Lewis HamiltonRace engineer Peter Bonnington decided to surprise him before he moved to Ferrari. Bonnington, popularly known as Bono, made a surprise appearance wearing Hamilton’s Tommy Hilfiger outfit and the seven-time world champion was stunned when he saw it.
Hamilton drove his last race Mercedes at the recently concluded Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. As he part ways with the Silver Arrows, he also breaks working ties with Bonnington, with whom he worked for almost a decade.
Before Hamilton’s latest move to Maranello, Bonnington donned the seven-time world champion’s Tommy Hilfiger outfit when appearing in the paddock. When Hamilton saw “Bono” in the sky blue jeans outfit, he was surprised.
The Mercedes driver uploaded a series of photos with his race engineer to his Instagram account, with the caption:
“Two legends. Bono and Tommy.”
Hamilton is ready to move to Ferrari next season after the British driver signed a multi-year deal with the Prancing Horse earlier this year. Despite having a one-plus-one year contract with him, he decided to drive in the Scarlet Ferraris from 2025.
Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes after 12 long years. He won six of his seven F1 titles here, making him the most successful driver-team combination. In addition to six titles, he achieved 84 victories, 78 pole positions and 78 podium places.
The entire Mercedes AMG F1 team, including teammate George Russell, team boss Toto Wolff and race engineer Peter Bonnington sent farewell messages for the departing driver.
The 39-year-old will join his former F2 team boss Fred Vasseur and Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc. He will replace Carlos Sainzwho moved to Williams.
Lewis Hamilton spoke about his relationship with Peter Bonnington
Before moving to Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton mentioned how close he was with Peter Bonnington, his race engineer. The duo began working together in 2013 and continued until the end of 2024.
“What a rollercoaster it’s been with Bono, he’s been one of my closest friends for many years and I didn’t expect that because he’s worked with Michael Schumacher and other great drivers,” Hamilton said (via Sports). Illustrated).
“But he stood by me, and as frustrating and painful as it can sometimes be for an engineer to hold on to someone, he stood by me every single day without failing,” he added.
“Hammer time” from Hamilton and Bonnington is a well-known saying in the paddock. It came about after British driver Bono once asked to say those words whenever he needed to drive faster.
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