Lewis Hamilton’s lack of chemistry with race engineer Riccardo Adami is a trigger for concern, in keeping with one ex-F1 driver.
Hamilton’s 12-year stint at Mercedes meant his long-term working relationship with Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington lastly got here to an finish.
With Bonnington staying on the Brackley-based group, Hamilton has been working with a brand new race engineer for the primary time since 2012.
Adami is a well known determine in F1, having beforehand labored with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz earlier than Hamilton’s arrival.
Nonetheless, thus far, Hamilton and Adami haven’t clicked.
Whereas issues have improved from earlier within the season when it comes to Adami’s communication and understanding of what Hamilton needs, there’s nonetheless a transparent lack of chemistry, in keeping with Robert Doornbos.
Doornbos highlighted how Adami knowledgeable Hamilton of his 10-second time penalty on the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix.
Adami informed Hamilton: “We’ve got a 10-second time penalty for the incident at flip 4 with Verstappen. We don’t agree, however let’s maintain the pinnacle down.”
“No chemistry” between Hamilton and Adami
Doornbos, who raced for Pink Bull in 2006, questioned Hamilton and Adami’s relationship, stating they “don’t really feel like they’re switched on to one another.”
“I believe as a result of there may be simply no chemistry between the engineer and the motive force,” he mentioned.
“The communication between Lewis and Ricky [Adami], his engineer, it simply doesn’t really feel like they’re switched on to one another.
“It’s Ricky saying, ‘We’ve obtained a 10-second [penalty] due to this and this case.’ Lewis mentioned ‘Yeah, but it surely was very tough to remain on.’ We all know Lewis. I don’t assume they’re actually on it.”
Sky Sports activities’ Karun Chandhok additionally questioned Adami’s supply.
“That’s poor communication, since you’ve unnecessarily riled up the motive force with out giving him all the details,” Chandhok mentioned dwell on air. “And I believe that’s not truly true. He’s not been given a penalty for the incident, he’s been given the penalty as a result of he gained time.”
