There was a different atmosphere around Lewis Hamilton in Canada: calmer, more serene, and above all much more optimistic thanks to harmonious communication with his engineer.
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After months marked by tense radio exchanges and visible frustration during his first season at Ferrari, the seven-time world champion finally seems to be starting to find his place within the Scuderia.
And at the heart of this transformation is a new voice on the radio, that of a veteran who has long worked with Kimi Räikkönen, the last world champion crowned at Maranello.
A man of experience
Carlo Santi (photo above), the engineer who took over communications with Hamilton after the departure of Riccardo Adami this winter, quickly became a central element in the Briton’s resurgence. What initially seemed like a new phase of difficult adaptation is now evolving into one of the most positive stories in the Ferrari garage.
Sir Lewis’s superb second place in Montreal not only represents his best result of the season — it especially symbolizes the clearest sign that everything is finally starting to work together.
“I chose a different setup this weekend after studying the data a lot, and it went very well with my engineer,” Hamilton explained. He is absolutely fantastic and I really love working with him. My second engineer also did an incredible job this weekend and helped me extract more performance from the car, placing it in a much more ideal operating window.”
Striking contrast
Hamilton also emphasized the work done internally at Ferrari to adapt the environment to his needs: “As I have said before, I asked for a lot of changes, and Fred Vasseur has supported me a lot. He literally moved mountains to make me feel comfortable. And it is finally starting to show in my performances. So thanks to the whole team.”
Hamilton’s first year at Ferrari was often marked by sometimes awkward or tense exchanges with Riccardo Adami, who became, despite himself, one of the symbols of the Briton’s difficulties in adapting to his new environment. Their communication problems became a real saga throughout the season, with several particularly tense radio messages publicly broadcast during races.
During the winter, Ferrari finally reorganized its internal functioning by repositioning Adami to a role linked to the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Task distribution
Santi then took over the race engineer position initially on a provisional basis, while former McLaren engineer Cedric Michel-Grosjean was presented as a potential medium-term option.
But for now, it is Carlo Santi who remains Hamilton’s main voice on the radio and everything indicates that this collaboration could now become long-lasting, even though Michel-Grosjean fulfills the role of performance engineer for Ferrari #44. This new organization seems above all to have allowed the British driver to regain essential confidence.
With much smoother communication, Hamilton can now fully focus on exploiting the car, something he feels he finally managed in Montreal: “My engineer has been absolutely fantastic and I love working with him. My second engineer also did an incredible job this weekend and helped me unlock even more performance. For the first time, I was finally able to properly attack all the corners. “
Vasseur shares the same vision
On Ferrari’s side, Fred Vasseur has remained one of Hamilton’s biggest public supporters since his arrival in Maranello. And after Montreal, the French boss also praised the importance of the progress made.
“It was a very great performance,” Vasseur said. The conditions were extremely difficult. If you lost power, it became very complicated to come back, but Lewis was able to attack from start to finish. He was confident and he had a very, very strong race, as well as an excellent weekend overall.”
Vasseur also emphasized the shared vision that now unites Ferrari and Hamilton: “We know exactly what we are doing. We have a very clear goal and we move forward together as a team. After that, everyone can write whatever they want.”
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