In the 2025 season, Lewis Hamilton will join Ferrari after over a decade at Mercedes. However, a significant change will occur once he sits in the Scuderia’s car: Peter Bonnington, known as ‘Bono,’ will no longer be in his ear. Bonnington reflected on his time with the seven-time world champion and what sets Hamilton apart from other drivers on the grid.
Hamilton’s time with Mercedes ended at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he had joined the team in 2013. From the very first year at Mercedes, Hamilton partnered with Bono, and during their final weekend together, despite starting from 16th, he finished 4th. Bonnington believes this performance highlighted Hamilton’s best qualities.
“Lewis, he’s a Sunday man. Every Sunday he brings his ‘A game’. That’s what we saw [in Abu Dhabi]. That’s going to be the thing that I’m going to miss most about it, you know that when the lights go out you are going to get 100 percent out of the guy. He gives it his all every single race. That is his most endearing quality, the guy’s got racecraft of no other,” Bonnington told Viaplay.
The 2024 season has been difficult, especially compared to their previous successes, but Bonnington emphasized the positive moments. “We’ve had some really low downs but the highs, they outweigh it by a hundred times. Last race of the season we all tend to come back here and just congregate and just reflect on what we’ve done. For Lewis, as you say, end of an era, end of this chapter with him,” he said.
However, Hamilton could return to his winning ways in 2024, with the potential to win at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. “I’ve loved every minute, even the tough times because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We’ve bounced back from some pretty bad stuff but I’m just so grateful to have been part of his life and part of his achievement,” Bono reflected.
“I can’t believe I’m still here doing it. He’s stuck with me this long, so I must be doing something right,” Bono added. “Drivers tend to not have coaches but we feel that engineers are actually the driver coach. We’re there to work them through all the engineering side of stuff but also the psychological stuff and just make sure we all stay together and keep it on the right path.”
As for Ferrari, they already made a race engineer change last season when Bryan Bozzi replaced Xavi Marcos for Charles Leclerc, and Riccardo Adami replaced the departing Carlos Sainz. It is still unclear who will be Hamilton’s race engineer after his long tenure with Bono at Mercedes.
