Following the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying on May 24, Ferrari fans took to social media to voice their outrage after a critical error by Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, Riccardo Adami, resulted in a costly grid penalty. The controversy began in Q1 when Adami mistakenly informed Hamilton that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was on a slow lap. Acting on this incorrect information, Hamilton inadvertently impeded Verstappen at the Massenet corner, a serious misjudgment that led to a three-place grid penalty for the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton had originally secured P4, but the penalty dropped him to P7—an especially harsh blow at a circuit like Monaco where overtaking is notoriously difficult. The incident sparked intense backlash online, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), where fans quickly blamed Adami for the communication failure. One widely shared post read, “Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer needs to go,” capturing the mood of a fanbase furious over yet another strategic blunder.
The frustration was compounded by the fact that Hamilton had just recovered from a crash in FP3 and delivered an impressive qualifying performance. Many fans and analysts argued that while the penalty may have followed the rules, it was overly punitive given the tight confines of the Monaco track, where misunderstandings are common.
The miscommunication has reignited broader concerns about Ferrari’s operational discipline and strategy execution. Critics argue that if Ferrari hopes to support a driver of Hamilton’s caliber effectively, significant changes are needed in their engineering and communications team. With the race looming, attention is not only on Hamilton’s performance but also on how Ferrari will address internal issues to avoid similar setbacks in the future. The incident has undeniably placed added pressure on the Scuderia ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.