Lewis Hamilton, for the first time as a Ferrari driver, took to the top step of the podium in Barcelona. He was joined by a very important figure behind his resurgence.<\/p>\n
That person was Carlo Santi, Hamilton\u2019s new race engineer who stepped up to the plate for F1 2026. Surprisingly, Hamilton said the pair had \u201cnever spoken\u201d before joining forces for the new season, but already, a strong and winning connection has been formed.<\/p>\n
The Ferrari partnership replacing Hamilton\u2019s famous Bono connection<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Santi, the 52-year-old engineer from Verona, Italy, is a long-serving member of the iconic Ferrari team.<\/p>\n He received his most high-profile assignment yet when he landed the role of race engineer for Lewis Hamilton for F1 2026.<\/p>\n Hamilton\u2019s first, underwhelming season in Ferrari red was partially characterised by apparent tensions with former race engineer Riccardo Adami, who was reassigned to head the Ferrari Driver Academy as Santi took over alongside Hamilton<\/a>.<\/p>\n F1 2026 has been a story of vast improvement for Hamilton. After scoring a first Ferrari podium in China, Hamilton claimed back-to-back P2s in Montreal and Monaco. Then came the next step, as Hamilton won the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.<\/p>\n By Hamilton\u2019s side on the podium was Carlo Santi, who guided Hamilton to that breakthrough result, including through a Virtual Safety Car period which boosted Hamilton\u2019s drive to victory.<\/p>\n Hamilton was asked post-race about sharing that podium moment with Santi, who was described as his \u2018Italian Bono\u2019 in a nod to Hamilton\u2019s former race engineer at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington, alongside whom Hamilton won six of his seven titles.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it was great to have him up there,\u201d said Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, him kind of substituting this year, jumping in and diving in deep with me. We didn\u2019t know each other, we\u2019d never spoken and I didn\u2019t really know much of\u2026 I didn\u2019t know anything about him. And we met and I think got on straight away.<\/p>\n More on Lewis Hamilton from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Untelevised Lewis Hamilton team radio emerges after \u2018critical\u2019 Spanish GP moment<\/a><\/p>\n Barcelona GP conclusions: Lewis Hamilton rediscovered, hidden Russell defeat, new Leclerc crisis<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s great to be able to connect with an engineer other than what I used to have. You know, I had it for such a long time and then you kind of lose that feeling because Bono\u2019s now doing it with Kimi.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really great to be able to share that experience with him on that stage, and also probably, like, he\u2019s very, very quiet. You could tell it\u2019s hard for him to express his emotions. He\u2019s just smiley and, you know, I\u2019m giving him these big hugs and pulling him in, saying thank you.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to think that this has probably reignited the love that he has as being an engineer as he has done for me as a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton is up to second in the Drivers\u2019 Championship standings<\/a> after Barcelona. The gap is 41 points to leader Antonelli, who retired from the race with what appeared to be a fresh Mercedes battery issue.<\/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