Mercedes has revealed the secret weapon behind the recent success of Kimi Antonelli, after the young Italian won three consecutive Grand Prix.
Antonelli is in imperious form, winning the last three consecutive Formula 1 Grand Prix, only losing the Miami Sprint Race to the resurgent McLaren of Lando Norris.
He has opened up a 20-point advantage over teammate George Russell at the top of the standings, ahead of this weekend’s Canadian GP.
Team Principal Toto Wolff has now revealed the secret weapon behind Antonelli’s success – his new race engineer Pete Bonnington.
Known as “Bono”, the Briton worked with Lewis Hamilton, a relationship that resulted in six of Hamilton’s seven world championships.
Wolff confirmed Bonnington’s impact on Antonelli, revealing an exchange on the pit wall over concerns the young Italian was on the verge of a penalty for track limits.
“Bono has learned from [working with] the greats, from Schumacher to Hamilton, for many years.
“Now with Kimi, he has been a good mentor to him, but also a strong boss.”
“He had two strikes with the track limits. I said to Bono, ‘One more and I’m going to go on the radio’. And he said, ‘No, no, you leave that to me’.
“That shows that he just knows how to connect with him, how to handle him, and that’s good. It’s been part of the success.”
Miami crosses new boundaries for Kimi Antonelli
Wolff praised his driver’s consistency across the weekend in Miami, highlighting his mistake free weekend that saw him pull clear of rivals.
“I know track limits are among the mistakes, but it’s easier to calm someone down than to accelerate a donkey,” quipped Wolff.
“For me, that was his best race so far. It reminded me of his karting days or Formula 4. There were no mistakes.”
Driver and race engineer relationships are vital, and are becoming more prominent through increased scrutiny in the modern era.
Antonelli and Bonnington are examples of when this relationship works in harmony, but as history shows when this isn’t the case, the results are catastrophic.
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