Lewis Hamilton struggled on his Ferrari debut (Image: Getty)
Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has suggested that should sit down with race engineer Riccardo Adami to discuss his preferred way of operating after muddled communications marred a challenging debut at the . Hamilton launched from eighth on the grid and nearly dropped to ninth following a battle with .
From there, the Brit spent most of the race staring at the rear wing of ’s Williams before a late safety car and short downpour mixed up strategies. were on the wrong end of the strategy gamble, and both Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc dropped back. The seven-time world champion lost a further two positions to the Monegasque driver and Oscar Piastri in the closing stages, ultimately crossing the line in P10.
Hamilton was, understandably, struggling to extract performance from the SF-25 in treacherous conditions having never experienced machinery on a wet track before. He was not aided by a race engineer relationship that saw Adami on a completley different wavelength.
The 40-year-old repeatedly told Adami to back off communications with Hamilton preferring a quieter stream of information from the pit wall than the engineer’s previous colleagues, and Sebastian Vettel.
“There were a number of times Lewis asked, tell me something, they would give him information but then Lewis said it’s too much, stop telling him and leave it to me. They just need to build that bond.
Riccardo Adami is Hamilton’s new race engineer (Image: Getty)
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“There were a number of times Lewis asked, tell me something, they would give him information but then Lewis said it’s too much, stop telling him and leave it to me. They just need to build that bond.
“Race engineers and drivers will spend more time together than they do with their partners in the season. It’s still round one and they just have to find their feet, maybe have a conversation between now and China. I would be interested to listen to the radio in China and see if it’s different. They just need to have a conversation.”
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As mentioned by Chandhok, Hamilton and Adami will have little time to iron out their communication difficulties before the grid returns to action at the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend.
With sprint points on offer, are facing a race against time to dial in the SF-25. Oscar Piastri’s spin was a let-off for the Scuderia, who risked dropping a long way behind rivals in the Constructors’ Championship fight. The Woking-based squad are the early pacesetters after ’ win.