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Lewis Hamilton is now expected to have a temporary engineer for the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season. Riccardo Adami was reassigned after his driver failed to score a podium in 2025.
Hamilton is working with Carlo Santi, Kimi Raikkonen’s former engineer, at the Bahrain test. That interim partnership is expected to continue for the first ‘few’ races of the season.
Ferrari are signing Cedric Grosjean, one of Oscar Piastri’s old engineers at McLaren, to carry out the role permanently, but he is still serving a period of gardening leave. That has led to a sub-optimal delay.
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Santi became a performance engineer for Raikkonen during the 2016 season then stepped up to the race engineer role in 2018, the Finn’s final year at Ferrari. Since then, he’s been part of the ‘remote garage’ that shadows the trackside team at Maranello.
Kimi Raikkonen once fumed at Carlo Santi on Ferrari team radio
At the 2018 Australian Grand Prix, Santi’s very first race in his new role, he drew the ire of Raikkonen.
Raikkonen was running second in Melbourne behind Hamilton, but wasn’t informed that teammate Sebastian Vettel was extending his stint. Vettel successfully executed the overcut and went on to win the race.
When Raikkonen realised that he had been kept in the dark, he made his frustration with Santi and the Ferrari pit wall clear. He was under the impression that he didn’t need to push.
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Santi: “We need a little bit more pace Kimi, Seb is lapping 28.5. Yourself 28.7.”
Raikkonen: “Has he not stopped yet?”
Santi: “Not yet, not yet.”
Raikkonen: “F—, you tell me now? You first say to me that you are not in a hurry. Don’t f— me up with this!”
The ‘Iceman’ ultimately finished third to secure the first of 12 podiums in 2018, which matched his career-high. Santi helped him win the United States GP, his only victory in his second stint at Ferrari.
What did Lewis Hamilton say about Riccardo Adami split?
Hamilton sounded frustrated with Adami on several occasions during the 2025 season, though he always spoke highly of the Italian outside of the car.
Addressing the Adami split for the first time, he said (via ESPN): “I’m really, really grateful for all the effort he put in last year and his patience. It was a difficult year for us all.”
Adami is taking on senior role in the Ferrari driver academy, so he clearly remains a valued member of staff at Maranello.
Hamilton worked with Peter Bonnington for 12 straight seasons at Mercedes, but is now dealing with upheaval at perhaps the worst possible moment. The engineer’s coaching role will be more pronounced than ever at the start of a highly complex ruleset.
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