SUMMARY
- Peter Bonnington has been with Lewis Hamilton since 2013.
- Bono could leave Mercedes to follow Hamilton to Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton will leave Mercedes and join Ferrari after the 2024 season. This is something that has not sunk in completely yet for the F1 community. We will finally be seeing the British driver wearing a red suit during the race weekends.
However, Hamilton’s departure from the team begs the question, who else will follow the 7-time Champion to Ferrari? Among the litter, Hamilton’s long-time race engineer, Peter Bonnington has been greatly considered.
Will Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington follow Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari?
Peter Bonnington has been by Lewis Hamilton’s side for a long time. The pair have won several Championships together. Bono became popular during his term with Mercedes. His relationship with Lewis Hamilton is something that has become very popular over the years.
Bono came up with the phrase; “It’s Hammer Time”. The phrase is used by Bono when he wants Lewis to push the car to the limit to increase the pace. The phrase became very popular during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Toto Wolff has said conversations with Pete Bonnington over whether he’ll go with Lewis to Ferrari are all up in the air, but Bono’s reaction to Lewis’ Ferrari move was “Is it April 1st already?” #F1
— Thomas Maher (@thomasmaheronf1) February 2, 2024
A lot of fans assume that Bono will follow Hamilton to Ferrari in 2025. Given the strength of their relationship, it could allow Lewis to have a familiar face beside him as they look to win Championships. If the current race engineer of Ferrari is beside Lewis Hamilton in 2025, the pair could take some time to get adjusted to each other.
Bono is one of the favorites to follow Lewis to Ferrari. Let’s see what happens in the coming days.
Was Peter Bonnington Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer at McLaren?
Peter Bonnington was not with Lewis Hamilton when he was at McLaren. Bono was a performance engineer with Jenson Button at Brawn GP. He helped Jenson win his Championship in 2009. Following that season, he went on to become Michael Schumacher’s performance engineer at Mercedes.
If Bono doesn’t come with Lewis to Ferrari love is dead 😭 pic.twitter.com/7R8IDxfTBu
— Marina (@xxoMarina) February 18, 2024
During the 2011 season, Bono went on to become Michael Schumacher’s race engineer on the team. After Schumacher retired for the 2nd and final time, he was replaced by Lewis Hamilton. This is when the relationship between Bono and Lewis started.
By this time, Lewis had already won a Championship with McLaren. Hamilton and Bono have won 6 Championships together so far. If Bono follows Lewis to Ferrari, we could see them win more Championships in the coming years.