Riccardo Adami is expected to remain as Lewis Hamilton\u2019s Ferrari race engineer for the F1 2026 season, it has been claimed.<\/p>\n
It comes after Hamilton and team principal Fred Vasseur both left the door open to a potential change to the seven-time world champion\u2019s inner circle for 2026.<\/p>\n
Rumour: Riccardo Adami to continue as Lewis Hamilton race engineer for F1 2026<\/p>\n
Hamilton endured a disastrous first year with Ferrari in F1 2025, failing to score a podium finish across a season for the first time in his illustrious career.<\/p>\n
The British driver\u2019s campaign was defined by a series of awkward team radio exchanges with Adami<\/a>, who previously served as race engineer to Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.<\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com last week<\/a>, Vasseur refused to rule out a change of race engineer for Hamilton for F1 2026, simply commenting: \u201cWe are evaluating all options.\u201d<\/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 That came after Hamilton himself had teased potential changes to his \u201cpersonal team\u201d for next season at the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n Asked what needs to happen over the winter for him to approach the 2026 season with confidence, Hamilton told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: \u201cI think we just need to analyse where we\u2019ve been, what\u2019s been good, areas that we can improve on.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve highlighted and I know where they all are. It\u2019s sitting down with the team at the end of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll look internally at my personal team, away from the track, and see what we can do more to make more efficient with the timing and traveling and all these different things.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll do the same with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n A report by Italian publication Auto Racer has claimed that Adami is set to stay in his role for F1 2026 after what has been described as a \u2018very positive\u2019 dinner with Hamilton away from the track.<\/p>\n Hamilton joined Ferrari at the start of 2025 after 12 seasons with Mercedes, where Peter Bonnington served as his race engineer throughout the seven-time world champion\u2019s stint at Brackley.<\/p>\n Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets at the penultimate race in Qatar, Ferrari head of track engineering Matteo Togninalli insisted that the relationship between team and driver remains \u201cextremely positive\u201d despite perceptions outside Ferrari.<\/p>\n Togninalli said:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sure you are all aware, but for the driver changing team, mainly for a driver like Lewis, who spent 10 years in the same team, has a certain level of experience\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very difficult for both sides, for the driver and for the team, because every team is operating in a slightly different way.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are used to certain people. You are used to doing things in a certain way.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, if you put this in context, Lewis was fighting for world championships, and it\u2019s a fact this year we didn\u2019t achieve the target of fighting for the world championship.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you put the frustration in this, creating the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what you see from the outside is much worse than what it is.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the relationship with Lewis, what we are building with Lewis, is extremely positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Ferrari head-to-head scores for F1 2025<\/p>\n F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n He added:\u00a0\u201cIf you put it in context again, you spend 10 years in the same team with the same people, and, after 10 months, I think we already have a very, very strong team.<\/p>\n \u201cNevertheless, the frustration, the results are creating this image of ourselves and of Ferrari that I believe is much, much worse than what is real.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile frustrating, the parties accept that we need some time to adapt to each other.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the relationship is as bad as you all think but I\u2019m sure, with time, we can improve.<\/p>\n \u201cResults is the best help for us. Giving the performing car and results, I think, is fundamental.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are racers, he is a racer, so the frustration when we lose is massive.\u201d<\/p>\n Ferrari announced earlier this month that its 2026 car \u2013 codenamed Project 678 \u2013 will be officially launched on January 23, three days before the start of F1\u2019s behind-closed-doors test in Barcelona.<\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com last month<\/a>, a pushrod rear suspension is set to feature on a Ferrari F1 car for the first time since 2010 next season.<\/p>\n Red Bull is also expected to follow Ferrari\u2019s design route by having a pushrod suspension at the front and rear<\/a> of its new RB22 car.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Mat Coch and Thomas Maher<\/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