Ferrari evaluating key Lewis Hamilton change for F1 2026

Ferrari have refused to rule out the possibility of Lewis Hamilton changing race engineer for the 2026 F1 season.

The relationship between Riccardo Adami and Hamilton came under the spotlight several times throughout the seven-time world champion’s difficult first season at Ferrari.

There were several tense and awkward exchanges between the pair, leading to some to suggest that Hamilton and Adami had failed to strike up a relationship over the 24-race season.

Hamilton endured a disappointing debut season with Ferrari, finishing sixth in the drivers’ championship and nearly 100 points adrift of teammate Charles Leclerc as he experienced his first podium-less year in F1.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admitted the Scuderia are considering what can be changed to help Hamilton heading into his second season with the Italian outfit.

“We need to improve our collaboration. He needs to try to get more out of the car he has. Every detail counts,” Vasseur told Italian publication Corriere Della Sera.

“It’s also about understanding each other better. We know each other better on the other side of the garage [Leclerc] knowing what Lewis needs and what he wants. I also need to understand what he wants.”

When asked specifically whether Adami would remain as Hamilton’s race engineer, Vasseur responded: “We’re evaluating all options.”

Hamilton and Ferrari must improve

Vasseur admitted that he underestimated the challenges Hamilton faced in 2025 but insisted improvement needs to come from both sides next season.

"I think it was difficult for Lewis, and it's too small a word probably, but it was difficult because after 20 years - I say 20 years because for me McLaren was McLaren-Mercedes and then Mercedes - he spent 20 years with Mercedes, it was a huge change," Vasseur acknowledged.

"I personally underestimated the step. It's not that we are doing worse or better, it's that we are just doing differently.

"It's not just about the food or the weather, it's that every single software is different, every single component is different, the people around him, they were different, and if you are not on the top of everything, you leave on the table a couple of hundredths of seconds, and today with the field that we have, I think it was in Abu Dhabi in Q2 that you had one tenth covering P5 and P15.

"We were not in full control of every single detail and package, and we lost a bit of the path of the season like this.”

Vasseur added: "I think it has to come from everywhere. I think that the mindset of the team and the mindset of the driver has to be that let's try to do a better job everywhere.

"It's not that you have something which is going well and the rest is going wrong. At the end of the day, we have to improve. We have to improve into the collaboration with Lewis. We have to improve on the team. He has to improve perhaps on how he gets the best from the car that he has.

"It's not that when you are three tenths behind someone, it's not that they have the magic bullet or they have the component in the car with three tenths faster. Quite often, it's that you have 10 topics where you are three hundredths of a second slower. One after one, we have to tackle each point."