Hamilton's race engineer Bonnington to miss Mexico, Austin
Lewis Hamilton will be without his regular Mercedes Formula 1 race engineer Peter Bonnington for the Mexican and United States Grands Prix.
Bonnington is not present in Mexico City as he has stayed at home in the United Kingdom to undergo a personal medical procedure.
He will miss next weekend’s United States GP as well, but Mercedes hopes can return for the Brazilian Grand Prix in mid-November.
In Bonnington’s absence, his role will be taken over by Hamilton’s regular performance engineer Marcus Dudley.
Dom Riefstahl, who usually heads up Mercedes’ race support team at the factory, is present in Mexico as Hamilton’s performance engineer.
Bonnington has engineered Hamilton to all four of his F1 titles with Mercedes as the two have worked together since Hamilton joined the team in 2013.
The two have struck up a strong rapport, and their regular radio exchanges have made ‘Bono’ arguably the most recognisable behind-the-scenes voice in F1.
Hamilton has the chance to wrap up his sixth drivers’ title in Mexico this weekend.
However, he needs to outscore teammate Valtteri Bottas by 14 points to do so, which makes clinching the championship at next weekend’s race in Austin more likely instead.
Share Or Save This Story
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Lewis Hamilton honours Roscoe with touching tribute one year after his death
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur recall GP2 title and 'most impressive race ever', 20 years on
George Russell: "Off the pace" Mercedes F1 car needs tweaking at Sepang
Mercedes reveals F1 Bahrain GP updates
As Mercedes looks to deal F1 2026 knockout blow, will its driver fight reignite?
WRC Sardinia: Adrien Fourmaux heads Hyundai 1-2 after puncture-filled morning
George Russell: "Off the pace" Mercedes F1 car needs tweaking at Sepang
Why Takaaki Nakagami's injury is a bigger problem for Honda than it seems
Marco Bezzecchi retreated to pits after Motegi scare: “I’d already had enough” crashes
The hidden F1 performance differentiator nobody is talking about in 2026
As Mercedes looks to deal F1 2026 knockout blow, will its driver fight reignite?
Top 10 F1 results changed by backmarkers – the passes
The problem with Ferrari’s endless team principal speculation
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments