"Bono" Will Not Follow Hamilton To Ferrari
Peter Bonnington, known as "Bono," will not be following Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari next season, despite their long and successful partnership at Mercedes. Bonnington, who has been Hamilton's race engineer for 12 years, has instead been promoted to head of race engineering at Mercedes. He will continue working with Hamilton for the remainder of the season before stepping into his new role.
The pair have enjoyed incredible success together, with Bonnington becoming a familiar voice to F1 fans through his radio messages to Hamilton, particularly the iconic "Hammer Time" call that signalled Hamilton to push for victory. Together, they have claimed six world titles, 84 race wins, and 78 pole positions.
Speculation had swirled about whether Bonnington would join Hamilton at Ferrari when the seven-time world champion announced his surprise move. Hamilton, who is set to leave Mercedes after the 2024 season, will have to adapt to a new race engineer at Ferrari.
However, he will find familiar faces there, including Jock Clear, who was part of his engineering team in the early years of his F1 career, and Loic Serra, who will join Ferrari as head of chassis performance engineering.
Mercedes is yet to announce who will replace Hamilton, but the focus for now remains on the current season, where Hamilton has recently found form with wins at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. The team, which has made significant strides to close the gap to Red Bull and McLaren, is aiming to continue that momentum in the final 10 races of the season.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged the progress the team has made but admitted they still have ground to make up.
"We have made good steps in improving the W15's weaknesses though and will continue to work hard to take more. If we can do so, then we will close the gap to those ahead in both championships," Wolff said.
