Key Lewis Hamilton ally has had ‘no talks’ with Mercedes yet about joining Ferrari

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The news off the track in Formula 1 in 2024 has been dominated by the driver’s market for several reasons.

The first is that no teams changed their line-ups last winter, which means the majority of drivers are now out of contract at the end of the year.

A new set of regulations are coming into force in 2026, which means every manufacturer wants a year of bedding in their new pairing next season before they’re tasked with developing a car that may need a lot of work.

Finally, one driver set off a huge chain reaction of events in the paddock with an announcement a month before the season even started.

Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari in 2025 came out of the blue and suddenly opened up a world of possibilities for the other drivers on the grid.

It’s created a conundrum for Mercedes who nearly six months later still haven’t decided which driver they would like to partner George Russell next year.

However, the disruption at Mercedes might not be over yet.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, journalist Craig Slater was talking about Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer Pete Bonnington.

Bonnington has worked with Hamilton since he signed for Mercedes after briefly working with his predecessor Michael Schumacher.

Their relationship is fantastic and they were both emotional when Hamilton ended his long wait for a victory at Silverstone.

However, it’s yet to be seen whether Bonnington will follow Hamilton to Ferrari when he moves on at the end of the season but no talks have taken place yet over a potential transfer.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Pete Bonnington yet to hold talks over joining Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari

Talking about the 49-year-old’s future, Slater said: “One other bit of transfer news which a lot of people are talking about after Lewis Hamilton’s win was will he take Pete Bonnington his race engineer with him to Ferrari.

“My understanding is there have been no talks in terms of Bonnington alerting Mercedes management as yet at least of his desire to follow Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari.

“I’m not saying it’s not going to happen but I don’t believe anything has been explored thus far between those two parties.”

READ MORE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Charles Leclerc’s race engineer issues might push Lewis Hamilton to keep Pete Bonnington

At this stage, Lewis Hamilton’s camp is still unsure if Bonnington is going to follow him to Ferrari.

It would be a surprise if Hamilton doesn’t push for the move to happen, although there’s likely a non-compete clause in his contract that would prevent him from taking many people with him to one of Mercedes’s biggest rivals.

However, Ferrari are currently having problems with the communication between their drivers and the pit wall.

Charles Leclerc has already changed race engineer this season, replacing Xavi Marcos with Bryan Bozzi.

However, Leclerc’s relationship with Bozzi doesn’t seem to be working especially given some of his recent strategy calls.

Leclerc’s race was ruined in Canada by engine issues and the bizarre decision to go onto slick tyres when the track was still wet and rain was on the way.

Ferrari then made the opposite mistake at Silverstone, with a miscommunication between Bozzi and Leclerc making it sound like more rain was on the way much sooner than it was.

Leclerc sacrificed a position in the points to go onto intermediate tyres early and the decision cost him a place in the top ten.

Hamilton may be watching from afar and wondering whether he needs to do everything he can to bring Bonnington with him to Ferrari next year.