Mercedes Crew Including Peter Bonnington Confuse Fans With ‘Team Red 44’ Caption After Lewis Hamilton’s British GP Victory

Lewis Hamilton finally clinched victory at the 2024 British Grand Prix, breaking his winless streak that lasted two seasons and 945 days. This triumph at Silverstone saw Hamilton starting from second on the grid and fighting his way to the race win, much to the delight of his fans.

Celebrating his 104th win, Hamilton’s performance engineer, Mike Sansoni, shared a photo on Instagram alongside Hamilton’s long-time race engineer, Peter Bonnington, better known as Bono. The caption on this celebratory post, however, left fans scratching their heads.

The Instagram story read, “Team Red 44,” which led the fans to speculate about a possible move to Ferrari for Hamilton’s crew. One fan, Marina, posted Sansoni’s story on X, questioning, “Does this mean they’re coming to Ferrari?”

However, the confusion didn’t last long. Another fan, Veronika, clarified the situation by explaining that within Mercedes, Hamilton’s side of the garage is referred to as Team Red, and his teammate, George Russell, is Team Blue. This color coding is possibly used to streamline communication between the two sides of the garage.

Veronika also noted that this color-coding tradition isn’t new. Back when Hamilton was teammates with Nico Rosberg, Rosberg was Team Red, and Hamilton was Team Blue. This bit of Mercedes’s history helped clear up the misunderstanding, revealing that the Instagram story caption was not a hint at any future moves.

Bono has been Hamilton’s race engineer for 12 years now, so it is kind of hard to imagine someone else talking to the British driver on team radio.

Could Peter Bonnington still follow Hamilton to Ferrari?

When Hamilton and Ferrari announced their partnership for the 2025 season and beyond, many speculated that Bono might follow Hamilton to the Italian team. In Formula 1, it’s common for top drivers to bring key team members with them when they switch teams, either because the driver requests it or because of strong professional bonds.

At the time, Toto Wolff said that he expected discussions about Bono’s potential move, given their long-standing professional relationship. However, it soon emerged that Bono’s contract included an ‘anti-poaching’ clause, preventing him from easily moving to another team.

Ferrari, on the other hand, would be eager for Hamilton to work with their race engineer, Riccardo Adami, who has a rich history in Formula 1. Adami started his F1 career with Minardi and continued with Toro Rosso. He has been with Ferrari since 2015 and currently serves as Carlos Sainz’s race engineer.