Riccardo Adami is stepping down from his position as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer at Ferrari, having moved into a different capacity within the Formula 1 squad’s initiative for developing young talent.
Formerly holding the role of race engineer for Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz within the organization, Adami’s new responsibilities involve supervising the testing of older vehicles used by the Ferrari Driver Academy, signifying his departure from a direct trackside operational role.
The initial collaboration between Hamilton and Adami during the seven-time champion’s inaugural year with the Maranello-based team drew considerable attention, especially after perceived early communication difficulties were highlighted during F1’s global broadcast.
Despite an initial triumph, marked by Hamilton’s sprint race win in China, the remainder of the season saw the illustrious driver’s performance decline, culminating in multiple exits during the first qualifying session.
Speculation arose concerning a potential lack of rapport between Hamilton and Adami, citing moments of curt exchanges via radio; however, both the driver and the team publicly dismissed these assertions.
An official communication from the team confirmed that Riccardo Adami has transitioned into a fresh position within the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy. He will now function as the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager, a role where his substantial trackside background and Formula 1 proficiency will contribute significantly to cultivating emerging talent and reinforcing a high-performance culture across the entire program.
Riccardo Adami, Engineer Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari HP conveyed its appreciation to Riccardo for his dedication and contributions in his trackside capacity, extending best wishes for his endeavors in the newly appointed role.
The identity of the individual succeeding him as the Race Engineer for car #44 is expected to be revealed at a later date.
Earlier in his career, Adami served as Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer at the Toro Rosso team, and also undertook comparable duties for drivers such as Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastien Buemi, and Vitantonio Liuzzi during his tenure with the Faenza-based outfit. His professional path saw him rejoin Vettel after departing Toro Rosso in 2015.
Following the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton dismissed contentions that radio communications between him and Adami indicated a poor working relationship, remarking that if one were to listen to other drivers’ radio exchanges with their engineers, they would find them to be considerably more difficult.
Matteo Togninalli, Ferrari’s head of track engineering, commented during the Qatar race weekend that the perception from external observers was often more negative than the actual state of their working partnership.
Consequently, Hamilton is now tasked with establishing a fresh professional bond with a different engineer. The team’s strategy regarding this replacement, whether through an internal promotion or an external recruitment, remains undisclosed.
