In a move that has sent ripples of relief and intrigue through the Formula 1 paddock, Scuderia Ferrari HP has officially announced a major restructuring of its trackside operations. The headlines are confirmed: Riccardo Adami, the veteran engineer who was tasked with guiding Lewis Hamilton through his debut season in red, is stepping down from his role as race engineer.
For fans who followed the 2025 season closely, this decision feels less like a surprise and more like an inevitable correction. While the partnership began with high hopes and mutual respect, the reality on the track told a different story—one of friction, awkward silences, and a fundamental lack of chemistry that a seven-time World Champion simply cannot afford.
The Decision: A Ruthless but Necessary Move
Maranello hasn’t fired Adami; rather, they have reassigned him. According to the official statement from Scuderia Ferrari HP, Adami is moving to a significant new role within the Ferrari Driver Academy. He will serve as the “Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager,” leveraging his vast experience to nurture the next generation of talent and strengthen the team’s performance culture.
It is a respectable landing spot for an engineer with a resume as deep as Adami’s—stretching back to the Minardi days and including successful stints with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. Ferrari made sure to thank him for his commitment, wishing him success in the new post. But make no mistake: removing him from the frontline of the race team, specifically from the ear of their star driver, is a clear admission that the experiment did not work.
Why It Failed: “Two Ships Passing in the Fog”
The 2025 season was supposed to be a honeymoon period, but the radio waves between Car 44 and the pit wall often sounded more like a disconnected phone line. Hamilton, who spent over a decade building a telepathic bond with Peter “Bono” Bonnington at Mercedes, found himself in a jarringly different environment.
The “plug-and-play” transition many hoped for never materialized. Instead, we witnessed moments of genuine confusion. The discord was palpable in the radio exchanges, which observers noted often sounded like “two ships passing in the fog.”
Two specific instances stand out as painful markers of this failed chemistry. The first occurred in Monaco, where a confused Hamilton felt compelled to ask Adami, “Are you upset with me?”—a question that revealed a troubling lack of emotional sync. The second came at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where Hamilton’s sign-off was met with another awkward silence. These weren’t just technical glitches; they were symptoms of a partnership that, despite a full season of trying, simply refused to blossom.
Hamilton has always been gracious, insisting he didn’t blame anyone individually for the lackluster season. However, he has also been honest about needing his environment “optimized” to extract maximum performance. It became clear that Adami, for all his technical brilliance, was not the optimal partner for a driver who operates on intuition and emotional connection as much as data.
The Contenders: Who Can Fill the Void?
With Adami out, the burning question is: Who steps in? Ferrari has stated that the new race engineer for Car 44 will be announced “in due course,” but the rumor mill is already spinning at maximum RPM.
The dream of poaching Bono from Mercedes remains just that—a dream. He isn’t coming. Ferrari must look elsewhere, and right now, the internal talent pool at Maranello is taking center stage.
1. Bryan Bozzi: The Fan Favorite The name on everyone’s lips is Bryan Bozzi. Currently working as Charles Leclerc’s race engineer, Bozzi has been a revelation. He guided Leclerc to that emotional, historic home victory in Monaco—something no Monegasque had done in 93 years. Bozzi checks every box: he is fluent in both English and Italian, knows the Ferrari culture inside out, and possesses a knack for calm, clear communication under pressure.
However, this option comes with a massive risk. Would Ferrari dare to break up the “Golden Boy” partnership of Leclerc and Bozzi just to fix Hamilton’s side of the garage? It seems unlikely they would destabilize one star to settle another, but Bozzi’s style is exactly what Lewis needs.
2. Ravin Jain: The Strategist Another intriguing name is Ravin Jain, Ferrari’s strategy chief. A Brit himself, Jain is deeply respected for his analytical mind and has been at the heart of Ferrari’s strategic operations. While not a traditional race engineer, his ability to interpret feedback and translate it into decisive action could be a potent mix for Hamilton. It’s a left-field choice that wouldn’t make splashy headlines, but it could offer the nuanced support Hamilton craves.
3. Matteo Togninalli: The Veteran Then there is Matteo Togninalli, Ferrari’s Head of Track Engineering. A fixture at the team for decades, his credibility is unquestioned. Moving from a broad oversight role to the specific intensity of a race engineer is a significant jump, but his deep understanding of the car’s performance makes him a serious, if overlooked, contender.
A Renaissance for 2026?
Ultimately, this shakeup isn’t just about personnel; it’s about philosophy. Lewis Hamilton doesn’t need a robot who relays data. He needs a partner who anticipates his needs, reads the race instinctively, and speaks to him in a way that feels like an extension of his own thinking.
The fact that Ferrari has taken this step is arguably the most encouraging sign for the Tifosi ahead of the 2026 season. It proves that team principal Fred Vasseur is listening—not just to the noise outside, but to the silence inside the garage. They recognized that to get the best out of a champion like Hamilton, they had to change the voice in his ear.
As we wait for the official appointment, one thing is certain: Hamilton will walk into 2026 with fresh ears and renewed hope. If the new engineer brings the clarity and “killer instinct” that was missing last year, we might finally see the Lewis Hamilton renaissance we’ve all been waiting for.
