MERCEDES ENGINEER SPARKS CONTROVERSY WITH LEWIS HAMILTON MISTAKE

lewis hamilton’s move to ferrari now feels normal to many people, but it seems like mercedes is still getting used to it. even though hamilton recently won his first race with ferrari, seeing him in red still feels a bit strange.

it’s only been a little over two months since those first pictures of hamilton in a ferrari race suit came out, after spending 12 years racing for mercedes.

so far, hamilton has managed not to accidentally stop at the mercedes pit box during the first two races. however, it looks like some old habits are hard to break. just ask pete bonnington about it.

bonnington, also known as ‘bono,’ was hamilton’s race engineer throughout his time at mercedes. they had a close bond. now that hamilton has a new race engineer at ferrari, riccardo adami, bonnington is working with a new driver, kimi antonelli.

since it’s still early days and hamilton hasn’t been gone for long, bonnington’s funny mistake during qualifying for the chinese grand prix is understandable.

at one point over the radio, after antonelli made a comment, bonnington accidentally replied, “yeah. copy that, lewis.” he quickly corrected himself, saying, “copy that, kimi.”

you can imagine bonnington’s embarrassed reaction and the laughter in the mercedes garage after that slip-up.