Lewis Hamilton hails Carlo Santi as his ‘Italian Bono’ after a good start to F1 2026 campaign, with his new Ferrari Race Engineer.
Even though Ferrari’s Hamilton played down instances with Race Engineer Riccardo Adami last year, it was evident that the combination was not gelling to extract the maximum. It was no surprise when Ferrari decided to move Adami to a different role, where he is managing the driver academy.
Ferrari then brought Santi – who previously worked with Kimi Räikkönen – to replace Adami as new Race Engineer of Hamilton to start the 2026 F1 season. The Brit noted that it was an interim solution and they could change his Race Engineer still, once into the season. He termed it as detrimental to his preparation.
Hamilton on driver-engineer relationship
However, five races into the F1 2026 campaign, it looks like Santi will remain as the Race Engineer of Hamilton for the remainder of the season. The Brit hailed the work precision after achieving two podiums so far in China and Canada – even recording the best result of second.
“I think driver-engineer working together is very, very important,” said Hamilton in a print media session at the F1 Monaco GP. “I think last year [Riccardo] Adami and I had a really good relationship. He’s a lovely guy. We work relatively well together. I think catering to a driver’s needs takes time to learn.
“When you’re giving an engineer feedback, their understanding of through corner balance, their understanding of all the elements that contribute to the struggles that you’re struggling with. When you try to describe what it is, the problem you have, corner by corner, entry, main and exit, or you dissect it into five sections if you want.
“Having that driver-engineer collab, it’s hit and miss sometimes,” summed up Hamilton, who recalled his relation with Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington at Mercedes. The duo found instant success and remain best of friends even today. He currently engineers Kimi Antonelli, who is leading the championship.
‘Italian Bono’ – Hamilton calls Carlo Santi
Hamilton has rated Santi so highly that he has given him the nickname, ‘Italian Bono’. “With me and Bono, it was hit off from the beginning mostly,” he continued. “He had a good working relationship with Michael [Schumacher]. I do feel like Carlo [Santi] is like my Italian Bono.
“I told Bono that the other day. He’s a bit of an OG. He’s an older guy that’s been around the block and very calm. You can hear him on the radio. This is a detail that we were able to go into together. Our understanding of the engineering side, I think it’s something that’s worth remembering,” summed up Hamilton.
