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 that he was leaving the Silver Arrows to join Ferrari for 2025.
It was bound to happen, Bono 😅#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/NxYGixVGUX
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2025
Lewis Hamilton’s old race engineer Peter Bonnington had an awkward radio slip up at the Chinese Grand Prix[/caption]
Hamilton left Mercedes to join Ferrari, ending an 11-year partnership with Bonnington[/caption]
But while speaking to Kimi Antonelli during qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix he accidentally said ‘copy that, Lewis’[/caption]
Hamilton and Bonnington won six Driver championships together[/caption]
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 did not 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: “Uhh 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.
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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.
Tomorrow’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 team-mates George Russell claimed second to deny McLaren a front row lock-out with Lando Norris qualifying third.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen qualified fifth, while his team-mate Liam Lawson suffered another nightmare session as he came dead last.
Following disastrous result Lawson admitted he “don’t really have time” to get to grips with the car and declared he needs to dramatically improve.
Chinese Grand Prix qualifying grid positions
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:30.641
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
8. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
9. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)
10. Alex Albon (Williams)
11. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
13. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
17. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
18. Jack Doohan (Alpine)
19. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
20. Liam Lawson (Red Bull)
