Who is Lewis Hamilton's Race Engineer?

Lewis Hamilton is one of the most celebrated and successful drivers in the history of Formula 1. He has seven World Drivers' Championship titles and the most F1 race wins in motorsport history. Hamilton started his Formula 1 career with McLaren in 2007, and after a year, he won his first world championship. In 2013, he got an F1 seat to drive for Mercedes, and the rest was history. Hamilton won six drivers' titles and eight constructor titles with Mercedes from 2014 to 2021, making him the most coveted F1 driver of all time. He joined Ferrari at the start of the 2025 season.

Hamilton’s success was not paved alone in F1. The most important factor in Hamilton’s success has been the technical expertise and support of his race engineers. These engineers are in charge of converting data into useful feedback, optimizing car setup, and making strategic decisions via team radio. Every race engineer who had worked with Hamilton contributed to his championship success.

Lewis Hamilton's Race Engineers

Riccardo Adami is the new engineer for Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 FIA World Formula 1 Championship season. Riccardo, who was Carlos Sainz Jr's race engineer, will now be working with Hamilton. He has also previously worked with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Time-Period	Race Engineer	Team
2025-Present	Riccardo Adami	Scuderia Ferrari
2013-2024	Peter Bonnington	Mercedes Petronas MAG F1
2007-2012	Phil Prew	McLaren F1

Riccardo Adami was born on November 27, 1973, in Lombardy, Italy. For his higher studies, he went to the University of Brescia in 2001. He developed his skills in the engine manufacturing and chassis departments and gained a diploma in chassis expertise. After graduating, he got a chance to work with the Minardi F1 team in 2002. After working with the team for four years, he was promoted to be the race engineer for Renault in 2005. For the 2025 season , he is working with Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton's Past Race Engineers

Lewis Hamilton had worked with two race engineers in the past, one of whom was Peter Bonnington and the other was Phil Prew. Hamilton had a prolonged collaboration with Bonnington, having collaborated with him throughout his tenure at Mercedes from 2014 to 2024. Their duo was successful over the team radio that created one of the famous driver-engineer pairings in F1.

Peter Bonnington (2013-2024)

Lewis Hamilton’s most successful partnership was with Peter Bonnington, known as “Bono,” who served as his race engineer at Mercedes from 2013 to 2024. He is a British motorsport engineer who currently serves as the head of performance and race engineering at Mercedes. Bonnington was born in England, and he pursued a bachelor’s degree in engineering. After completing his graduation, he got a chance to work with the Jordan F1 team as a data engineer.

During his tenure at Jordan, he ended up working with high-profile names such as Giorgio Pantano and Timo Glock. In 2009, under Andrew Sholvin's guidance, Bono was promoted to race engineer for Jenson Button at Brawn GP. After Mercedes bought 100% stakes in the team, Bono had already moved up in the hierarchy and became the senior race engineer for Hamilton at Mercedes Petronas AMG until 2024.

Phil Prew (2007-2013)

Phil ‘Philip’ Prew was the race engineer of Lewis Hamilton when he was driving for the McLaren F1 team. Hamilton made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2007, and Prew was the first race engineer he worked with in his career. Their relationship as driver-engineer lasted 15 years, from his karting days until Hamilton left the team in 2013. Phil had previously served as a race engineer to David Coulthard from 2001 to 2004 and to Juan Pablo Montoya from 2005 to 2006. In 2025, he has been working as a chief race engineer for the Mercedes AMG F1 team since 2016.

Philip Prew was born in Britain and moved to the University of Southampton for higher education. He pursued a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1990, according to his LinkedIn profile. After completing his graduation in 1993, he got a chance to work for Picardo PLC Services as a project engineer. He'd worked with them for seven years and then moved up the ladder to the world of motorsport. McLaren hired him as a vehicle dynamics engineer in 1997, and he left the team as chief race engineer in 2014.