Ferrari have announced a change of role for Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, Riccardo Adami, ahead of the 2026 Formula One season. The 52-year-old was the main advisor to the British driver during the race weekends throughout his maiden campaign with ‘The Prancing Horse’, but there were plenty of struggles.

Upon the announcement of a change of role for Adami, Ferrari‘s statement reads: “Riccardo Adami has moved to a new role within the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy as Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager, where his extensive trackside experience and F1 expertise contributes to the development of future talent and to strengthening performance culture across the programme.

“Scuderia Ferrari HP would like to thank Riccardo for his commitment and contribution to his trackside role and wishes him every success in his new position. The appointment of the new race engineer for car #44 will be announced in due course.”

Previous speculation surrounded a possible sacking for Adami, after some tense moments between himself and Hamilton over the course of the season. Much of that played out over the team radio between the pair, with plenty of awkward exchanges as the seven-time world champion settled into life with a new team.

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Perhaps the most awkward moment of all came in the final race of the season, when Hamilton attempted to send a message to his team over the radio. He said: “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.”

After he failed to hear anything back from his team, he quickly said: “Did you get that message? The one time you don’t reply,” seemingly jabbing at his engineer’s likelihood to speak to him throughout the racing action.

Adami then responded: “Yea we got it. Sorry we were talking. Thank you very much, it was awesome working with you. Grazie Mille.” That was the last team radio message between the pair, with a change now on the cards for Hamilton for next season, one that he will hope can bring some better fortune.

The 41-year-old finished sixth in the drivers’ standings for 2025, picking up just 152 points along the way in what was a tough campaign. The British star revealed that it was perhaps his toughest season to date, having appeared downbeat through much of the year.

That sparked suggestions that Hamilton could call it quits on his long career in F1, but he sent a determined message to those who doubt his ability. “I wouldn’t say anything to them,” he said in December when asked if he had any thoughts on those who doubt his future. “None of them have done what I’ve done, so they’re not even on my level.”

It means Hamilton is expected to line up on the 2026 grid alongside Charles Leclerc, with some hope that there will be some improvement. There are some major regulation changes coming up that could shake the order up once again, after McLaren‘s dominance last year.

Cars are set to be smaller and lighter packages, while more focus will be placed on the power units used by each team, with electric power increased with a 50/50 split between that and the internal combustion engine. The drag reduction system (DRS) will also be ushered out in favour of the aero active system.

It remains to be seen how competitive the Ferrari package will be, with the new designs set to be unveiled for all the cars on the grid over the next few weeks.