In Formula 1, the relationship between driver and race engineer is often described as a marriage. It demands trust, shared language, and an intuitive understanding of what the other needs under 300 km/h pressure. For Lewis Hamilton, 2026 has become the year that marriage finally feels right at Ferrari.
After qualifying fifth for both the Sprint and Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the seven-time World Champion delivered his clearest endorsement yet of the structure around him: “Honestly, for me, my engineering team is now just where I need it,” Hamilton said. “And we’ve finally got the car this weekend in a place where I really feel like myself. I don’t want to change up my team.”
That statement caps a turbulent 18 months of transition. Hamilton joined Ferrari in 2025 after 12 seasons at Mercedes, paired with veteran race engineer Riccardo Adami. Adami previously engineered Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz. The 2025 season proved difficult: Ferrari finished fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, and Hamilton failed to score a Grand Prix podium for the first time in his F1 career. Radio exchanges between Hamilton and Adami drew public scrutiny for their terse tone, though both driver and team denied a breakdown in chemistry.
The Adami Exit and the Engineer Carousel
On January 16, 2026, Ferrari announced Adami would leave the pit wall. He moved to a new position: Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and Test Previous Cars Manager. Ferrari’s statement said his “extensive trackside experience and Formula 1 expertise contributes to the development of future talent and to strengthening performance culture across the program”. The team added: “The appointment of the new Race Engineer for car #44 will be announced in due course.”
The timing created uncertainty. With the first 2026 pre-season test in Barcelona scheduled for January 26-30, Hamilton faced the prospect of starting his second Ferrari season without a settled engineer. He called that prospect “detrimental”. “It’s a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that have been through thick and thin,” Hamilton said in Bahrain testing. “But it is the situation that I’m faced with and I’ll try and do the best I can.”
Ferrari’s interim solution was Carlo Santi. Santi, born in Verona in 1974, is Head of Remote Engineering at Ferrari. He graduated in mechanical engineering from Politecnico di Milano and joined Ferrari as a vehicle modelling engineer. He became Kimi Räikkönen’s performance engineer in 2016-2017 and was promoted to Räikkönen’s race engineer for 2018, guiding the Finn to his final F1 victory at the 2018 United States Grand Prix. From 2019, Santi led Ferrari’s “remote garage” operations from Maranello.
Santi was appointed “interim race engineer to Lewis Hamilton” following Adami’s reassignment. Ferrari confirmed Santi would work with Hamilton for Barcelona and Bahrain testing and the “early 2026 races”. Hamilton confirmed: “It’s only going to be a few races” before switching again.
The longer-term plan points to Cedric-Michel Grosjean, formerly Oscar Piastri’s lead trackside performance engineer at McLaren. Reports in February indicated Grosjean was “Ferrari-bound” after leaving McLaren in December 2025. However, he served a period of “gardening leave” and only joined Ferrari around the Australian Grand Prix. As of Miami on May 3, PlanetF1.com reported Santi would remain in place, with “no defined timeline” for the changeover to Michel-Grosjean. Ferrari opted for “continuity with Lewis Hamilton and Carlo Santi” for Miami, believing the partnership was delivering the required communication.
Why the Setup Now “Feels Like Myself”
Hamilton’s comfort in Canada stems from two factors: personnel stability and a technical breakthrough.
First, the simulator. Hamilton abandoned Ferrari’s simulator in his Canada preparation, calling it “hit and miss”. “You do all the work on the sim and you find a set-up that you’re comfortable with, you get to the track and everything’s opposite,” he said. Instead, he “focused more on the data”: ride stability, through-corner balances, mechanical balance, brake balance. “The fact that I didn’t do the sim, and it was the best I’ve felt all year, so I think that’s the way forward for me,” Hamilton said after Sprint Qualifying.
Second, the SF-26 itself. Hamilton revealed he “chose a setup that we’ve never used before and it’s transformed the car for me”. He said the car “felt really fantastic from FP1”. After Sprint Qualifying, he called it “probably the best qualifying session we’ve had for some time”. He qualified P5 for both the Sprint and Grand Prix, out-qualifying Charles Leclerc each time. In FP1, Hamilton was P3, 0.774s off Kimi Antonelli’s benchmark.
Ferrari brought no new parts to Canada, choosing to optimize the package introduced in Miami. Hamilton said “great work with the engineers” on setup changes was key.
The 2026 Context: Car, Rules, and Shakedown
Hamilton’s reference to the “SF-26” reflects Ferrari’s 2026 challenger, built for F1’s new power unit and chassis regulations. The first pre-season shakedown ran January 26-30 at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Hamilton set the fastest time of the Barcelona test on the final day: a 1:16.348 on soft tyres, just under a tenth quicker than Mercedes’ George Russell. Charles Leclerc ran a 1:16.653 in the morning. McLaren’s Lando Norris was second with 1:16.594. Ferrari completed 438 laps over three days, second only to Mercedes’ 504. Hamilton called it a “really enjoyable week” and praised “so much great work from all the people back at the factory”.
The Barcelona performance carried caveats. Lap times are “largely irrelevant in testing” and teams run different programs. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur stressed the goal was to “collect data and check reliability”. Still, Hamilton said the test felt stronger than his 2025 debut year.
Hamilton’s Input on the 2026 Car
Beyond setup, Hamilton is shaping Ferrari’s development philosophy. Autosport reported in 2025 that Hamilton was trying to give the 2026 Ferrari his “DNA”. The issue: brake and engine braking feel. At Mercedes, those elements were smoother; at Ferrari, he found them too aggressive. “A driver who likes to trail brake into corners” struggles when the car doesn’t allow it.
Ferrari deputy team principal Jérôme d’Ambrosio said both drivers give “very similar requests, conceptually, about what they need from the car”. The goal is “operational flexibility” so drivers can adapt the car to their style.
Canada Weekend: Results and Implications
The 2026 Canadian Grand Prix weekend runs May 22-24. In FP1, Antonelli led with 1:13.402, Russell P2 +0.142, Hamilton P3 +0.774, Leclerc P4 +0.953.
Sprint Qualifying saw Mercedes lock out the front row: Russell P1, Antonelli P2. McLaren’s Norris and Piastri took P3-P4. Ferrari locked out row three: Hamilton P5, Leclerc P6. Max Verstappen was P7.
Hamilton said an error on his final SQ3 lap cost him: he missed switching on “SM [Straight Mode]” into Turn 1 and was down two tenths, then ran wide at Turn 7. Still, he was “having so much fun out there”.
For the Grand Prix, Hamilton again qualified P5. With rain forecast, he sees opportunity to fight Mercedes and McLaren.
Why Stability Matters Now
Anthony Davidson told RacingNews365 he was “surprised and intrigued” Hamilton hadn’t been working with his permanent 2026 engineer from testing. “It’s such a special relationship that you need with your race engineer,” Davidson said. “He hasn’t had a chance to actually gel. You need that chemistry. We saw and heard that it didn’t work last year.”
Hamilton echoed that after Bahrain: “A season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that have been through thick and thin”.
The Santi interregnum appears to have provided that. ScuderiaFans reported Ferrari chose continuity with Santi for Miami because the collaboration “developed positively”. Sources told PlanetF1.com there was “no defined timeline” to switch to Michel-Grosjean.
Hamilton’s Canada comments suggest the temporary solution became the right solution: “I don’t need to change up my team, we just need to keep on working and do what works for me.”
What’s Still Unconfirmed
Several claims in earlier drafts remain unverified by motorsport.com, autosport.com, planetf1.com, or f1.com:
“Carlo Santi” engineered Räikkönen in 2018 – Verified. He was Räikkönen’s race engineer for 2018.
Hamilton’s 2025 season was podium-less – Verified. 2025 marked the first time in his F1 career he failed to score a Grand Prix podium.
Hamilton won the China Sprint in 2025 – Verified. Autosport and RACER reference “Sprint pole and Sprint victory in just their second race weekend”.
Barcelona 1:16.348 lap – Verified. Multiple outlets report Hamilton’s 1:16.348 on softs.
What’s not in these outlets: any mention of specific suspension geometry changes, ride height targets, or detailed radio transcripts beyond the publicly broadcast “tense” exchanges. Those remain paddock speculation.
The Road Ahead
Ferrari sits fourth in the Constructors’ after 2025. The 2026 season started in Australia on March 8. Hamilton scored his first Ferrari podium with third in China, finished fourth in Australia and sixth in Japan.
The regulation reset for 2026 includes “major changes to both engine and chassis”. Extra testing was scheduled. Ferrari’s Barcelona shakedown ran January 26-30. 3636
If Hamilton’s Canada form holds, Ferrari has a foundation. The engineering team is “where I need it”. The car is “transformed”. The driver, at 41, says he “really feel like myself”.
Whether Santi stays beyond “a few races” or Michel-Grosjean takes over, Hamilton’s message is clear: stop changing, start building. In a season of new rules, that might be the biggest upgrade of all.
Sources: formula1.com, autosport.com, skysports.com, racer.com, planetf1.com, scuderiafans.com, the-race.com, wikipedia.