Lewis Hamilton found his "Italian Bono" at Ferrari in…

Lewis Hamilton was beaming with praise for new race engineer Carlo Santi, who he described as his “Italian Bono” after a much-improved start to the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Hamilton struck a title-winning partnership with Peter Bonnington during his 12 seasons at Mercedes, but that relationship ended when the seven-time world champion joined Ferrari in 2025.

The Briton joined forces with Ferrari stalwart Riccardo Adami, who worked with Hamilton’s predecessor Carlos Sainz, but the two struggled to form a truly effective partnership.

So Hamilton went searching for somebody new in 2026 and the early rounds have seen him work with Santi, who was Kimi Raikkonen’s engineer during the late 2010s.

Although off-track commitments mean Santi will not serve at every round, with Ferrari also having signed Cedric Michel-Grosjean, he is working with Hamilton in Monaco this weekend.

“Driver-engineer working together is very, very important,” said Hamilton. “Adami and I had a really good relationship, he was a lovely guy, we worked relatively well together.

Carlo Santi at 2018 United States GP (Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images)

“I think catering to a driver's needs takes time to learn. When you're giving an engineer feedback, they're understanding through corner balance, they're understanding all the elements that contribute to the struggles of driving.

“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. Having that driver-engineer collab, it's hit and miss sometimes.

“With me and Bono, apart from the beginning, he had a good working relationship with Michael [Schumacher, Hamilton’s predecessor at Mercedes]. I do feel like Carlo is like my Italian Bono.

“I told Bono that the other day. In terms of, 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 on the radio. That's 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.”

This comes amid a positive start to the year for Hamilton, who has claimed his first two grand prix podiums at Ferrari to sit fourth in the championship and three points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

It’s a vast improvement from last year, when the world champion struggled throughout. But, he often stated that adaptation takes time with the 2026 regulation change being his shining light.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images)

“What most people don't realise is the work that goes on that you have to do in the background,” added Hamilton. “Of course you see drivers in the past like Kimi, for example, who just join a team and drive the car, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

“For me, I've come to a team that, as I mentioned last year, has everything it needs to succeed, but it's just needing the pieces of the puzzle put in the right place in order for it to get there.

“And I've been 100% committed to getting to that point, knowing that it was difficult, particularly through the first part of last year, it was very, very tough.

“But as I said in the last race, Fred [Vasseur] has been great in working with me and helping me. For example, the engineer setup is a million times better than it was last year and I'm starting to see the fruits of that through how I'm driving the car.

“So, it's great to be able to be a part of working with everyone to move the ship in the right direction. We still have a long way to go and we still need to improve in some areas, but I think we're on the right path."