Where is Lewis Hamilton’s usual race engineer Peter Bonnington as he is missing from the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend? What happened to him and who will replace Bono?
The bond between a Formula 1 driver and their race engineer is almost sacred.
The two should have complete confidence in each other, and the engineer is usually the one to beat the driver’s tantrums when things don’t go well.
Drivers usually keep the same race engineer throughout their time on the team, with the likes of Gianpiro Lambiasi and Peter Bonnington at Red Bull and Mercedes guiding their drivers – Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton – to the world championship.
“Bono” is perhaps the most famous Formula 1 racing engineer – and certainly the most successful thanks to his partnership with Hamilton over the years, including his “Hammertime” calls to the seven-time world champion.
However, for the Austrian Grand Prix in 2022, Bonnington is not on site and is missing from the garage.
Where is Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer and what happened to him?
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Where is the race engineer Lewis Hamilton in Austria?
During first practice at the Red Bull Ring of the Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked to change the engine settings – although he complained that he could not understand the instructions.
It wasn’t the usual race engineer Bonnington who gave the instructions but performance engineer Marcus Dudley.
Mercedes later clarified that Bonnington is not on site for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, which means that Hamilton is without his usual race engineer.
Bonnington is again working at the Mercedes plant in Brackley for the weekend, although he will still be a full part of engineering meetings and setup/strategy decisions.
Since he’s not in Austria, Bonnington won’t handle the car’s radio communications hole, which means Dudley steps in to take his place.
Not the first time for Dudley
Bonnington has rarely missed a grand prix since he teamed up with Hamilton in 2013, although he skipped the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix for personal reasons.
For this race, Dudley stepped up to race engineer Hamilton, and led him to victory ahead of Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.
Next time in the US, Bonnington returned as Hamilton clinched his sixth world title by finishing second behind then-teammate Valtteri Bottas.
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