Hamilton engineer Bonnington promoted by Mercedes ending Ferrari talk

Lewis Hamilton's race engineer at Mercedes Peter Bonnington has been promoted, ending any prospect of the latter joining Hamilton at Ferrari. 

Hamilton-Bonnington is the most successful driver-engineer pairing in F1 history, with 84 grand prix wins and six drivers' titles having joined forces when Hamilton moved from McLaren for 2013. 

After the news broke of Hamilton's departure to Ferrari for 2025, attention turned to Bonnington and whether the voice responsible for the "it's hammer-time" and "get in there, Lewis" radio calls would join him in Italy. 

Mercedes confirmed to RacingNews365 earlier in the year that in Hamilton's contract, there was a 'non-poaching' clause, meaning he simply could not take Bonnington with him to Maranello - but it now appears the partnership will draw to a close at the end of the season. 

A Mercedes team spokesperson confirmed to RacingNews365 that Bonnington has been promoted to head of race engineering, effective immediately.

He will continue to race-engineer Hamilton for the rest of the season. 

Who could Hamilton's Ferrari engineer be?

The logical choice for Hamilton's race engineer at Ferrari is Riccardo Adami - who is currently engineering Carlos Sainz, whose seat Hamilton will take.

Adami was also engineer to Sebastian Vettel between 2015-2020, and has worked in F1 since 2002. 

He started with Minardi, staying with the team as it re-branded to Toro Rosso, first working with Vettel and also worked with Daniel Ricciardo. 

He joined Ferrari at the same time Vettel did and has engineered his drivers to 17 wins.