- Ferrari hands Hamilton a permanent race engineer just in time for the Miami GP.
- Adami’s exit ended a turbulent 13-month partnership defined by public tensions..
- Cedric Michel-Grosjean moves from McLaren, bringing Piastri’s blueprint with him.
Lewis Hamilton is close to getting the stability he has been searching for since joining Ferrari. Cédric Michel-Grosjean, a French engineer who spent nearly a decade at McLaren, is expected to become Hamilton’s permanent race engineer from the Miami Grand Prix.
It marks a significant turning point after one of the most difficult years of the seven-time world champion’s career.
The 41-year-old Hamilton endured a miserable 2025 season at Ferrari. He went the entire year without a single podium finish across 24 races, with a best result of fourth place. A series of Q1 exits in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi only made his situation look worse.
The breakdown that forced Ferrari’s hand
Much of the friction between Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer Riccardo Adami played out publicly over team radio. At the Miami Grand Prix last May, Hamilton grew visibly frustrated after a delay in executing team orders.
He accused Adami and the pit wall of having “a tea break” and told the team it was “not good teamwork.”
It was not an isolated incident. Over the course of the 2025 season, Hamilton asked some version of “Where is all that time?” at least 21 times during races. The pattern told its own story.
Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley did not mince words. Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Smedley said those kinds of radio exchanges pointed to a relationship that wasn’t thriving.
“If those kinds of comments are happening on the radio, the relationship isn’t fully formed yet, and that’s where it can become unhealthy,” he said.
Smedley was equally plain about what a race engineer’s job demands.
“It is the job of the race engineer to know enough about the car and be across their work so that when the driver asks a question, you can answer quickly,” he said. “It pains me when I hear ‘we’ll get back to you.’ This isn’t a call centre.”
Ferrari’s decision and the search for a replacement
Ferrari made its move quietly in January 2026. The team confirmed Adami would not continue with Hamilton. He moved to a new role within the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, taking charge of the Academy and Test Previous Cars.
The team briefly considered reuniting Hamilton with Peter Bonnington, his long-serving engineer from his Mercedes years.
Ferrari quickly ruled that out. Poaching Bonnington away from Mercedes was not going to happen under Toto Wolff’s watch. So Ferrari turned to McLaren. The Scuderia signed Michel-Grosjean for the 2026 season.
There was a catch, though. Michel-Grosjean had only left McLaren in December 2025, and the Woking-based team could hold him to between three and six months of gardening leave. That meant he could miss as many as seven races.
To fill the gap, Ferrari brought in Carlo Santi, an experienced Italian engineer who previously worked with Kimi Räikkönen.
Who is Cédric Michel-Grosjean?
Michel-Grosjean spent close to nine years at McLaren before his departure. Sky Sports journalist Craig Slater described him during the Barcelona testing period as “a good numbers guy” who “was able to marry the numbers to Oscar Piastri last season, apparently very effectively.”
His role at McLaren grew considerably over time. According to GPfans, he became responsible for Piastri’s car performance and driving development.
During the 2025 title fight, McLaren promoted him to lead trackside performance engineer. He worked closely with Piastri on many technical aspects throughout each event weekend.
Michel-Grosjean also credits himself with contributing to Piastri’s 2025 season, which included seven victories and 16 podiums as McLaren claimed back-to-back constructors’ championships.
The promotion to race engineer, however, is a genuine step up. Slater noted it will be his first time holding that title formally. Taking it on alongside a seven-time world champion, during the first year of a new regulatory era, is no small ask.
Ferrari clearly believes in him. The extended integration period before his debut was designed, at least in part, to soften that risk.
A delayed debut and the Miami timeline
The original plan was for Michel-Grosjean to take over from Bahrain. He was set to shadow Santi and Hamilton’s engineering group across the opening rounds in Australia, China and Japan first.
The cancellation of the Middle Eastern races due to regional conflict changed everything. Miami is now the target.
The delay may suit Ferrari in the end. More time at Maranello means more time with Hamilton before the first race together and more time to build up the relationship.
Michel-Grosjean was already spotted wearing Ferrari kit at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The Times confirmed his presence at Albert Park and reported that his gardening leave had ended. Ferrari was in no hurry. Santi remained on the pit wall for the time being.
This will be Hamilton’s third different race engineer in just over a year at Ferrari. That number alone says plenty about how unsettled the last 12 months have been.
The Scuderia is hoping Miami signals more than a personnel change. They want it to be the start of the settled, communicative partnership that never quite arrived between Hamilton and Adami.
Whether Michel-Grosjean can turn his analytical skill and his success with Piastri into race-day results for a seven-time world champion, that question will be answered throughout the 2026 F1 season.
