Since Lewis Hamilton joined Mercedes back in 2013, there have been many changes to the team. Including teammates, George Russell is the third different driver to have lined up alongside Hamilton.
Despite this, throughout his time with the silver arrows, there has always been one constant, his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington.
Even with a ‘no-poaching’ clause in Hamilton’s contract that was put in place to prevent him from approaching Mercedes colleagues in his move to Ferrari for 2025, he had hoped ‘Bono’ would be able to join him in Maranello. Such is the relationship the two have formed in their twelve years together.
“Was I hoping [he would join Ferrari]? I would have loved to continue with him. We have a great relationship. I love him, he’s like a brother, but I’m really, really happy for him.”
Mercedes, not wanting to lose another major engineering asset, chose to offer the 49-year-old a promotion within the team. An opportunity he has taken, as from 2025 Bono will take the new post of head of race engineering, alongside his current trackside responsibilities.
Bonnington will now stay with the Brackley-based outfit he has worked for since 2006. Having served as Jenson Button’s engineer during the Honda and Brawn days, as well as working as race engineer with Michael Schumacher on his return to F1.
Hamilton, who earned six of his seven titles with Bonnington by his side, has reflected on their time together, empathising with his decision to stay with Mercedes.
“For me, I think it’s just about people doing what’s best for [themselves]. Packing up and leaving, I could only imagine – it’s not him and his partner. It affects both of them, so they have to do whatever is right for him.
“I knew it would be an unlikely scenario that he would go with me, because it is such a drastic change in his life. But I’m really happy for us here in the team to acknowledge and make changes to his career pathway, so he can grow more.”
Another clause in Hamilton’s contract states he is not allowed to have any technical discussions with his new team until his deal expires at the end of the year. A “tough” situation that means he will be forced to wait until 2025 to form any technical relationship with his new race engineer.
His new engineer has been of much discussion since the Ferrari deal was announced in February, however it is expected Riccardo Adami will retain his current position as race engineer, he currently is engineer for the Williams-bound Carlos Sainz.
As well as this, Adami has worked for Hamilton’s long term rival turned close friend Sebastian Vettel during his time in red.
Hamilton has emphasised what he needs to build a comfortable environment in Maranello next year, with trust and communication the key for the 39-year old.
“It’s got to be someone you get on with, it’s got to be someone that you ultimately are able to find it easy to build a relationship with and trust.
“And so the next one, that’s going to be a discovery process. We’ll know quite early on whether or not it’s going to work or not, and I think it’s just about communicating.”
