Barcelona winner, Lewis Hamilton admits to having found his new Bono.
One of several factors that contributed to a dismal debut season for Hamilton with Ferrari was that he simply didn’t gel with engineer Riccardo Adami.
Throughout the season fans were privy to numerous frosty exchanges between the pair and it was clear that things were not going to improve.
As part of the bid to recharge the seven-time world champion’s motivation, Ferrari moved Adami elsewhere and brought in Carlo Santi who had previously worked with Kimi Raikkonen.
Although the move was said to be temporary, as Ferrari looked elsewhere for a suitable engineer for the Briton, from the outset Hamilton appeared more settled with Santi.
Speaking in the aftermath of Sunday’s race, which saw both the Briton and his team return to the top step of the podium for the first time since 2024, Hamilton was keen to pay tribute to Santi, who had joined the Briton on the podium.
“It was great to have him up there,” he said. “I think, you know, him kind of substituting this year, jumping in and diving in deep with me, we didn’t know each other, we’d never spoken and I didn’t know anything about him.
“We met and I think got on straight away,” he continued. “It’s great to be able to connect with an engineer other than what I used to have.
“You know, I had it for such a long time and then you kind of lose that feeling because Bono’s now doing it with Kimi,” he added.
“It’s really great to be able to share that experience with him on that stage, and also probably, like, he’s very, very quiet. You could tell it’s hard for him to express his emotions. He’s just smiley and, you know, I’m giving him these big hugs and pulling him in, saying thank you. I like to think that this has probably reignited the love that he has as being an engineer as he has done for me as a driver.”
While team boss, Fred Vasseur, acknowledged Santi’s contribution to Sunday’s victory, the Frenchman was keen to make clear that this was a team effort.
“I don’t want to put Carlo in front or whatever,” he said. “I think it’s a huge effort from everybody.
“Carlo is part of the process and the fit between Carlo and Lewis is a good one,” he added.
“But we have to react as a group in the good and the bad moments. When it’s a bad moment, I’m trying to protect the team and to take the blame for myself. Today, I don’t want to put a department or someone in front. If we are getting results, it’s because collectively we are doing a good job.”