Peter Bonnington reveals touching Lewis Hamilton moment after Kimi Antonelli’s first F1 win

March 15, 2026

Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington said the Chinese Grand Prix podium celebrations were something he will “cherish”.

Describing it as “getting the band back together”, Bonnington joined the podium celebrations as he accepted the constructors’ trophy after Antonelli’s maiden Formula 1 win. Completing the podium were Antonelli’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell and former Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

“It’s pretty good. I can’t complain,” Bonnington told Sky Sports F1. “Having Lewis there with Kimi, it was a hell of a moment. It’s one that I’ll cherish. Felt like it was getting the band back together, but not the band, I don’t know what the analogy is there.

“But it was really, really nice, really touching, Lewis is a great sportsman, as ever.”

Comparing what it is like to work with Antonelli and Hamilton, Bonnington added: “It’s chalk and cheese with Lewis. I knew what he was thinking, I knew that he didn’t need to be told, whereas when I started with Kimi, it was a case of, I don’t know what he doesn’t know.

“So I’m having to re-remember loads of stuff that I took for granted, and so that was a good sort of process for myself. Kimi just brings a completely different vibe. He’s obviously still so young, but full of energy, really likes to bring the garage together. He’s always there with the pranks, but equally, he knows when to knuckle down and work hard.

“With Kimi, he’s putting a lot of faith in me and a lot of trust in me because I’ve got the experience, he’s got the youth.

“We work differently, and I am sort of teaching him, taking him step-by-step through the process of how we become a champion, and he’s just ticked off the first step, so we need to just keep chipping away.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Bonnington has worked with both Hamilton and fellow seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, and he can see similarities between Antonelli and the two champions.

“I read a book about the 10,000-hour rule many, many years ago. And I started to really strongly believe it, thinking, oh, if we all had enough practice, we’d be good enough.

“And then I met the likes of Michael, I met the likes of Lewis, and then you realise, actually no, there is the extra step, that extra 10th or two, and that’s what Kimi’s got, he’s got that extra 10th or two.”