Lewis Hamilton Hopes Bonnington Joins Him at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton expressed a desire for his longtime race engineer, Peter Bonnington to join him at Ferrari next year, though he acknowledges that it wasn’t the right move for Bonnington. Hamilton, who has worked with Bonnington, nicknamed ‘Bono’, throughout his 12-year Mercedes career, views him as a brother. Despite his wish for Bonnington to continue with him, Hamilton understands that relocating to Italy would be a major upheaval for his engineer and his partner.

Bonnington, recently promoted to head of race engineering will stay with Hamilton for the rest of this season and will also act as a race engineer for one of Mercedes’ drivers next year. George Russell whose contract extends to the end of 2025 is expected to be joined by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes’ Italian talent currently racing in Formula 2. Hamilton respects Bonnington’s need to make the best decision for himself, acknowledging the challenges of such a significant career shift.

In addition to discussing his engineer’s career, Hamilton highlighted his call for Formula 1 to return to Africa. The last African Grand Prix took place in 1993 at Kyalami in South Africa before the end of apartheid. Hamilton, who toured Africa during the summer break, criticized F1 for ignoring the continent despite its significant cultural and economic potential. He emphasized that a race in Africa could boost tourism and showcase the continent’s beauty.

Lewis Hamilton also mentioned that F1 president Stefano Domenicali is in talks about a possible race in Rwanda. Although Hamilton acknowledges the potential of Rwanda and South Africa, he believes that the sport should act now to include Africa in the F1 calendar even if it means starting with an existing track.