BARCELONA — Lewis Hamilton hit back at suggestions that his relationship with Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami has broken down, saying “it’s all just noise.”
Hamilton’s radio exchanges with Adami have been a constant source of intrigue this season since the seven-time world champion’s move to Ferrari.
A clip went viral after the Monaco Grand Prix of Hamilton, after finishing the race, asking over the radio: “Are you upset with me or something?”
Hamilton’s question was met with total silence on the other end, which Ferrari claimed was down to radio issues at certain parts of the circuit due to the way it snakes around buildings in Monaco.
Hamilton emphatically denied any problems in the relationship.
“There’s a lot of speculation. Most of it is BS,” Hamilton said on Thursday ahead of the weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. “Ultimately we have a great relationship. He’s been amazing to work with, he’s a great guy.
“We are working so hard, we both are, and we don’t get it right every weekend. Do we have disagreements? Like everyone does in relationships but we work through them.
“We’re both in it together. We both want to win a championship together. We’re both working towards lifting the team up. It’s just all noise and we don’t really pay any attention to it. It can continue if you want but it doesn’t make any difference to the job we’re trying to do.”
The bond between and a driver and their race engineer is considered to be one of the most important in F1.
Asked specifically about the post-Monaco message, Hamilton said: “There were areas [of the circuit] we had radio problems in the race. I didn’t get all the information that I wanted and yeah we spoke afterwards.”
Over his previous 11 year stint with Mercedes, Hamilton built a famously close bond with race engineer Peter Bonnington — who coined the iconic “OK Lewis, it’s hammer time” phrase — but from the outside the dynamic with Adami has appeared to be lacking the same chemistry.
Hamilton also had several terse replies to Adami during the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May.
The seven-time world champion said they are still adjusting to the new dynamic.
“Our relationship is great, no problems,” he added. “We’re constantly learning more and more about each other. We’re constantly adapting to the way both of us like to work. He’s worked with lots of different drivers before. We don’t have any problems at all.”
Source: espn.com