Ferrari has refused to rule out Lewis Hamilton altering race engineers for the 2026 F1 season.
Hamilton’s relationship with Riccardo Adami got here to the fore a number of instances all through the seven-time world champion’s troublesome first season at Ferrari.
There have been a number of tense and awkward exchanges between the pair, main some to consider that Hamilton and Adami had not been in a position to develop a rapport over the course of the 24-race season.
Hamilton endured a disappointing debut season with Ferrari, ending sixth within the drivers’ championship, almost 100 factors behind teammate Charles Leclerc, and experiencing his first 12 months with no podium in F1.
Ferrari crew principal Fred Vasseur admitted the Scuderia is taking a look at what modifications might be made to assist Hamilton, who’s in his second season with the Italian crew.
“We have to enhance our cooperation. He wants to make use of his automotive extra. Each element is necessary,” Vasseur informed Italian publication Corriere della Sera.
“It is also about understanding one another higher. On the opposite facet of the storage (Leclerc) we all know one another very effectively and we all know what Lewis wants and what he desires. I additionally want to grasp what he desires.”
When requested particularly whether or not Adami would stay as Hamilton’s race engineer, Vasseur mentioned: “We’re contemplating all choices.”
Hamilton and Ferrari want to enhance
Vasseur admitted he had underestimated the problem Hamilton would face in 2025, however insisted each side wanted to enhance subsequent season.
“I feel it was troublesome for Lewis, and that is in all probability too small a phrase, however what was troublesome was that after 20 years – for me McLaren was McLaren-Mercedes after which Mercedes – I say 20 years, he spent 20 years with Mercedes and it was a giant change,” admitted Vasseur.
“I personally underestimated this step. It isn’t that we’re doing worse or higher, it is simply that we’re doing issues in a different way.
“It isn’t simply concerning the meals and the climate. All of the software program was completely different, all of the elements have been completely different, the individuals round him have been completely different. And while you’re not on the prime of every little thing, you allow a whole lot of seconds on the desk, and at present, with the sphere we’ve got, I feel it was in Abu Dhabi in Q2 that you simply lined fifth and fifteenth by a tenth.”
“We weren’t utterly answerable for all the small print and packages, so we form of misplaced monitor of the season just a little bit like this.”
Vasseur added: “I feel it has to return from in all places. I feel the mindset of the crew and the mindset of the drivers must be to attempt to do a greater job in all places.”
“It isn’t that one factor goes effectively and the remaining will not be. On the finish of the day, we’ve got to enhance. We’ve to enhance the collaboration with Lewis. We’ve to enhance the crew. Possibly he has to enhance how he will get the perfect out of the automotive he has.”
“Simply since you’re three tenths of a second behind somebody does not imply they’ve a magic bullet or have elements of their automotive which might be three tenths of a second sooner. Normally, it means there are 10 matters the place you are three-hundredths of a second behind. We’ve to deal with every level one after the other.”
