[ad_1]
On Thursday it was revealed that Hamilton will leave Mercedes to join rival Ferrari from the start of the 2025 season.
The best drivers who change teams often join staff they worked with on their previous teams, either because they specifically ask trusted colleagues to join them or because the people involved enjoy working with the driver.
The new team is often open to the idea of bringing in familiar faces to help the driver adapt to an unfamiliar environment.
In 1996, Michael Schumacher was followed from Benetton to Ferrari by technical director Ross Brawn and chief designer Rory Byrne, as well as other key members of the Enstone team, all of whom were identified by then Maranello boss Jean Todt as key elements of a winning package.
In other notable examples, racing engineer Jock Clear followed Jacques Villeneuve from Williams to BAR in 2000, while in 2015 Andrea Stella joined Fernando Alonso in the move from Ferrari to McLaren, staying on after the Spaniard left for eventually becoming team manager.
Hamilton has a special relationship with ‘Bono’, who has been with the Brackley team since the beginning of the Honda era after starting his career at Jordan.
While it is not known whether Bonnington is willing to move his life to Italy, Wolff indicated that he hopes the topic will come up.
“I think this is a discussion that everyone needs to have in the coming months,” Wolff said.
“And as much as I’ve talked to Bono, when I told him (about Hamilton’s move) he said, ‘Is it the first of April?’ “That’s something we will discuss in the future.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, on the grid with Peter Bonnington, Senior Race Engineer, Mercedes AMG
Photo by: Steve Etherington / motor sports images
One complication is that Bonnington would have to stay with Mercedes until the final race of this season in Abu Dhabi on December 8 and then be available for Ferrari in early 2025, which would make for a very tight transition in terms of gardening leave.
Aside from team principal Fred Vasseur, Hamilton will find few familiar faces at Ferrari, although former Mercedes performance director Loic Serra was one of Vasseur’s first key hires and will officially start at the team next year.
Hamilton also worked with Clear in his first two years at Mercedes, although the latter’s current main focus is on Ferrari’s young driver programme.
If Bonnington is available to take on the race engineer role at Ferrari, the team would have to undertake a reorganization and find a new role for Riccardo Adami, who currently works with Carlos Sainz.