After spending more than a decade at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton will move on to Ferrari in 2025. Before he does that, he wants to build a winning team around him. That requires him to find a capable race engineer who can guide him through the Grand Prixs. As a result, Hamilton has contacted Sebastian Vettel to help him with the same.
Riccardo Adami served Vettel as a trusted confidante during the latter’s time at Toro Rosso (now VCARB). The Italian engineer continued with the team after the German’s departure and worked with Daniel Ricciardo as well.
Currently, Adami is working with Carlos Sainz as his race engineer at Ferrari. As per F1 journalist Giuliano Duchessa, Vettel granted his stamp of approval for Adami. The 50-year-old is now slated to take over the same duties for Hamilton when the Briton joins the team in 2025.
Duchessa tweeted, “I heard that Lewis called Seb some time ago to ask about Riccardo Adami in view of 2025. Obviously, the feedback on the qualities was excellent. While LEC [Charles Leclerc] is very happy with Bryan Bozzi, so barring any oddities, we can expect continuity.”
Vettel reunited with Adami when he moved to Ferrari in 2015. Coincidentally, that was also the year Adami left Toro Rosso to join the Prancing Horse. The Italian played a crucial role in guiding Vettel to 14 race wins in six years. In two of those years, the four-time champion finished runner-up in the championship behind Hamilton.
The tug of war for ‘Bono’ between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes
Speculations over Hamilton’s next race engineer began right from the moment he announced his move to Ferrari in 2025. Many fans and experts believed the Briton would take a few Mercedes engineers with him to Ferrari, including his current race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington.
While the likes of Jerome d’Ambrosio have already made the move to Maranello, Bono reportedly became a bone of contention between Mercedes and Hamilton. Team principal Toto Wolff, however, has cleared the air on the controversy. The Austrian manager has not ruled out the possibility of Bonnington moving bases.
Wolff, as per Total-Motorsport, said, “I think this is a discussion which everyone needs to have in the months to come. And as much as I’ve spoken with Bono already, when I told him [Hamilton was leaving], he said, ‘Is it April the first?’”
Wolff made the comment back in February this year. However, that ship may have sailed for Bonnington now. The 49-year-old would most likely have to serve a gardening leave if he decides to follow Hamilton to Ferrari. The duration of that might prove to be too long a wait for the seven-time champion.
