Lewis Hamilton labels rumors of friction with Ferrari engineer as 'noise'

Japan Times

a day ago

Lewis Hamilton said he has a great relationship with Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami and that continuing speculation about friction between them is just noise.
Terse radio exchanges at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton's race debut in the Italian Formula One team's red overalls, raised questions in March and they resurfaced in Monaco last Sunday.
Then the seven-time world champion was heard asking Adami over the team radio, "are you upset with me?" after the Italian did not respond to earlier messages.
Ferrari explained that silence as being due to radio and signal problems in a race that features cars speeding through a tunnel.
"It was literally just there were areas where we had radio problems through the race, and I did not get information that I wanted," Hamilton told reporters at the Spanish Grand Prix on Thursday when asked for clarification. "We spoke afterwards."
"There is a lot of speculation and most of it is BS. We have a great relationship. He is amazing to work with. He is a great guy, working so hard, we both are," added the Briton, who joined the team from Mercedes in January.
"We don't always get it right every weekend. Do we have disagreements? Yes, like everyone does in relationships. But we work through them. We are both in it together.
"We both want to win a world championship together, and we are both working towards lifting the team up. So it is just all noise, and we are not paying attention to it. It doesn't make a difference to the job we are trying to do."
Hamilton said he and Adami, who previously worked with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, were learning more and more about each other and adapting the way they worked.
"He has worked with lots of different drivers before. We don't have any problems whatsoever," said Hamilton, who won a sprint race in Shanghai but is otherwise yet to stand on a podium for Ferrari.
The Briton finished fifth in Monaco, with teammate Charles Leclerc second in his home race.
Hamilton's radio comments also put him in the spotlight in Miami when he sarcastically suggested that the team "have a tea break while you're at it" as he waited for a strategy call.