Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he will “know early on if it works” if his Formula 1 racing engineer stays at Mercedes from Ferrari and Peter Bonnington stays at Mercedes.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Bonnington, Hamilton’s race engineer during his time with the team, will remain at Mercedes in a promoted position.
Bonnington, who has worked for the Brackley-based team since mid-2000, was the voice in Hamilton’s ear that helped him win six titles with Mercedes.
However, their successful partnership will end at the end of this season as Hamilton prepares for a much-anticipated adventure with Ferrari.
Hamilton has expressed that he would have “loved” to maintain his relationship with the man nicknamed “Bono,” but was aware that this would be unlikely.
Instead, the seven-time F1 champion is delighted that his right-hand man’s many years of work have been recognized with a promotion.
“Was I hoping (to continue with Bonnington)? Of course I would have loved to continue with Bono,” Hamilton said. “We have a great relationship.”
“He’s like a brother. But I’m really, really, really happy for him. I think it’s just about people doing what’s best for you. You’ve got to do what’s best for you.
“I can only imagine that it’s not him and his partner who are packing up and leaving. And it affects both of them. So they have to do what’s right for him.
“I knew it was unlikely that he would go with me because it would be such a drastic change in his life.
“But I’m really happy for us if the team has recognized his path within the team and made changes. This way he can continue to grow within us.
“I think he can now show them even more of the great things he can do.
“But either way, we’re going to be with your family forever. So we’ve talked about it. We just want to make sure we leave on a good note.”
Hamilton is now expected to work with Riccardo Adami, an Italian engineer who worked with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari and has since managed Carlos Sainz’s team.
However, the Briton stressed that there was no guarantee that a close relationship would develop between him and his new engineer – but he would be able to assess this from the outset.
“When I joined this team, I had just joined and Bono was the current chief engineer at the time,” he recalls.
“It has to be someone you get along well with. It has to be someone you can easily build a relationship with and trust.
“So the next thing will be a process of discovery. I’ll know early on whether it’s going to work or not. I think it’s all about communication.”
Hamilton has stated that developing a partnership with a racing engineer in a new team will be more difficult because his contract with Mercedes prohibits him from having any contact with Ferrari.
“It’s tough,” he admitted. “That makes it pretty difficult.”
“I think that’s probably the case for everyone who moves into a new office. Not until you move out. Starting next year, there’s going to be a lot of work there.”
With Hamilton’s arrival, he will rejoin Loïc Serra, who will leave Mercedes to take up his position as Head of Chassis Performance Engineering at Ferrari in October.
However, the former McLaren racing driver does not expect that more Mercedes members will move to Maranello to make the inevitable adjustment easier for him.
When asked if he expected more staff to emulate his move, he replied: “Not that I know of. There are a few people who are leaving, like Loic, who I work with.”
“There’s someone who left me a long time ago as my second most important job. So I know him.
“He’s the person I know best there, apart from Fred (Vasseur, Ferrari team boss). And I don’t know anyone else.”
