Lewis Hamilton is set to part ways with his race engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, when he leaves for Ferrari at the conclusion of the 2024 season, as the Mercedes figure will not follow the seven-time Formula 1 world champion.
Hamilton and Bono, as he’s affectionately known, have been united since Hamilton switched McLaren for Mercedes‘ silver in 2013 and they have formed one of the most formidable partnerships in history that has yielded six world championships, 82 wins, 78 poles and 149 podiums through 11 years.
But news out of Italy suggests 49-year-old will not be swapping Brackley for Maranello this winter after Hamilton reportedly had a phone call with Sebastian Vettel to discuss what Riccardo Adami, current engineer for Carlos Sainz, was like to work with.
“I heard that Lewis called Seb [Vettel] some time ago,” formu1a.uno journalist Giuliano Duchessa posted on X, formerly Twitter, ahead of the 2024 Austrian GP. “To ask about Riccardo Adami in view of 2025. Obviously the feedback on the qualities was excellent.”
As senior race engineer to the 39-year-old Brit, Bonnington is responsible for trackside communications and the direction of the set-up on the car. He is one of the most influential figures within the team and can have a significant impact on the outlook of a weekend, which usually tends to go well for Hamilton.
Their time together has become revered as one of the most iconic examples of a driver-engineer partnership, full of memorable phrases such as, “Bono my tyres are gone,” “Okay Lewis, it’s hammertime,” or “Get in there Lewis,” when Hamilton would cross the finish line in first-place.
