Ferrari Questioned Over Lewis Hamilton Announcement Delay

Yet even a week after the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a replacement for the Italian is still to be announced.

This has meant Hamilton has had no chance to form the foundations of a working relationship with his new race engineer at a vital part of the season, when teams and drivers are learning new machinery under F1's newest technical regulations.

Concern for Hamilton?

"I honestly find the whole thing a little strange," Chandhok, who raced for the now-defunct HRT and Caterham teams, told talkSport. "Because if they were going to make that decision, why did they not make it in December as the relationship between the driver and their race engineer is so important for success.

"You think of a Tennis player, and their coach. They need to work in sync 24 hours a day. So I feel like this is a decision they should have probably made in December and allowed Lewis and the engineer to build a relationship over the winter by using the simulator and things like that.

"But it is what it is, and they still haven't announced who the replacement for Riccardo Adami is, so let's wait and see how it plays out."

Ferrari enters the new campaign off the back of a disappointing 2025 season, where the team failed to win a single grand prix.

Hamilton secured victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint at the second round of the campaign before struggling throughout the remainder of the year, while teammate Charles Leclerc was able to pick up just one pole position - albeit in scintillating fashion at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Two more pre-season tests are scheduled for February at the Bahrain International Circuit, where cars will run in the public eye for the first time, before the Australian Grand Prix holds the first round of F1's new era.

Ferrari last won the first race of an F1 season in 2022 when Leclerc won in Bahrain, though current Williams driver Carlos Sainz was victorious in Melbourne in 2024.