Adami-Hamilton, Clear reveals: “Riccardo was frustrated like everyone else, 2025 will be a difficult year”

The rebirth of Sir Lewis Hamilton There was a small step backwards in Suzuka, but it is undeniable that Lewis Hamilton appeared in this first remnant of the 2026 World Championship in a state of form not even remotely comparable to that shown last season. Thanks to a decidedly more competitive Ferrari which allows him to fight at a high level but, who knows, perhaps also to the renewal he himself requested over the winter, which led him to eliminate his entourage of closest collaborators: thus, in addition to his press officer and his manager, the seven-time world champion also had a new track engineer passing under the care of the expert Carlo Santi – pending the exchange with the new arrival from McLaren, Cedric Michel-Grosjean – with the former Riccardo Adami moved instead to lead the Ferrari Driver Academy. Jock Clear’s story A change also commented on by the former Red engineer, Jock Clear, who admitted that frustration reigned in the team during the 2025 championship in a long interview granted to the Ignition Casino portal. “I know that Riccardo Adami – he explains – was as frustrated as anyone else last year. It was a difficult year for Ferrari, a difficult year for Lewis. Perhaps the fact of starting from scratch this time gave him a new perspective. However, a lot also depends on the car and on the fact that he is enjoying a car with which he is able to gain confidence. Lewis found himself more at ease and this made things easier for the team in general and not just for his race engineer. Of course, he would like to stay at the Mercedes’ heels, and perhaps in the next rounds the situation will get a little tighter and he will be able to battle.” “A good relationship between the driver and his engineer is of fundamental importance – added Clear, who in the past spoke on the radio about Jacques Villeneuve, Rubens Barrichello and Nico Rosberg, working closely with Michael Schumacher and Hamilton himself as their performance engineer – not only from a technical point of view. The track engineer in fact takes care of the engineering work by dealing with the development of the car, but on race weekends he must somehow balance high-level engineering expertise with an almost caddy for a golfer (he is the personal assistant who carries the clubs from hole to hole, ed.). You have to instill confidence in the driver about what is happening, making him feel like he has everything under control, providing him with the information he needs without overwhelming him with superfluous things.