Brundle explains why Ferrari had to replace Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer

Martin Brundle expressed his surprise that a change of Ferrari race engineer for Lewis Hamilton did not happen sooner, explaining the requirement to understand ‘Lewis-speak’ crucial to success.

After enjoying a symbiotic relationship with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes, that same level of closeness did not appear evident in his first season at Ferrari, with the Scuderia recently confirming Riccardo Adami has taken on a new role within the organisation.

Lewis Hamilton Ferrari engineer switch: ‘Something needed to change’

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Hamilton’s new race engineer has not yet been named by Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc’s race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, understood to be working with both Ferrari drivers during the first pre-season shakedown test in Barcelona next week.

Hamilton and Adami shared several terse exchanges on team radio through the 2025 season, and with the importance of the driver-engineer relationship having been brought up as a result of this change, Brundle emphasised the value of Hamilton having people around him who understand ‘Lewis-speak’ – knowing exactly what he means and interpreting his conversations – which could ultimately enhance his performances.

Having heard team radio exchanges between the seven-time World Champion and his now-former race engineer, however, the former Formula 1 driver added that a change was needed.

“Surprised it probably didn’t happen a bit earlier, really, judging by all the things that were going on last year,” Brundle told Sky Sports News at the recent Autosport Awards.

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“Something I said on Sky F1 is Lewis needs to go there with a team, so at least they understood ‘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 some help to really flourish there quickly.

“So let’s see who turns up as his engineer now, but just listening to the radio and watching [his] performances, although they obviously put a varnish on it, didn’t they, through last season, something needed to change.”

Hamilton and Ferrari will be pulling the covers off the team’s 2026 challenger, the SF-26, on Friday 23 January, with Hamilton and Leclerc set to take part in shakedown running at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from January 26 to 30.

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