Peter Bonnington will in all likelihood not be able to follow Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari. Hamilton is said to be contractually prohibited from approaching his current colleagues at Mercedes.
Hamilton will make the switch to Ferrari in 2025. The Briton will embark on a new adventure there to return to the top with the Italian team. When Michael Schumacher moved from Benetton to Ferrari, he took a number of key engineers with him. Mercedes, however, have prevented that in Hamilton's contract.
Why Hamilton cannot take Mercedes colleagues with him
According to the usually reliable Motorsport.com, Mercedes had a clause inserted in Hamilton's latest contract. That clause prohibits Hamilton from asking other employees to also switch to Ferrari if he leaves for another team. Hamilton can't, with this clause, ask Bonnington to go with him.
Still, it cannot be ruled out that Mercedes employees might make the switch to Ferrari on their own accord or be approached by Ferrari for a switch. Hamilton himself would not be allowed to make contact, but Ferrari cannot be prohibited from taking staff from Mercedes. They did the same before Hamilton's arrival by recruiting Loic Serra, Mercedes' former Performance Director.
Despite anything in anyone's contract, at the end of 2024, Bono can make his own decision to leave and join Ferrari if he so chooses. The contract simply prevents Lewis from poaching him. I think if Lewis thought he needed Bono, he would have discussed his Ferrari plan with him first.
With the amount of knowledge Bono has regards Mercedes design etc, you can be sure he will not be going anywhere with Hamilton. He would have to serve gardening leave. With his position, Mercedes would push for the full 12mths so he would need to quit now so he could join Ferrari for the start of next season. Not going to happen.
"That clause prohibits Hamilton from asking other employees to also switch to Ferrari" That clause has a loophole because Ham can ask Ferrari to talk to Bono or any MB staff and tell them that Ham has given his blessing to recruit them. Contractually Ham has not violated the clause because he didnt directly contact the MB staff.
Ferrari was getting better at avoiding mistakes last year. The Vasseur effect is really taking place I believe. No need for Bono.
Why would bono want to go with lewis when bono had to get toto to shut up and drive the car
why would Bono risk all he achieved at Mercedes for a 2 year ride with Ferrari which will most likely end in failure ?
Lol no it's not. It's vapid cynicism. Mercedes last 2 years have been a failure. Bono would be leaving a losing team with an uncertain future. Stay at Mercedes whose on the decline or go to Ferrari where things look a little bit brighter, a bigger spotlight and give it a shot? If Hamilton wins with Ferrai Bono would be a superstar and will have no problem finding employment in F1 or anywhere else.
No no, what I am is realistic and I see the perks and perils of this move for Hamilton, so that when it all comes crashing down I will not try to blame Leclerc, Vasseur, Marko, Verstappen, the Sun, the moon or the stars if I was a Lewis fan as is was all written on the wall from the start. If you want to put your faith on " but but but Lewis is 7xWDC and he knows what he's doing" that's up to you but it's not a realistic way to look at this move. So it's very risky, especially as Bono can get a more important role in the Mercedes team, he's been there for 15 years, since the start.
The odds are against him nevertheless, it's your choice if you don't want to see it. 40 years old, no win in 2 years, only drove cars with Merc engines his whole career, going to a new team built around a younger faster driver, Ferrari hasn't won anything in 15 years, he doesn't speak Italian etc
Nope, can't be bothered, my comment was regards your last sentence in your last comment, what's been written before is neither here nor there, just to clarify, LH may well be riding a three legged donkey by signing for Ferrari, but unless you have a crystal ball I don't understand how you have decided it will most likely end in failure
Evening. I have already explained why the odds are against Hamilton at Ferrari in a previous comment, have a look around and you'll find it, no point in repeating myself
Evening 33-44, you say you were just being realistic but finish your comment with .....'will most likely end in failure' how do you know that will be the case or is it just wishful thinking ?
@Norman, Well, imagine HAM does not manage to beat LEC and decides to end his F1 career at the end of 2026. Bono will then have a little issue. It could then definitely end in failure for Bono and HAM. Not saying HAM will fail, but Bono has more to lose than HAM. Also, Ferrari looking "brighter" than MB doesn't mean they will be better. In F1 everything can happen. A team can go from hero to zero in no time. We will see how it will turn out this season as well as 2025. But nothing is cast in stone, things can change rapidly.
Because all that Bono achieved at Mercedes was with Hamilton as his race engineer. You don't think that means anything? Or that relationship doesn't runs deep? Maybe Bono is ready to retire and is loyal to Hamilton and will go with him and they finish their careers together? Who knows? but anything is possible man, don't be a hater. 2025 will be a great season.
Bono was at Mercedes way before Hamilton joined. The way you put it, the same can be said that both Bono and Lewis have achieved what they did due to Mercedes. Why would you assume that Bono is more loyal to Hamilton than to Mercedes? And why would you call me a hater for speaking facts? Hamilton is going to be a 40 year old driver, without a win since 2021, that never drove a car without a Merc power unit, in a Italian team where Italian language is essential, a team that hasn't won a title in 15 years which is built around a very fast 26 years old driver which has been with them since he was a junior and has contract until 2029? Some people are just weird nowadays, they see hate in everything instead of using common sense.
I see. You don't believe in Hamilton and don't think anything positive will come of this. That's fair, I just disagree with you. That's all. No one knows what's going to happen until it happens. Hamilton is very rich. You don't think he could hire the best tutor to learn Italian? Is learning a foreign language that hard? This is common sense. You don't think he knows the things you've mentioned lol. Do you really think Hamilton is stupid? You don't think he knew he's going against LeClerc when he signed the contract? Do you think Hamilton made the decision to go to Ferrari without thinking it through? Lol use your common sense. Things can change at Ferrari very quickly. One of the best drivers ever is coming to the team who is still very quick and motivated. You underestimate Hamilton's power and influence. This is a big deal for Ferrari, with Hamilton everything changes. Can we at least agree and just wait until 2025 because no one knows what's going to happen. Me I just hope it goes well for Hamilton and Ferrari.
I'm neutral. I don't really mind if he does good or bad at Ferrari. To me he is just another driver changing teams and as such, a move can be successful or not. But the chances are against him as I consider Leclerc a faster, younger driver than him and Ferrari a team which is still far from performing like a title winning team. He also does not have the no. 1 driver status anymore like at Mercedes in case of a title winning car so he will have to fight not only Verstappen and all the other drivers but Leclerc as well who will never play wingman for him. Also we need to see if Lewis can still win races. I mean, he can do it for sure in the fastest car but what are the chances Ferrari will have a dominant car in the next 2-3 years? I think Mercedes have a better chance to do that. But at the very least he will be a Ferrari driver, which is fine, its a nice way to finish his career.
He is 5O ish, and been at Mercedes for 15 years . A change may be tempting, the money would need to be good and some perks wouldn't hurt like a new Ferrari ?. At the end of the day Bono and Hamilton enjoy working with each other I am sure if it happens it would be continuation of one of most the successful partnerships in F1 .
Bono will not suddenly retire after 2 yrs.....he is sure to be in demand esp if Ferrari stint goes well....as far as race eng go....hes a rockstar already....
Maybe but you see what his loyalty for Mercedes did for James Vowles, he got the chance to manage a team like Williams.
It s irelevant if Ham can or can not take Bono if Ferrari will have the best equipment..
Or they can just resign on their own accord and then go to Ferarri
I think it is necessary for Bono to go with Lewis, because communication: plan a,b,c,d and entering/not entering the pit, will be problematic with him. Maybe the only thing that would be better is to always ask him what he wants.
Looking like HAM will need to get used to plan A, B, C...... YZ. Jokes apart, I guess it will also depend on the contract Bono has with MB.
So Bono can be contacted by Ferrari to facilitate a move and Lewis can tell Ferrari to tell Bono come with me man its gonna be a holiday in Italy. Great food people and weather. "Ferrari cannot be prohibited from taking staff from Mercedes" I hope he goes with Lewis.
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