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Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he wished his long-time race engineer, Peter Bonnington, could have accompanied him to Ferrari next year. Bonnington, affectionately known as ‘Bono,’ has been a crucial figure in Hamilton’s 12-year career at Mercedes, with the pair sharing a close bond.
Hamilton described Bonnington as “like a brother,” underscoring the strength of their relationship. However, he acknowledged that moving to Italy was not the right decision for Bonnington, who has become a familiar voice to fans as the one who communicates with Hamilton during races.
“I would have loved to have continued with Bono,” Hamilton admitted. “We have a great relationship, but I’m really happy for him. It’s about doing whatever’s best for you.”
Bonnington has recently been promoted to head of race engineering at Mercedes. He will continue working with Hamilton for the remainder of this season before Hamilton’s move to Ferrari. Next year, Bonnington will serve as a race engineer for one of Mercedes’ drivers.
Reflecting on Bonnington’s decision to stay, Hamilton said, “Packing up and leaving, I can only imagine it would affect both him and his partner, so he had to do whatever is right for him. I knew it would be an unlikely scenario he would go with me because it’s such a drastic change in his life. But I’m really happy the team have acknowledged and made changes so he can grow more.”
Hamilton, who is set to join Ferrari next season, expressed his appreciation for Bonnington’s contribution to his career and emphasized that their bond would remain strong. “We are going to be family forever. We have spoken about it and we just want to end on a high,” he said.
Hamilton Calls for Formula 1 to Return to Africa
During the summer break, Hamilton toured several African countries and voiced his support for Formula 1 to host a race on the continent. The last F1 race in Africa was the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, near Johannesburg.
Hamilton argued that it was time for F1 to return to Africa, highlighting the continent’s beauty and the positive impact a grand prix could have. “We can’t be adding races and just continuing to ignore Africa, which the rest of the world just takes from,” Hamilton said.
He added, “Having a grand prix there would highlight how great the place is and bring in tourism. Why are we not on that continent? The current excuse is that maybe there is not a track that’s ready. But there is at least one track ready there. In the short term, we should get on that track and have it part of the calendar and then work on building up something else.”
F1 president Stefano Domenicali has indicated that discussions are ongoing with Rwanda about a potential race, a development that Hamilton supports. “Rwanda is one of my favourite places I’ve been to. I’ve done a lot of work in the background. I’ve spoken to people in Rwanda. I’ve spoken to people in South Africa. But that’s a longer project, Rwanda,” Hamilton concluded.
