Analyzing the disconnect between Lewis Hamilton and his engineer Ricciardo Adami

After a disappointing season, Scuderia Ferrari announced Friday that Ricciardo Adami will no longer serve as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer. This is certainly not surprising news considering Ferrari and Hamilton’s performance last year.

Beyond just performance, a closer look at radio messages from 2025 also highlights a clear disconnect between the two. Something just never clicked for them, and this partnership may have doomed the 2025 season from the start. Let’s take a closer look at where it went wrong for Hamilton and Adami.

Communication didn’t improve all season

The number one thing a race engineer needs to do for a driver is communicate clearly. It’s safe to say this was a struggle for Adami and Hamilton, all the way up to the last race of the year. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a perfect example of the absolute communication breakdown that Hamilton and Adami experienced last season.

The tension opens with Adami informing Hamilton of his second track limits violation, but Hamilton was never made aware of his first.

Adami: Pay attention track limits turn 1, we got the second strike.

Hamilton: Let me know when I get the first one, man!

Hamilton then points out every driver he sees exceeding track limits, with the passive-aggressive energy of a teenager arguing with their mother. At one point, he gets so frustrated with Adami that he essentially tells him to stop talking.

Hamilton: Bearman off at Turn 1.

Adami: Okay, reporting.

Hamilton: No need to confirm, man. I’m just telling you!

Adami: Understood.

Hamilton: Stop confirming!!

Hamilton managed to finish a respectable P8 after some early difficulties and shared his gratitude for the season’s efforts with his team.

Hamilton: Long season, guys… Thank you for your kindness, I’m grateful for all the hard work. I’ll always fight for you guys, always. That’s it.

Hamilton: Did you get that message? The one time you don’t reply…

Adami: Yeah we got it. Sorry we were talking. Thank you very much, it was awesome working with you. Grazie Mille.

This moment was truly hilarious, but sadly sums up how the 2025 season went for Hamilton. It was just one awkward interaction after another. If this is how Hamilton and Adami were still communicating after a full season together, there was very little chance of things getting better.

Hamilton’s familiarity with Peter Bonnington

During Hamilton’s tenure with Mercedes, he spent 12 years with engineer Pete Bonnington, also known as “Bono.” They dominated the sport together, and such a long-term working relationship made them great teammates.

Hamilton was honest throughout the 2025 season about his difficulties adjusting to Ferrari. Throwing a different racing engineer into the mix alongside a new team and car might have been too much at once, and worsened the issues he had with Adami.

As a Formula One driver, your engineer is the only connection you have to your team during a race. A driver’s race engineer needs to deliver information efficiently, clearly, and in a way that their driver can best receive it. That’s not to say Hamilton and Bono operated all the time perfectly, but it’s a far cry from the awkward radio moments we’ve seen with Adami this year.

Hamilton is running out of time

At this stage in his career, time is something that Hamilton just doesn’t have much of.

Hamilton is now 41, and is running out of years to secure the eighth championship he so desperately wants. It makes sense that his tolerance for mistakes and miscommunication is lower. Hamilton appears to want an engineer with whom he can quickly build a working relationship, and that’s clearly not happening with Adami.

To say next season needs to go better is an understatement. Hamilton wants to make the most of his time in Formula 1, and that doesn’t include messing around with engineers who don’t understand him.

Who is likely to replace Adami?

With Adami’s departure, many names are likely in the running for the job, including Bono’s. However, knowing Ferrari, Adami will most likely be replaced with another Italian engineer.

One thing is clear – no matter who gets the job, Ferrari must choose someone that Hamilton can easily and professionally communicate with. Neither Ferrari nor Hamilton can afford another disastrous year as they experienced in 2025, and that starts with a solid driver-engineer relationship.