Lewis Hamilton has revealed that his race engineer at the Bahrain test, Carlo Santi, will only stay in the role for a \u201cfew races\u201d before he\u2019s replaced by another engineer.<\/p>\n
And learning to work with someone else new, again, Hamilton worries, could be \u201cdetrimental\u201d to his chances this season.<\/p>\n
Is Lewis Hamilton already on the back foot in F1 2026?<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n After 12 years with Peter \u2018Bono\u2019 Bonnington as the voice in his ear at Mercedes, Hamilton<\/a> had to adjust to a new race engineer in Riccardo Adami last year, his first year with Ferrari.<\/p>\n It was anything but a successful partnership as Hamilton was unable to secure a single grand prix podium.<\/p>\n From \u201ctea breaks\u201d to silence, swipes at letting drivers from other teams through, to questions about fairness, Hamilton and Adami could not make it work in their 24 races together, leaving Ferrari to decide that it would be best to separate the two.<\/p>\n The Scuderia announced last month that Hamilton<\/a> would not continue with Adami, moving the race engineer into a different role within the company.<\/p>\n More on Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami<\/p>\n PF1 verdict: Our reaction to Ferrari\u2019s Lewis Hamilton race engineer bombshell<\/a><\/p>\n Ferrari planning failure already undermining Lewis Hamilton\u2019s F1 2026 campaign<\/a><\/p>\n He has since been replaced by Carlo Santi, an experienced race engineer who worked with Kimi Raikkonen during his second stint at the Maranello team.<\/p>\n Santi, though, won\u2019t be in the role for very long.<\/p>\n Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets as testing began in Bahrain, Hamilton revealed that Santi would only be in the role for a few races before someone else would take up the role.<\/p>\n That, he believes, could have a negative impact on his season as he just as he begins to get used to Santi, a different race engineer will be the one guiding him on grand prix weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is obviously with Riccardo, is obviously a very difficult decision to make,\u201d he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets during Day One\u2019s testing in Bahrain.<\/p>\n \u201cReally grateful for all the effort he put in last year and his patience, as you know, it was a difficult year for us all.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually quite a difficult period, because it\u2019s not long-term. The solution that I currently have, it\u2019s only gonna be a few races.<\/p>\n \u201cSo early on into the season, it\u2019s gonna be switching up again, and I\u2019ll have to learn someone to work with someone new. So that\u2019s detrimental to me too.<\/p>\n \u201cA season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that are that have been through thick and thin, and calm.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it is the situation that I\u2019m faced with, and I\u2019ll try and do the best I can. We are, I think the team is trying to do the best they can to help seamless as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton didn\u2019t reveal who that person was but there\u2019s speculation it could be Oscar Piastri\u2019s former lead trackside performance engineer, Cedric Michel-Grosjean.<\/p>\n Michel-Grosjean added fuel to the fire last month when he liked a liked a post on LinkedIn from Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur speaking about the Ferrari SF-26\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n Ferrari declined at the time to comment when approached by PlanetF1.com.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Mat Coch<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n