Despite Radio Frustrations, Lewis Hamilton Claims His Race Engineer Did A “Good Job”

There may be a lot left for Lewis Hamilton to learn at Ferrari, but the ‘K1’ setting — repeated over and over by Riccardo Adami on his team radio in Australia — must have become annoyingly familiar by now. Hamilton, of course, wasn’t happy with it. He isn’t a driver who enjoys repetitive radio chatter, which was quite evident from his reactions.

Hamilton was not pressing the ‘K1’ setting — presumably the overtake button — at the right time down the main straight at Albert Park on Sunday, preventing him from maximizing its effect. Adami, who was previously Sebastian Vettel’s and Carlos Sainz’s engineer at Ferrari, came into the spotlight when Hamilton snapped back at him, asking him to stop repeating the same instruction.

There was a clear gap in communication between Adami and Hamilton. Rain had disrupted the Australian GP, and Ferrari’s race engineer struggled to provide accurate weather updates, seemingly affecting Hamilton’s decision-making in the closing stages of the race.

But despite the tense exchanges, Hamilton holds no grudges against Adami.

“I think Riccardo did a really good job. We’re learning about each other bit by bit. After this we’ll download, go through all the comments, the things I said, and vice versa,” he said per The Race.

It was the first time Adami and Hamilton worked together in a Grand Prix, so it’s understandable that they weren’t in perfect sync. Moving forward, experts like Karun Chandhok have suggested that they be more open in their conversations, and Hamilton acknowledged the need for the same.

“Generally I’m not one that likes a lot of information in the race unless I need it and ask for it. He did his best today and we’ll move forwards,” the seven-time world champion added.

Having been at Ferrari for just over a month, Hamilton will need time to fully adapt to the SF-25 and the engineers at Maranello. While his dynamic with Adami will surely improve over time, there are growing concerns about Ferrari’s old indecisive tendencies resurfacing.

Vasseur must make Ferrari a well-oiled machine

Before Frederic Vasseur took over as Ferrari team principal, the strategists at Maranello had become something of a meme. Wrong calls, incorrect information, and overall confusion had become the norm. But Vasseur stepped in, took charge of these issues, and made significant improvements.

The trackside engineering group worked closely with the factory to improve communication and develop effective upgrades, making Ferrari one of the fastest and most well-coordinated teams in F1. The strategy team worked on its tendency to delay decision-making and leave drivers hanging, causing them to lose ground in the race. These changes brought Ferrari to within just 14 points of the Constructors’ Championship.

However, in Melbourne yesterday, it seemed Ferrari may not be completely free of these chinks in its armor.

Vasseur stated how they did not turn up properly for the season opener with the kind of strategic decisions they made, plus Hamilton’s radio back-and-forth with Adami. “In general, I think it will take another weekend or two to refine the communication but this is not an aspect that worries me,” the Frenchman told Autoracer.it.

This isn’t the Ferrari team we’ve seen over the past year and a half. There are some underlying issues in their internal workings, especially in communication, that need to be addressed. Vasseur will surely want to have a proper discussion with both drivers and the engineering group to iron out these problems before it gets too late.