Lewis Hamilton Says He’s Still Texting Absent Race Engineer Bonnington for Advice

Lewis Hamilton came into the Mexican Grand Prix weekend without the services of his regular race engineer Pete Bonnington. The Briton later confessed that he missed his race engineer, who was absent due to health reasons.

In fact, Lewis Hamilton still found himself asking for “Bono’s” help during the weekend. This will mark the first time that Peter Bonnington will not be present to witness Hamilton seize a Formula One title with Mercedes.

With Max Verstappen’s penalty and Valtteri Bottas crashing, Lewis Hamilton has a golden opportunity to secure the title. He needs to score fourteen or more points compared to his teammate in the final standings in Mexico.

“Yes, it is certainly strange. We have achieved a lot together, but he is still with us this weekend,” Hamilton told Motorsport.com.

“Together with Marcus [Dudley, the replacement] he has also done extremely good work during the preparation for this weekend.”

“Of course I have been working closely with Bono for years and today I sent him another message for the qualification.”

“Just to be able to talk about the adjustment together. So he is still active in the background.”

Bonnington, meanwhile, is back in the UK undergoing a medical procedure, according to the official Formula One website.

Marcus Dudley, will take Bonnington’s role temporarily, while Dom Riefstahl takes Dudley’s original role as Hamilton’s performance engineer.

Peter Bonnington helped guide Lewis Hamilton to all four of his F1 titles with Mercedes. Ever since Hamilton joined the team in 2013, the two have worked together. The two have struck up a strong rapport, and their regular radio exchanges have made ‘Bono’ arguably the most recognisable behind-the-scenes voice in F1. So, if Lewis Hamilton does clinch the title in Mexico, he will undoubtedly miss the familiar words, “Get in there, Lewis!”