‘Happy birthday Bono!’ – Hamilton’s former race engineer suffers hilarious Antonelli prank

After his long-standing Lewis Hamilton association came to an end, Peter Bonnington is entering a new era working alongside Kimi Antonelli.

And as the Mercedes veteran goes from partnering a seven-time World Champion to F1 2025’s youngest star, it seems the chemistry is already building nicely. Or at least, Kimi Antonelli best hope so!

Antonelli pulls birthday prank on Hamilton’s former race engineer

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Bonnington – affectionately known as ‘Bono’ – served as Hamilton’s race engineer throughout his Mercedes tenure from 2013-24, one which produced six World Championships, 84 wins, 153 podiums and 78 poles in what was a record-breaking union for team and driver.

However, with Hamilton having activated a release clause in his contract, he made the move to Ferrari in time for F1 2025, with Mercedes naming their 18-year-old sensation Antonelli as his replacement, Bono given the task of guiding Mercedes’ teenage hot prospect as he takes on the jump up to F1 at such a young age.

And as F1 2025 preparations continue to ramp up, February 12 marked Bono’s birthday, as Antonelli presented his new race engineer with a cake for the occasion.

Bono going from having Lewis as his driver to having to deal with a literal teenager ?? pic.twitter.com/QjB7gVFVHl

— Laura ? (@formuLau16) February 14, 2025

Only, there was another surprise to come for Bono, as he set about tucking in and dreaming of a cup of tea to go with the cake.

Back came Antonelli, this time with a plate of cream heading straight for the face of a distracted Bono!

Luckily for F1’s bright-eyed new star, Bono saw the funny side of that prank.

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Antonelli goes into F1 2025 as one of most heavily-scrutinised rookies in the history of the sport, as he takes on the challenge of replacing F1’s most successful driver of all-time, at a Mercedes team which holds Drivers’ and Constructors’ title aspirations for the season ahead.

And team principal Toto Wolff is prepared for “tear our hair out” moments with Antonelli alongside displays of “brilliance” in his rookie season, as Mercedes ready for the huge chassis and power unit regulations revamp looming for F1 2026.

Asked by the media, including PlanetF1.com, whether it is realistic for Mercedes to challenge for both titles in F1 2025, Wolff replied: “I think there’s two ways to look at it.

“Obviously 2025, same regulations. You can see that the pecking order varies depending on the track. And I think the opportunity is there to fight for victories.

“And if you can do that, you will fight for the championship.

“It’s also going to be a year where George [Russell] will settle in as the leading and senior driver, and Kimi is going to learn.

“Sometimes we will tear our hair out, other times we will see moments of brilliance, but it’s also a year of managing expectations for Kimi and preparing our driver line-up for 2026.”

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