Lewis Hamilton has tense exchange on Ferrari radio as Brit shows what he won't accept

Lewis Hamilton had a tense exchange with Ferrari engineer Carlo Santi at the first practice session of the 2026 campaign. Hamilton, 41, finished second and fourth in two practice sessions in Melbourne and was the only driver to place in the top four across both sessions.

It was a promising start for the Brit, who endured a disappointing debut campaign with the Scuderia last year. Throughout the 2025 campaign, Hamilton had many tense exchanges with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, who was removed from his role at the end of the season. In Australia, Hamilton was partnered with Santi, who was named as the seven-time world drivers' champion's temporary race engineer. During the session, a mildly tense radio call between the pair appeared to show a potential sign of things to come

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On the car radio, Hamilton asked: "I need more feedback of where that four tenths is," to which Santi replied: "Two tenths in the first sector, power limited."

Unsatisfied with the feedback, Hamilton responded: "I understand it's two tenths but where is that power limit," with Santi replying: "Power limit is between 2 and 3. Same Second sector. Same Third sector."

This was still not the answer the Ferrari ace was after and in his bid to get what he wanted, he frustratingly replied: "2 and 3 is not helping. Is it apex speed? Is it exit?" to which Santi replied: "It's power limit."

Still not enlightened, Hamilton, who was growing audibly more frustrated, said: "That does not help me, mate. Is it the exit or is it the apex? I don't care about power limit." In what was the first sign they were getting somewhere, the Ferrari engineer answered "It's the apex". A more relieved and satisfied sounding Hamilton then asked: "Okay. Is apex too high or too low? Give me some feedback..."

The exchange emphasised the amount of detail Hamilton will be after from his race engineers throughout the campaign. After the disappointment of last year, which saw him place 6th - 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc - and record zero podium finishes, Hamilton has made it clear he wants to be challenging for a record breaking 8th world title.

When asked what his ambition is, Hamilton said: "The goal is to win. That's what everyone's working towards - every team is. But that's our goal.

"To maximise on every opportunity, to be lean, to be hopefully fighting in the top group, hopefully in the first races. We don't really know. Mercedes looks particularly quick, and I'm not really sure whether we have seen the full unleashed Red Bull yet, so it's really, really exciting.

"But I do know that, whatever the case, I feel like I've got a great group of people behind me who are head down, focused on bringing performance and really maximising from every weekend."