Hamilton hails new Ferrari engineer Carlo Santi as his 'Italian Bono' in 2026

Lewis Hamilton has found a race engineer he can truly connect with at Ferrari, describing Carlo Santi as his “Italian Bono” after a markedly stronger start to the 2026 Formula 1 season that has yielded two podiums and fourth place in the drivers’ championship.

The comparison carries significant weight. Hamilton’s partnership with Peter Bonnington — universally known as Bono — was a cornerstone of his dominant Mercedes era across 12 seasons and seven world titles. When Hamilton moved to Ferrari in 2025, that relationship ended, and his first year at Maranello was difficult by his own admission.

His initial Ferrari pairing was with Riccardo Adami, the engineer who had worked closely with Hamilton’s predecessor Carlos Sainz. Hamilton was measured in his assessment of that arrangement. “Adami and I had a really good relationship, he was a lovely guy, we worked relatively well together,” he said ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. “But catering to a driver’s needs takes time to learn.”

For 2026, Hamilton began working with Santi, who served as Kimi Räikkönen’s race engineer during the late 2010s. The early results have been encouraging, with Hamilton sitting just three points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the standings. Ferrari has also brought in Cedric Michel-Grosjean, meaning Santi will not be present at every round, but he is in the garage in Monaco this weekend.

Hamilton was candid about what makes the new dynamic work. “With me and Bono, apart from the beginning, he had a good working relationship with Michael [Schumacher],” he said. “I do feel like Carlo is like my Italian Bono. He’s a bit of an OG. He’s an older guy that’s been around the block. He’s very calm — you can hear it on the radio. The detail that we’re able to go into together, our understanding of the engineering side, I think it’s something that’s worth looking at.”

Hamilton also reflected on the complexity of the driver-engineer relationship more broadly, explaining that translating physical sensations into actionable technical feedback is a skill that takes time to develop on both sides. “You try to describe what it is, the problem you have, corner by corner — entry, middle, exit — or you dissect it into five sections if you want,” he said. “Having that driver-engineer collab, it’s hit and miss sometimes.”

The 2026 regulation overhaul, which Hamilton had long pointed to as a potential reset for his Ferrari career, appears to have provided exactly that. After a difficult debut season in which he regularly acknowledged the time needed to adapt, the early rounds of 2026 suggest the pieces are beginning to fall into place.