Why McLaren changed Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer in 2010 amid Riccardo Adami switch

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Lewis Hamilton will be heading into the 2026 Formula 1 season with a new race engineer at Ferrari.

Riccardo Adami will take on a new role at Ferrari after being the seven-time champion right-hand man on the pit wall in 2025. While Hamilton insisted there were no problems between the pair, their communication throughout the year said otherwise.

There was often tension or confusion between them during several races in 2025. Adami’s exchanges in Abu Dhabi looked to be the final straw, as Hamilton was completely agitated with the Italian.

Adami never understood Hamilton’s need for emotional support and could not read between the lines of the Brit’s messages compared to his time working with Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel.

Likewise, the 41-year-old did not know what his race engineer wanted from him, making their relationship untenable, and a change was desperately needed. It is not the start to life at Ferrari that Hamilton wanted, but interestingly, Adami is not the first engineer he has changed.

McLaren changed Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer in 2010 to level the playing field with Jenson Button

Hamilton had stability with his race engineer at Mercedes, working with Peter Bonnington for 12 years and creating a relationship that won six drivers’ championships.

The Brit joined the Silver Arrows in 2013 from McLaren, where he had been since he was 13. During his F1 career with the team, Hamilton had three different race engineers.

Phil Prew was his first, who worked with Hamilton from 2007 to 2009, guiding him to his first F1 championship in 2008. But come 2010, McLaren decided to make a change.

With reigning champion Jenson Button arriving from Brawn, the team wanted to level the playing field between the drivers. Subsequently, they gave both of them new race engineers, with Prew taking on the role of principal race engineer.

If Lewis Hamilton races for another team after Ferrari, who should it be?

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Explaining the reasoning behind the decision, McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said via Reuters: “When Jenson visited, one of the questions he asked was: ‘Is this Lewis’s team?’

“The answer was Yes, of course it’s Lewis’s team…as it was Heikki Kovalainen’s team, Fernando Alonso’s team, Juan Pablo Montoya’s, and Kimi Raikkonen’s. And it will be your team as well.”

Andy Latham became Hamilton’s new engineer, with whom he worked until midway through 2012, when he departed McLaren. Mark Temple guided the Brit to his final win with McLaren in Austin before joining Mercedes.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Who will replace Riccardo Adami at Ferrari?

As the first tests of 2026 approach, Ferrari need to find a replacement for Adami as soon as possible. It has not taken long for names to pop up on the rumour mill.

Luca Diella has emerged as the favourite to become Hamilton’s new race engineer. He worked closely with the Brit at Mercedes between 2019 and 2024 and followed him to Ferrari in 2025.

Fred Vasseur knows that he needs to get Hamilton comfortable to get the best out of him, and judging by his past comments, Diella looks to be the perfect fit.

But naturally, Bonnington’s name has also resurfaced, given his incredible relationship with the seven-time champion. However, according to sources in Maranello, Bonnington has no chance of joining Ferrari.