Last Updated on January 23 2026, 6:32 pm

Lewis Hamilton will have a different race engineer for the upcoming Formula One season Ferrari have announced. The seven times champion was regularly at odds with Riccardo Adami over team radio in 2025, often demanding more or less information from the voice in his ear.

No announcement has yet been made as to who will partner with Hamilton but for pre-season testing Brian Bozzi – Leclerc’s engineer – will be the voice in Lewis’ ear. Whilst at Mercedes, Lewis and Pete Bonnington, his engineer, were a permanent fixture from when the British driver joined the team in 2013.

Bonnington coined the phrase “hammer time” which was an instruction to his driver to go flat out and use up the remaining rubber left on his tyres before an imminent pit stop for fresh rubber. The pair were like a married couple and whilst on occasions they disagreed over team radio, the bond between them was obvious and a key part of Hamilton’s enormous success.

 

 

Brundle surprised Ferrari took so long

Martin Brundle admits he’s surprised it took Ferrari this long to switch Lewis’ engineer. Speaking this week on Sky the ex-F1 driver said: “I’m surprised it probably didn’t happen a bit earlier, really, judging by all the things that were going on last year.

“Something I said on Sky F1 is that Lewis needs to go there with a team so that at least they understand ‘Lewis speak’ when he’s inside the car, what it all means, and to interpret what Lewis really needs behind the wheel. I think he needed some help to really flourish there quickly. Let’s see who turns up as his engineer now.

“Just listening to the radio and watching the performance, although they obviously put a varnish on it through last season, something needed to change,” concluded Brundle. As so often is the case with Ferrari, the announcement that Hamilton is getting a new race engineer feels hurried and poorly planned. It should surely have been made once it was decided who is to replace Adami.

‘Bono’ joining Hamilton at Ferrari was never on the cards, given his family is settled in the UK and his contract contained a “no poaching” clause. Further, Mercedes offered the engineer a promotion to Head of Race Engineering, as Hamilton announced he was leaving for Ferrari. This move ended speculation that the pair may move together to Maranello.

 

MORE F1 NEWS – An utter “disaster” predicted at Ferrari

 

Hamilton ringing the changes in Maranello

Hamilton has been trying to ring the changes at the Scuderia and has ruffled a number of feathers amongst the engineering staff. It is claimed he is attempting to replicate some of the Mercedes’ experience in Maranello in an effort to drag the team into F1 modernity.

His first season ended in disappointment and for the third time in four years he concluded the drivers’ championship behind his team mate. Some believe Hamilton is past his sell by date and the coming 2026 season is crucial to Lewis’ future.

Ex-Ferrari boss Ross Brawn was asked at the Autosport awards this week whether 2026 would be a ‘pivotal’ season for the seven times champion. “I think we’d all love for him to be successful,” he said.“I mean, I’ve got a special place for Ferrari. I spent 10 years there, [and] I know how tough it is there.

“But, there’s always a fine line between a team gelling and not quite gelling, and it didn’t quite gel last year. But, I mean, if he gets incentives, if he seizes an opportunity, I think we’ll see a vintage Lewis. So, I’m hoping that happens!”

 

 

MORE F1 NEWS – Mercedes on the brink of a historic deal

 

 

Ex-Ferrari boss believes Mercedes’ have cleverly exploited the regulations

Ferrari may already be on the back foot in terms of their power unit, with Mercedes and Red Bull said to have stolen a march on the field by exploiting a clever loophole in the regulations. Some have accused there two teams of cheating, yet Brawn who was part of Ferrari’s most successful era believes the situation is more complex.

“Well, as has been described to me, it just sounds like a clever interpretation of the regulations. I don’t know enough about it anymore, but whenever new regulations come in, as we’ve seen in the past, there’s always someone who takes a clever interpretation, and that’s what’s happened.

“And of course for the other teams, the best form of defence is attack, so that’s what they’re doing!” Concluded the former F1 engineer. Brawn was involved with the controversial double diffuser row in 2009, when the Honda team he acquired for £1 had developed an equally clever loophole in the FIA technical regulations.

Behind the scenes, all is not well in Maranello as Ralf Schumacher reveals the content of discussions he has had with engineers on the inside of the team. “You can hear from the team that he is always chasing after things he used to know [at Mercedes] and is somehow not really ready to change his style.

 

MORE F1 NEWS – Red Bull push back on Audi “cheating” accusations

 

Hamilton’s win rate now lower than Verstappen’s

Ferrari are days away from the launch of their 2026 car, but have yet failed to make Hamilton feel at home. With the team’s dynamics and workflows proving to be ‘less effective’ than those Hamilton experienced at Mercedes. There are no indications that Ferrari have fixed their flaws.

Hamilton’s fall from grace has been nothing short of spectacular, having won six titles in seven seasons (2014-2020) with Mercedes. Since the introduction of the ground effect F1 cars in 2022, Lewis has won just two Grand Prix from 92 starts and one of those was inherited from his team mate George Russell who was disqualified in Belgium 2024 for his car being deemed underweight.

Once the King of the F1 statistics, Hamilton remains the driver with the most ever Grand Prix victories, but his once dominate win percentage has now fallen below that of Max Verstappen. A new engineer and a new season will fire up Hamilton’s desire for competition and just maybe the all new F1 car designs will be more suitable to his driving style. 

 

READ MORE – Updated: Crisis As Williams Misses Pre-Season Testing After Major Chassis Issue

 

 

NEXT ARTICLE – FIA refuse to ban Mercedes clever loophole solution

Today sees the hastily organised meeting of the FIA and the Formula One power unit manufacturers following complaints from Honda, Audi and Ferrari that Mercedes and to a certain degree Red Bull are in breach of the technical regulations.

Reports began to emerge before Christmas that Mercedes have developed heat sensitive components which when the car is up to temperature mean the internal combustion engine’s compression rate exceeds the maximum set out by the FIA.

The FIA have clarified their compression tests will operate with the car stationary and at ambient temperature, which means the W17 will pass the test even though when on track the Mercedes powertrain will enjoy an increased compression ratio above the 16.1 the FIA has stipulated…. READ MORE