Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton will start the 2026 season with a new race engineer and Italian media have already revealed who will work with the Briton in pre-season testing in Barcelona.

Last week, Ferrari officially announced that Hamilton would no longer work with Riccardo Adami as race engineer. The decision comes after a busy 2025 season that included a series of awkward radio conversations between pilot and engineer.

The partnership has not worked out since Hamilton’s first year with the team, and Ferrari boss Fred Vasser confirmed the makeup of the engineering staff would be reviewed at the end of last season. It was later learned that Adami would remain with the team but would move to another position: director of the Ferrari Driver Academy and head of the previous car testing program (TPC).

While the team is looking for a permanent replacement, Corriere della Sera reports that Charles Leclerc’s engineer Brian Bozzi will temporarily act as Hamilton’s race engineer during pre-season closed testing, which starts in Barcelona on January 26. According to the source, only one SF-26 vehicle will be used in the tests, which will be shared by both pilots, so Bozzi will work with two drivers at the same time.

Ferrari did not give any official reason for breaking off cooperation with Adami, but public misunderstandings arose several times throughout the season. Already at the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton expressed surprise at the lack of information on the radio, in Miami he reacted sharply to the tactical decisions of the team, and in Monaco a situation arose in which the driver thought that the engineer was ignoring him. A similar incident occurred at the last stage of the season in Abu Dhabi, after which Adami apologized and explained this by communicating on the command bridge.

All these moments reinforced the impression that Hamilton and Adami had never quite found a common language, and the personnel changes made on the eve of the 2026 season were the logical conclusion of this difficult partnership.

Arvid Lindblad had a bad start to his Formula 1 career when he turned his new Racing Bulls VCARB03 car into a gravel trap during a race at the Imola circuit.

Earlier, Liam Lawson had the honor of completing the first lap of Red Bull Ford’s new engine in the wet conditions of the circuit, located just 15 km from the team’s Faenza base. As part of the demo day, which allowed a maximum distance of 15 kilometers (in this case three laps of the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit), Lawson completed the installation lap without any problems.

The race was short-lived when British newcomer Lindblad took the wheel in the afternoon; He spun at the Variante Villeneuve chicane in the wet (turns 5-6) and got stuck in the gravel. A video on social media X showed VCARB03 being driven back to the pits by a tow truck. It was reported that the cause of the take-off was not pilot error, but the blocking of the rear brakes.

Lawson and Lindblad will return to the Imola circuit tomorrow (Wednesday) for the 200km shoot.

#ArvidLindblad‘s car after spinning at Variante Villeneuve earlier today.#F1 #VCARB #test #Imola pic.twitter.com/RBpD78r5VH

— Jacopo Rava (@JacopoRava04) January 20, 2026

Audi has unveiled its first livery, which will make its debut in Formula 1 in the 2026 season.

The driver line-up has not changed since 2025, when the team spent its last season under the Sauber name: Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto will race for the team for the second season in a row.

The German team was the first to test the car on a filming day in Barcelona earlier this month and is preparing for testing to begin on January 23.

The team used the colors they had previously promised in their initial designs. The front of the car will be chrome gray and the rear will be red and black.

Previously, Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Haas have presented their own liveries.