Former F1 driver reacts to Hamilton split with his engineer

The former F1 driver, in his assessment of the situation surrounding Hamilton at the Scuderia Ferrari outfit, expressed confidence in Hamilton rediscovering his form.

Patrese also noted the importance of trust and chemistry between a driver and race engineer and how it is pivotal to the performance shown on track.

“Lewis Hamilton will be better now he’s changed engineer. There was friction from what we heard in the conversations between him and Adami during the races. The race engineer is very important in helping to make a driver more confident,” Patrese said via a gambling platform.

“So, if Lewis didn’t like the feeling with his race engineer, having a new one would probably improve his mood and make a big difference. A good race engineer can make a lot of difference,” he added.

Drawing from his experience during his active years of racing, the former Williams F1 driver recounted the impact of his race engineer.

“When I was at Williams, even if the cars are the same, the team is the same, the opportunities are the same, the race engineer really can make a lot of difference for the driver and also how to make that specific car go better,” he concluded.

Earlier, the Ferrari outfit announced Hamilton’s engineer Riccardo Adami will not continue with the British driver for the 2026 campaign. However, a replacement for Adami is yet to be appointed by the Maranello-based outfit.

The personnel in Hamilton’s camp continue to change ahead of the upcoming campaign, and only recently did reports of the former Mercedes driver splitting with Marc Hynes surface.

However, while swirling reports have described Hynes as Hamilton’s manager, GPblog understands the Brit hasn’t particularly been serving in the managerial role of the seven-time champion since rejoining his team in 2024.