P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Mercedes to discuss Hamilton’s F1 engineer Bono’s future before Ferrari move
It was announced on Thursday that Hamilton will leave Mercedes and join rival Ferrari starting from the 2025 season. When top drivers switch teams, they often bring along members of their previous team with whom they have a good working relationship. This can be either by personally requesting trusted colleagues to join them or because the team is open to the idea of familiar faces supporting the driver in a new environment. Several key members of Michael Schumacher’s team at Benetton followed him to Ferrari in 1996, as well as race engineer Jock Clear who joined Jacques Villeneuve at BAR in 2000. Hamilton has a strong bond with his senior race engineer, Peter Bonnington, also known as ‘Bono’, and while it is uncertain if Bonnington will move his life to Italy, the topic is expected to be discussed. Bonnington would need to stay with Mercedes until the end of this season and then be available for Ferrari at the start of 2025, which could present logistical challenges. Apart from team principal Fred Vasseur, Hamilton will find few familiar faces at Ferrari, although Loic Serra, former Mercedes performance director, will be joining the team next year.
