Mercedes engineer’s awkward Lewis Hamilton blunder at China GP
Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes race engineer is still adjusting to life without the British great judging by an awkward gaffe in China.
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Lewis Hamilton’s former engineer at Mercedes had an awkward radio slip up at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton, 40, stunned the world when he announced in early 2024 he was leaving the Silver Arrows to join Ferrari for 2025.
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As The Sun reports, the move ended an 11-year partnership between Hamilton and engineer, Peter Bonnington, otherwise known as “Bono”.
Together they won six Drivers’ Championship titles, but Bonnington didn’t make the switch over to join Hamilton at the Scuderia thanks to a no-poaching clause.
Hamilton was replaced at the Brackley-based team by teen star Kimi Antonelli for the upcoming season.
However, it appears old habits die hard after Bonnington had an awkward slip up on the radio with Antonelli.
During qualifying in Shanghai, Antonelli can be seen racing the car around Turn 13 on a slow lap and speaking to Bonnington about a problem when the engineer makes the mistake.
He is heard saying: “Yeah. Copy that, Lewis.”
Realising his gaffe, the 50-year-old then said: “Uh yeah, copy that Kimi.”
Antonelli went on qualify P8 in the session, while Hamilton qualified P5 for Sunday’s race after winning the Sprint race earlier on.
Watch the awkward moment in the video player atop the page
Hamilton confirmed he held a meeting with his new race engineer Riccardo Adami at the start of the week after an X-rated blast down the radio during a frustrating Australian Grand Prix.
He revealed they spoke about how Hamilton wanted to be communicated with when racing, with the move seemingly working wonders as he dominated the 19-lap Sprint race.
On the cool-down lap Adami was heard praising Hamilton for a “masterclass in tyre management”.
Speaking after the sprint, Hamilton had hit back at his “yapping critics” in China.
Bonnington, promoted to head of race engineering at Mercedes for 2025, also worked with Michael Schumacher at the team before Hamilton joined in 2013.
Adami worked with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz before Hamilton.
Sunday’s feature race sees McLaren ace Oscar Piastri on pole after he bettered Hamilton’s record-breaking lap around the Shanghai circuit with a time of 1:30.641.
Hamilton’s old teammate George Russell claimed second to deny McLaren a front row lockout with Lando Norris qualifying third.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen qualified fifth, while his teammate Liam Lawson suffered another nightmare session as he came dead last.
Following the disastrous result Lawson admitted he “don’t really have time” to get to grips with the car and declared he needs to dramatically improve.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Mercedes engineer’s awkward Lewis Hamilton blunder at China GP
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