Untelevised footage from Chinese Grand Prix qualifying has revealed the moment Peter Bonnington confused Andrea Kimi Antonelli for Lewis Hamilton over team radio.
Bonnington served as race engineer to Hamilton throughout the seven-time World Champion’s 11-year stint at Mercedes between 2013 and 2024.
Bono in hilarious Lewis Hamilton team radio slip up
PlanetF1.com revealed last year that a so-called no-poaching clause in Hamilton’s contract prevented him from having any direct influence on persuading any Mercedes colleagues to follow him to Ferrari for the F1 2025 season.
Bonnington has been promoted to head of race engineering at Mercedes for 2025 as well as working with Antonelli, the teenage sensation signed as Hamilton’s successor last year.
After Antonelli claimed an impressive fourth place on his F1 debut in Australia, this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix marks the second race of his burgeoning partnership with Bonnington.
Analysis: Lewis Hamilton joins Ferrari from Mercedes for F1 2025
👉 Lewis Hamilton now finally has a chance to escape the ghosts of Abu Dhabi 2021
👉 Four reasons why Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari makes so much sense
And an onboard clip has uncovered the moment Bonnington hilariously slipped up by referring to Antonelli as “Lewis” during qualifying in Shanghai.
In the clip, Antonelli is navigating the banked Turn 13 on a slow lap when Bonnington says: “Yeah. Copy that, Lewis.”
Antonelli went on to qualify eighth, four tenths and six positions behind team-mate George Russell, who split the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by securing second.
Bonnington’s mistake came just hours after Hamilton claimed his first win as a Ferrari driver, converting pole into victory in the sprint race in China.
Hamilton’s win saw him bounce back from a disappointing Ferrari debut in Australia, where his polite-but-firm exchanges with new race engineer Riccardo Adami, who previously worked with predecessors Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel, came under the microscope.
Martin Brundle, the Sky F1 pundit, remarked that he was left confused by Hamilton’s “angsty” attitude over team radio in Melbourne, with Ralf Schumacher calling for Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc to be disciplined by Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath of his sprint race victory, Hamilton declared that he was pleased to silence the “yapping” critics in China.
He said: “The first race was difficult,” Hamilton said, “and I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatised within the team, understanding, communication, all sorts of things.
“The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding maybe because they’ve never had the experience, or just unaware.
“So it felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car because in Melbourne I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car.
“From lap one here this weekend, I really felt on it. The engineers have done a great job, the mechanics have done a great job to fine-tune the car, and it felt great.
“I got a good start and there’s so much grip on this new tarmac. It’s really hard to look after these new tyres, but I think everyone was struggling the same.”
More on Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari
Hamilton’s latest comments just days after he claimed that other drivers have “far worse” interactions with their race engineers over team radio, likening Max Verstappen’s exchanges with Gianpiero Lambiase at Red Bull to “abuse.”
He said: “Everyone over-egged [the situation in Australia]. It was literally just a back and forth. I was very polite in how I suggested it.
“I said ‘leave it to me, please’. I wasn’t saying ‘eff you.’ I wasn’t swearing.
“It was just at that point I was really struggling with the car and I needed full focus on a couple of things. We’re getting to know each other.
“He [Adami] had two champions or more in the past and there are no issues between us. Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers – it’s far worse.
“The conversations that Max has had with his engineer over the years and the abuse that the poor guy has taken, and you never write about it, but you write about the smallest little discussion I have with mine.
“We’re literally just getting to know each other. Afterwards, I’m like: ‘Hey bro, I don’t need that bit of information. But if you want to give me this, this is the place I like to do it. This is how I’m feeling in the car and at these points, this is what this is, when I do and don’t need the information.’
“That’s what it’s about. There are no issues and it’s done with a smiley face, and we move forward.”
Read next: Explained: Why Lando Norris is ‘not as comfortable’ at Chinese GP amid Piastri pole