS’. His radio communications present a different picture, though adrenaline is always high in the cockpit.

“He’s been amazing to work with, he’s a great guy, working so hard – we both are – and we don’t always get it right every weekend,” Hamilton added. “We have disagreements, like everyone does in relationships, but we work through them.

“We’re both in it together, we both want to win a championship together, we’re both working towards lifting the team up.”

If 2025 was about ‘constantly adapting’, then the early rounds of the 2026 season will reveal whether Hamilton and Adami are finally in sync.