Lewis Hamilton says he has discovered his “Italian Bono” at Ferrari in new race engineer Carlo Santi.
Ferrari veteran Santi stepped up on an preliminary short-term foundation to be Hamilton’s race engineer for 2026 as Riccardo Adami was reassigned elsewhere throughout the crew after a tough first season for Hamilton, wherein he failed to attain a grand prix podium for the crew.
Adami had labored with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz, however he couldn’t re-capture the connection Hamilton loved with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes, with whom he gained 83 of his 84 Mercedes races – Bonnington having missed the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix – and all six of his world titles at Brackley.
It’s the most profitable driver-engineer relationship of all-time.
After Adami was eliminated forward of 2026, Hamilton was assigned to work with Santi – who was Kimi Raikkonen’s former race engineer, and labored with the Finn when he claimed his remaining grand prix victory in 2018 in the USA – sharing the rostrum with Hamilton, who completed third.
Reflecting on his work with Santi, Hamilton described the Italian as an “OG” and as his “Italian Bono.”
“Final 12 months, Adami and I had a very good relationship, and he was a stunning man,” Hamilton instructed media, together with RacingNews365.
“We labored truly comparatively effectively collectively. I believe catering to a driver’s wants, it takes time to study while you’re giving an engineer suggestions: their understanding of through-corner stability, their understanding of all the weather that contribute to the struggles; you attempt to describe what it’s, the issue you could have, nook by nook, entry, center, and exit.
“You dissect it into 5 sections, if you need, and having that driver engineer, generally it’s hit or miss.
“With Bono, it was hit off from the start. Principally, he had an excellent working relationship with Michael [Schumacher], and I do really feel like Carlos is like my Italian Bono.
“I instructed Bono that the opposite day, and [Santi] is a little bit of an OG; he seems like he is an older man who’s been throughout the block and may be very calm.
“You possibly can hear on the radio, however that is the element that we’re in a position to enter along with our understanding of the engineering facet.”
