Eddie Jordan raises big Mercedes ‘concern’ after Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari move

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Eddie Jordan has one big ‘concern’ for Mercedes after Lewis Hamilton agreed a move to Ferrari from the 2025 Formula 1 season as the seven-time champion ‘is not stupid’.

The Silver Arrows were left reeling last week when Hamilton activated a release clause in his contract to join Ferrari. He only agreed to fresh terms with Mercedes for the 2024 and 2025 seasons last August. But the 39-year-old will race in red from next year on a multi-year deal.

Hamilton deciding to walk away from Mercedes, with whom he has driven since the 2013 F1 season, sparked obvious questions about the futures of several vital Silver Arrows engineers. And Jordan will not be surprised if Peter Bonnington and Loic Serra now strive to follow him.

Mercedes included a non-poaching clause in Lewis Hamilton’s F1 contract

Team principal Toto Wolff has already noted that Mercedes ‘will discuss’ Bonnington’s future in Brackley after Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari. Bonnington has been Hamilton’s race engineer ever since the Briton joined from McLaren. They have also naturally developed a close bond.

Hamilton has won six of his drivers’ championships with Bonnington at Mercedes. They have also worked together to claim 82 Grand Prix wins, 78 pole positions and 148 podium finishes so far. But Ferrari may struggle to get the 48-year-old out of Brackley with Hamilton in 2025.

Reports by Motorsport.com note that Hamilton agreed to sign a non-poaching clause when penning his contract at Mercedes last August. It prevents him from persuading key staff, like Bonnington, to force a move to Ferrari. Mercedes must agree to any staff member’s moves.

Eddie Jordan expects Peter Bonnington to follow Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari

But former F1 team owner Jordan fears an exodus of brainpower when Hamilton makes the move from Mercedes to Ferrari. He suspects Bonnington and Serra, who has been the Silver Arrows’ performance director since 2018, will look to reach agreements to facilitate moves.

“My concern, I want to know who he’s going to bring with him,” Jordan said on the Formula for Success podcast. “He’s not stupid. He has Marc Hynes back with him, which is a great asset because I think Marc is an amazing manager and is back now with Lewis.

“That should not be forgotten. Having said that, I think Lewis will bring two or three people [from Mercedes]. Who do I think? Bono and Loic Serra, the chief performance engineer.

“And please remember Loic was the guy who complained to Toto to say that the design that they had at the beginning of last year was completely wrong and it was a mistake.

“He was the performance director and he made sure that the designers re-changed the car to make it the success it was at the end. So, there’s obviously a bond between those guys. So, why would I be surprised by the fact that they are all going to go together?”

Serra joined Mercedes back in 2010 from Sauber before taking over as their head of vehicle dynamics in 2013 and performance director in 2018. Bonnington also moved to Brackley in the 2000s when Honda owned the team. He also stayed on during Brawn GP’s heroic 2009.