Toto Wolff explains the role race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington plays in Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s current success. ‘Bono’ previously worked from the pit wall with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, but is now the permanent race engineer of the young Italian. ‘He has been a good mentor for him, but also a strict boss,’ Wolff reveals.
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Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington has been a mainstay in Formula 1 for many years. The race engineer previously worked with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, while he is now the mainstay at the pit wall for Andrea Kimi Antonelli. According to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, ‘Bono’ as the permanent race engineer for the young driver also plays a key role in his success.
Strict boss
“‘Bono’ has learned from the greats for years, from Schumacher to Hamilton, and now from Kimi,” Wolff told the media in Miami. “He has been a good mentor for him, but also a strict boss.” The Austrian then gave an example of when ‘Bono’ had to act strictly during Antonelli’s winning streak in Florida.
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“There were a few moments when he exceeded the track limits twice,” Wolff explained. “I then said to Bono: ‘One more time and I will intervene via the radio,’ and he said: ‘No, no, leave that to me.’ That shows he just knows how to handle it. That’s good, he contributed to the success that way.” Kimi Antonelli took his third consecutive win in Miami, becoming the first driver in F1 history to convert his first three pole positions into victories.
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