Lewis Hamilton dealt heartbreaking blow as critical ally refuses Ferrari switch

Lewis Hamilton will not be joined by a key member of his entourage when he moves to Ferrari at the end of the season.

F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna - Previews

Lewis Hamilton will be without Peter Bonnington in 2025 (Image: Getty)

Lewis Hamilton’s close friend and long-serving race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington will reportedly not make the switch from Mercedes to Ferrari at the end of the season, despite the best efforts of the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton and Bonnington have formed a close friendship and an iconic working relationship over the past 12 years, and the 49-year-old has been a critical part of the six Drivers’ Championship titles that the Brit has added to his collection during his Mercedes career.

When Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari was announced at the start of February, the first question on many fans’ lips was ‘Is Bono going to join him?’. According to a report from Italian news outlet Formu1a.uno, this will not be the case.

Allegedly, Hamilton fought tooth and nail to convince the long-serving engineer to leave the Silver Arrows and join him at Maranello, but the rise of Kimi Antonelli has played a factor in Bonnington’s decision to stay.

Antonelli is expected to join Mercedes for the 2025 campaign with an announcement reportedly due at the Italian Grand Prix at the start of September. When he does link up with the Brackley-based team over the winter, it is highly likely that Bonnington will be his race engineer.

The Mercedes camp have been coy about Bonnington’s future from the get-go. When Toto Wolff was asked whether or not the experienced engineer would be joining Hamilton at Ferrari back in February, he gave little away.

F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain

Peter Bonnington will not be joining Ferrari at the end of the season (Image: Getty)

“I think this is a discussion which everyone needs to have in the months to come,” he said. “And as much as I’ve spoken with Bono already, when I told him [about Hamilton’s move] he said, ‘Is it April the first?’ That’s something which we will discuss in the future.”

Keeping hold of Bonnington will be a major boost to Wolff, who has already lost key staff to Ferrari ahead of Hamilton’s switch next season. Performance director Loic Serra was an early capture from Fred Vasseur, while Jerome d’Ambrosio followed him to Maranello, becoming deputy team principal.

While F1’s most iconic driver and race engineer partnership looks to be coming to an end, Hamilton and Bonnington will take comfort from the fact that they were able to celebrate victory together at the British Grand Prix earlier this summer.

“I wouldn’t say crying,” Bonnington told Sky Sports after that race. “I had something in my eye! It’s an emotional one. It’s been a long, long time, and he and I have been working hard trying to get back there. Baby steps, but it’s taken a lot of them so far.”