How Lewis Hamilton feels about Peter Bonnington signing new Mercedes deal rather than joining Ferrari

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Lewis Hamilton will have a new race engineer when he joins Ferrari next year. That’s after Peter Bonnington signed a new contract to commit his future to Mercedes.

When Hamilton confirmed in February that he was headed to Italy, many naturally wondered whether he’d look to bring Bonnington with him. They have worked together since his arrival at Mercedes in 2013.

Statistically, they’ve been the most successful partnership in Formula 1 history. Hamilton has won six world titles with the Silver Arrows, and his victory in Belgium last time out was his 84th in their colours.

However, Mercedes have now ended any doubt around Bonnington’s future by promoting him to the role of head of race engineering. He will likely work with 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli next year.

Antonelli has already signed his Mercedes deal, according to recent reports. After working with a seven-time champion and one of the most experienced drivers on the grid, Bonnington will now have to train up a young talent thrust straight into a frontrunning seat.

Clearly, team principal Toto Wolff has complete confidence in him. He’s previously served as an engineer for Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button.

Lewis Hamilton ‘extremely pleased’ after Peter Bonnington agrees to stay at Mercedes

According to Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater, Hamilton is in fact delighted that Bonnington has received recognition. There’s no sense of disappointment that they won’t be linking up at Maranello.

Hamilton and Bonnington will work together as normal for the remaining 10 races of the season, even though his role within the team has changed. It promises to be an emotional farewell.

The strength of Hamilton’s affection for ‘Bono’ was clear after he ended a two-and-a-half-year victory drought at the British Grand Prix in July. They were involved in a tearful exchange on the radio, and the 49-year-old was then invited onto the podium.

Slater said: “I have learned that Lewis is extremely pleased that Bonnington has got this promotion. The two of them will continue to work together. Bonnington is Hamilton’s race engineer until the end of this season.”

Who will be Lewis Hamilton’s engineer at Ferrari next season?

Ferrari may now take the opportunity to confirm the identity of Hamilton’s race engineer for 2025. The favourite is Riccardo Adami, who currently supports Carlos Sainz.

Adami was also Sebastian Vettel’s right-hand man during his time with the Scuderia. The German won 14 races but couldn’t end their championship drought.

It was claimed earlier in the year that Hamilton called Vettel to ask about Adami. He may have known for a while, then, that Bonnington was staying put.

Ferrari recently made a change on Charles Leclerc’s side of the garage. Bryan Bozzi replaced Xavi Marcos as his engineer at the Emilia Romagna GP and helped him claim his first-ever Monaco win just a fortnight later.