Lewis Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington's surprise was dropped

Lewis HamiltonPeter Bonnington’s race engineer decided to surprise him before the first drive to Ferrari. Bonnington, popularly known as Bono, made a surprise appearance in a Hamilton outfit from Tommy Hilfiger, and the seven-time world champion fell in love with the woman once he saw it.

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Ahead of Hamilton’s latest move to Maranello, Bonnington wore the seven-time world champion’s Tommy Hilfiger gear from his paddock appearances. Upon seeing ‘Bono’ in the sky-blue denim outfit, Hamilton expressed his surprise.

The Mercedes driver uploaded a series of photos with his race engineer on his Instagram handle, captioned:

“Two legends. Bono and Tommy.”

Hamilton is set to move to Ferrari next season after the British driver signed a multi-year deal with the Prancing Horse earlier this year. Despite having a one-year contract with him, he chose to race in Scarlet Ferraris from 2025 onwards.

Lewis Hamilton is leaving Mercedes after 12 long years. He won six of his seven F1 titles here, making it the most successful driver-team combination. In addition to six titles, he achieved 84 victories, took 78 pole positions, and achieved 78 podiums.

The entire Mercedes AMG F1 team, including teammate George Russell, team principal Toto Wolff, and race engineer Peter Bonnington sent farewell messages to the departing driver.

The 39-year-old will be joined by his former F2 team boss Fred Vasseur and Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc. He will replace Carlos Sainzwho moved to Williams.

Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his relationship with Peter Bonnington

Before his move to Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton touched on how close he was with Peter Bonnington, his race engineer. The duo started working together in 2013, and have been at it until the end of 2024.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes cycle around the track with race engineer Peter Bonnington - Source: Getty Images — Britain’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes cycle around the track with race engineer Peter Bonnington – Source: Getty Images

“What a roller-coaster it’s been with Bono, he’s been one of my closest friends for many years and it’s something I didn’t expect to have because he’s worked with Michael Schumacher, other great drivers,” Hamilton said (via Sports Illustrated).

“But he was prepared and for an engineer to stick with someone no matter how frustrating and painful it may be for me, he stayed with me every day without fail,” he added.

Hamilton and Bonnington’s ‘Hammer-Time’ is a renowned phrase around the paddock. It started to exist after once the English driver asked Bono to say these words whenever he needs to drive faster.