Lewis Hamilton hails Carlo Santi connection after Barcelona podium moment

Lewis Hamilton, for the first time as a Ferrari driver, took to the top step of the podium in Barcelona. He was joined by a very important figure behind his resurgence.

That person was Carlo Santi, Hamilton’s new race engineer who stepped up to the plate for F1 2026. Surprisingly, Hamilton said the pair had “never spoken” before joining forces for the new season, but already, a strong and winning connection has been formed.

The Ferrari partnership replacing Hamilton’s famous Bono connection

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Santi, the 52-year-old engineer from Verona, Italy, is a long-serving member of the iconic Ferrari team.

He received his most high-profile assignment yet when he landed the role of race engineer for Lewis Hamilton for F1 2026.

Hamilton’s first, underwhelming season in Ferrari red was partially characterised by apparent tensions with former race engineer Riccardo Adami, who was reassigned to head the Ferrari Driver Academy as Santi took over alongside Hamilton.

F1 2026 has been a story of vast improvement for Hamilton. After scoring a first Ferrari podium in China, Hamilton claimed back-to-back P2s in Montreal and Monaco. Then came the next step, as Hamilton won the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

By Hamilton’s side on the podium was Carlo Santi, who guided Hamilton to that breakthrough result, including through a Virtual Safety Car period which boosted Hamilton’s drive to victory.

Hamilton was asked post-race about sharing that podium moment with Santi, who was described as his ‘Italian Bono’ in a nod to Hamilton’s former race engineer at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington, alongside whom Hamilton won six of his seven titles.

“Yeah, it was great to have him up there,” said Hamilton.

“I think, him kind of substituting this year, jumping in and diving in deep with me. We didn’t know each other, we’d never spoken and I didn’t really know much of… I didn’t know anything about him. And we met and I think got on straight away.

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“But it’s great to be able to connect with an engineer other than what I used to have. You know, I had it for such a long time and then you kind of lose that feeling because Bono’s now doing it with Kimi.

“It’s really great to be able to share that experience with him on that stage, and also probably, like, he’s very, very quiet. You could tell it’s hard for him to express his emotions. He’s just smiley and, you know, I’m giving him these big hugs and pulling him in, saying thank you.

“I like to think that this has probably reignited the love that he has as being an engineer as he has done for me as a driver.”

Hamilton is up to second in the Drivers’ Championship standings after Barcelona. The gap is 41 points to leader Antonelli, who retired from the race with what appeared to be a fresh Mercedes battery issue.

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