Ferrari Boss Snaps Over Lewis Hamilton Race Engineer Talk

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has called on media outlets to stop focusing on Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer situation as the team prepares for the 2026 Formula 1 campaign. His comments came following the British seven-time world champion’s concerns raised during last week’s Bahrain test about the disruptions caused by changing engineers during the season, which Hamilton fears could jeopardize his championship chances.

Hamilton Voices Worries About Mid-Season Engineer Switch

During recent discussions, Hamilton highlighted the potential impact of changing his race engineer shortly after the season begins, warning that such a transition might be “detrimental” to his performance, although he pledged to

“try and do the best I can.”

The 41-year-old’s debut year with Ferrari in 2025 was notably challenging, marking the first time in his distinguished career that he failed to secure a single podium finish. The difficult season included numerous tense exchanges with race engineer Riccardo Adami, who had prior experience working with drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari Confirms Engineer Change for Hamilton in 2026

Last month, Ferrari announced that Hamilton would be assigned a new race engineer for the upcoming season, with Adami moving into a different role within the team’s organization. This decision followed observations of awkward communications between the two during the difficult 2025 campaign. Cedric Michel-Grosjean, formerly the trackside performance engineer for Oscar Piastri at McLaren, is expected to become Hamilton’s permanent race engineer. However, Michel-Grosjean left McLaren at the end of last year and is currently on a career break, which means his arrival at Ferrari is likely to be postponed by several weeks.

Interim Engineer Support Provided by Experienced Personnel

In the meantime, Carlo Santi, who previously worked with Kimi Raikkonen, has been assisting Hamilton during testing sessions. Santi’s involvement is helping to bridge the gap until Michel-Grosjean officially takes over Hamilton’s race engineering duties. Throughout these changes, Hamilton’s statement about another imminent engineer switch led some critics to accuse him of preemptively preparing excuses following his worst season to date.

Vasseur Rejects Claims of Hamilton’s Anxiety Over Engineer Transition

Fred Vasseur pushed back against suggestions that Hamilton is overly worried about the upcoming personnel change.

“It’s not exactly the discussion that we had,”

Vasseur said, stressing that the driver’s relationship with the pit wall team has been constructive. He described Hamilton as

“high in confidence and very open to the relationship,”

dismissing the idea that the engineer swap is an issue.

Normality of Staff Changes Across Formula 1 Teams

Vasseur further explained that changes to engineering staff are routine within Formula 1, noting that six or seven engineers usually change roles each year across the 22 cars on the grid, alongside three to four team principal rotations.

“The team today is something like 1,500 people. It’s not about one race engineer,”

he emphasized.

“In F1, it’s always about the team. It’s never about an individual.”

Looking Ahead to the 2026 Season Opener

The upcoming Formula 1 season will officially begin on March 8 with the inaugural race in Melbourne. Teams, including Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton, will be keen to stamp their authority early, with Hamilton determined to improve on his underwhelming debut season in Maranello despite the ongoing challenges with race engineering personnel.

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