Karun Chandhok has voiced serious concerns regarding Lewis Hamilton's ongoing race engineer uncertainty at Ferrari as the new campaign approaches.
The former Formula 1 driver told Sky F1 that the situation is "ringing alarm bells" for him, with the Italian team still to confirm who will partner the seven-time world champion following Riccardo Adami's departure.
Ferrari announced earlier this month that Adami would not continue in the role after working alongside Hamilton during his debut year with the Scuderia.
Despite testing already underway at Barcelona this week, Hamilton remains without a permanent engineer assigned to him, a scenario Chandhok described as far from ideal.
According to Chandhok, Bryan Bozzi, who serves as Charles Leclerc's race engineer, was overseeing the car during Tuesday's running, including for Hamilton.
"That confuses me, if I'm perfectly honest," Chandhok remarked.
"That relationship between driver and race engineer is so, so important."
Karun Chandhok has voiced serious concerns regarding Lewis Hamilton's ongoing race engineer uncertainty at Ferrari as the new campaign approaches
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The former driver stressed that effective partnerships between engineers and their drivers rely heavily on intuitive understanding.
"Getting the feedback from the driver, in my experience, a good engineer-driver relationship are the unspoken things," he explained.
"When one is complaining about something, the other is able to finish their sentence and say 'we're going to do this'."
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F1 facts fans might not know | GETTY/GBNEWSThe 2025 campaign proved challenging for Hamilton's working relationship with Adami, with their communication appearing less than optimal throughout the season.
Hamilton was occasionally heard expressing frustration over radio procedures during races, suggesting the partnership never fully clicked.
This difficult backdrop makes the current uncertainty all the more concerning, with Chandhok believing Ferrari should have prioritised establishing a new working dynamic before competitive action resumes.
The seven-time champion's first year at Maranello failed to meet expectations, and the unresolved engineer situation adds another layer of complexity as he seeks improvement in his second season with the team.
Chandhok expressed bewilderment that Ferrari had not utilised the winter months to foster a connection between Hamilton and whoever will become his new engineer.
Lewis Hamilton will be aiming for an improved F1 campaign given his struggles for Ferrari last time out
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"They haven't created a situation where Lewis is building that relationship over the winter," he said, suggesting simulator sessions or testing of previous car outings would have been beneficial.
He emphasised that integrating a race engineer extends beyond trackside conversations, noting that engineers must work within the broader team environment even when drivers are absent.
"To me, I'm slightly confused that as we sit here, we've already started testing, that bonding and relationship-building hasn't started, off the back of a season which was not good," Chandhok concluded.
The new F1 season commences in Melbourne on March 8.