ANTONELLI IMPRESSES BONNINGTON AFTER SHANGHAI WIN
After a thrilling podium ceremony in Shanghai, Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington praised the young Italian driver Kimi Antonelli for his impressive performance and rapid development.
Bono, who has an extensive Formula 1 career, worked with two of the sport’s most successful drivers during his time at Mercedes.
He served as Michael Schumacher’s race engineer during his 2010 comeback, before continuing in the same role with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from 2013 to 2024.
In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Bonnington explained how he uses his experience with Schumacher and Hamilton to guide Antonelli’s growth in the sport.
“With Kimi, he’s putting a lot of faith in me, a lot of trust in me, because I’ve got the experience, and he’s got the youth,” Bono said.
“We work differently, but I’m teaching him and taking him through the process of how we become a champion. He’s just ticked off the first step, so we need to just keep chipping away.”
Reflecting on his approach to look after talents, Bonnington cited the “10,000-hour rule”, that is popular in sports psychology. “I read a book about the 10,000-hour rule many, many years ago and I started to really believe it, thinking, ‘Oh, if we all had enough practice, we’d be good enough.’
Then, I met the likes of Schumi, the likes of Lewis, and I realised, ‘No, actually, no, there is the extra step, that extra tenth or two.’ And that’s what Kimi’s got. He got that extra tenth or two.”
Bono’s comments underline the potential of the young Italian, who is already showing the speed that could one day see him follow in the footsteps of this sport’s legends.
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