Lewis Hamilton gives verdict on new race engineer after off-season swap
Santi arrived on an interim basis but there are no plans to change him.
Lewis Hamilton said he is ‘really loving working’ with race engineer Carlo Santi following a difficult first year in that area.
Hamilton’s frustrations when speaking with Riccardo Adami summed up his debut year with Ferrari, but the off-season switch has produced benefits.
Lewis Hamilton reports on new race engineer
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Hamilton joined Ferrari last season with Adami, who worked with Hamilton’s predecessor Carlos Sainz, the voice in his ear.
Almost from the get-go, there was tension as Hamilton and Adami failed to find their rhythm, with their testy radio exchanges broadcast by FOM. From Australia to Monaco, even the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, highlighted the communication challenges between the two.
Over the winter, Adami has moved to an academy role within Ferrari as Carlo Santi became Hamilton’s race engineer, initially on an interim basis.
It is a relationship that has blossomed though and, after his first P2 with the team in Canada, Hamilton spoke of how much he has enjoyed working with Santi.
“I chose a different set-up this weekend through just ciphering through the data, working really well with my engineer,” he said. “He’s absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him.
“And my number two did a fantastic job this weekend and helped me really pull more performance out of the car, getting into a much sweeter place.
“And I was able to attack all the corners finally. And as I said, there’s a lot of changes that I’ve had to ask for, and Fred [Vasseur]’s been super supportive and again also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable.
“And it’s finally starting to show in my performance. So, thank you to the team.”
The positive effect was one that Hamilton seemingly did not see coming so early in the season he suggested having an interim race engineer would be “detrimental” to his season.
“Firstly, with Riccardo it was a pretty difficult decision to make, and I’m really, really grateful for all the effort he put in last year, and his patience – it was a difficult year for us all,” the 41-year-old explained.
“It’s actually quite a difficult era, because it’s not long-term, the solution that I currently have – it’s only a few races, and so early on into the season it’s going to all be switching up again and I’ll have to learn to work with someone new.
“So that’s detrimental for me too, [going into] a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that have been through thick and thin, and I can’t.
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“But it is the situation that I’m faced with, and I’ll try and do the best that I can. The team is trying to do the best they can to make it as seamless as possible.”
Vasseur was full of praise for Hamilton after the race, noting how he was able to ‘push from the beginning to the end’ even in difficult conditions.
“It was a very strong performance,” he said. “Conditions [were] mega difficult. If you were losing power, you were struggling to recover and to come back, and he was able to push from the beginning to the end.
“He was in confidence and did a very strong, strong race and strong weekend overall.
“We know what we are doing, we know that we have a clear target, a clear goal. We are pushing together as a team. Then you can write whatever you want.”
Read next: Verstappen undone as Hamilton’s Ferrari masterclass flips Canadian GP battle
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