Hamilton: I would have loved to continue with ‘brother’ Bono at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he “would have loved to continue” with race engineer Peter Bonnington at Ferrari.

Bonnington, also known as ‘Bono’, has been promoted to head of race engineering at Mercedes and will not join Hamilton at Ferrari next season.

The 49-year-old will remain as Hamilton’s race engineer for the final 10 races of this season and will then be the race engineer for one of Mercedes’ two drivers next year – George Russell or Hamilton’s replacement, which is expected to be Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

“I would have loved to have continued with Bono, of course,” said Hamilton ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1.

“We have a great relationship and you heard it at Silverstone, he’s like a brother. But I’m really, really happy for him. For me, I think it’s just about people doing whatever’s best for you.

“Packing up and leaving, him and his partner, it impacts both of them, so they had to do whatever is right for him.

“I knew it would be an unlikely scenario that he would go with me because it’s such a drastic change for his life. But I’m really happy that the team have acknowledged and made changes, so he can grow more.

“I think he’ll now be able to show them even more of the great things he can do. But either way, we’re going to be family forever. We’ve spoken about it and we just want to make sure we finish on a high.”

Bonnington was Michael Schumacher’s race engineer at Mercedes for 18 months before becoming the voice in Hamilton’s ear when he joined the Silver Arrows in 2013.

He became well known for his “it’s hammer time Lewis” radio message to Hamilton when they were fighting for victories, which was a signal to push hard before a pit stop.

“When I joined this team, I just came in and Bono was the head engineer at the time,” said Hamilton.

“It’s got to be someone you get on with, it’s got to be someone you are able to build a relationship with and trust.

“The next one, that’s going to be a discovery process. I’ll know early on whether it’s going to work or not. But I think it’s just about communicating.”

Hamilton: We didn’t expect to be fighting at the front

Hamilton inherited victory last time out at the Belgian Grand Prix after his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified for an underweight car.

The seven-time world champion also won at Silverstone, where Bonnington joined him on the podium, to end his two-and-a-half year winless streak.

He’s sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, 127 points behind Max Verstappen and Mercedes are 142 points adrift of Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.

Hamilton, who has never won at Zandvoort since it returned to the F1 calendar in 2021, says his target is to get close to the top three.

“When we started off the season, I know so many of us in the team didn’t expect…we didn’t know when we would get back to top performance and be fighting at the front, we thought it was such a long shot,” he said.

“But everyone back at the factory just worked so hard and we now know what the car needs and we’ve got it in a much happier place. And to drive it, the car is much more of a racing car now and I’m generally really enjoying driving it. So I think it’s reflecting that.”

Sky Sports F1’s live Dutch GP schedule

Friday August 23
9.05am: F1 Academy: Practice One
11am: Dutch GP Practice One (session starts 11.30am)
2.45pm: Dutch GP Practice Two (session starts 3pm)
4.25pm: F1 Academy: Practice Two
5.15pm: The F1 Show

Saturday August 24
9.10am: F1 Academy: Qualifying
10.15am: Dutch GP Practice Three (session starts 10.30am)
1pm: Dutch GP Qualifying build-up
2pm: DUTCH GP QUALIFYING
4pm: F1 Academy: Race One

Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction

Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime.

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.

Source : Sky Sports