F1 legend Lewis Hamilton tells Ferrari he has found his 'Italian Bono'

Hamilton walking past Bono touching his shoulder with a smile at the Chinese GP — Photo: © IMAGO

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton tells Ferrari he has found his 'Italian Bono'

Lewis Hamilton previously worked with Peter Bonnington

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 5 June 2026 19:43

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Lewis Hamilton has hinted ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend that he has found his long-term race engineer at Ferrari, likening Carlo Santi to Mercedes' Peter 'Bono' Bonnington.

Hamilton worked with Bono for 12 highly-successful seasons at Mercedes, with the Brit winning six drivers' championships in that time.

Bono shared a good relationship with Hamilton, and they still remain friends, with Hamilton regularly visiting Bono in the Mercedes garage now that the race engineer is working with current championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

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For Hamilton, though, he has struggled to find that kind of relationship at Ferrari, failing to bond with race engineer Riccardo Adami last year in his first season at the team.

At the end of 2025, it was revealed Adami would step down from the position, with experienced Ferrari team member Santi stepping up to be the seven-time champion's race engineer on an interim basis.

That partnership has got off to a flyer, however, with Hamilton having claimed two podiums in the opening five grands prix of the season, and the 41-year-old has regularly praised the team that he has around him in year two of his Ferrari journey.

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Hamilton's new Bono; Carlo Santi

Santi was previously the race engineer for world champion Kimi Raikkonen in his final season at Ferrari in 2018, but he has been a performance engineer for many years.

Ahead of the Monaco GP, Hamilton opened up about his new ally, labelling him 'Italian Bono'.

"Having that driver-engineer collab, it's hit and miss sometimes," Hamilton told media. "With me and Bono, it hit off from the beginning mostly. He had a good working relationship with Michael [Schumacher].

"I do feel like Carlo is like my Italian Bono. I told Bono that the other day! He's a bit of an OG. He's an older guy that's been around the block. He's very calm. You can hear him on the radio.

"This is a detail that we were able to go into together. Our understanding of the engineering side, I think it's something that's worth remembering."

It has been reported that Santi's position is no longer interim, with another change in Hamilton's race engineer lineup no longer expected.

ANALYSIS: Ferrari just chose their guy and it is not Lewis Hamilton

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes Peter Bonnington