Karun Chandhok Suggests Simple Fix for Lewis Hamilton’s Radio Fiasco With Race Engineer Riccardo Adami

It wasn’t the dream Ferrari debut Lewis Hamilton had hoped for. The smile that never left his face in the buildup to the race faded midway through when he realized he wouldn’t be in contention with the front-runners. Adding to his frustration was a back-and-forth with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami.

Adami, formerly Carlos Sainz’s race engineer, took over duties for Hamilton upon his arrival this year. The Italian also replaces the iconic Peter Bonnington — now Mercedes’ head of race engineering — as the voice in Hamilton’s ear during races.

However, unlike Bonnington, Adami didn’t seem to have the smooth communication style Hamilton preferred. Throughout the Australian GP, there were moments when Adami appeared unprepared with the information Hamilton needed.

On top of that, he was relaying unnecessary details, something even Charles Leclerc complained about to his race engineer Bryan Bozzi. It was uncomfortable to see Hamilton’s debut marred by uneasy exchanges between himself and Adami. But that’s something both surely want to work on. And Karun Chandhok has a solution.

“He and his engineer Riccardo Adami need to have a bit more time to understand just how much communication Lewis wants and what type of information…” the Indian former driver said. “…They just need to build that bond.” 

“It’s still round one and they just have to find their feet, maybe have a conversation between now and China,” he added, admitting that he would be eager to hear how they talk to each other in Shanghai in a week.

For Hamilton, who finished P10 in Melbourne, building a strong rapport with his race engineer will be crucial. Bonnington was a trusted figure who guided him to six of his seven world titles. While replacing him will be difficult, Hamilton will aim to develop a similar understanding with Adami.

Hamilton missing Bono in his ears

Bonnington and Hamilton developed a relationship so close that the former Mercedes driver didn’t even have to finish explaining himself. It’s one of the reasons why he barely had any verbal altercations with Bonnington during his 12 years at the Brackley-based outfit.

Hamilton knew that would change once he moved to Ferrari. But that doesn’t mean he cannot miss him. For the first time in his career, Hamilton feels ‘heavily reliant’ on his race engineer. Talking about Bono, he said,  “They’ve (Ferrari have) done a great job but in the past, I would say, ‘Bono, this is what I want. That setting, this setting…” 

To be fair to Adami, developing the same level of rapport in such a short time is unrealistic. The two need more races together and clearer communication to build a strong, winning partnership.