With Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season, reports claimed he won’t be moving to Maranello alone. There were claims of the Briton bringing Peter Bonnington alongside him, but that is no longer the case. Per a report from PlanetF1, there is a ‘no-poaching’ clause in Hamilton’s contract, rendering him unable to directly influence any staff departures from Mercedes.
There were rumors of a no-poaching clause in Hamilton‘s contract, but PlanetF1 confirmed the news directly from Mercedes. The clause is not a surprise addition to Hamilton’s contract, as teams have opted to add similar clauses in earlier contracts as well. The need for such clauses arises from a driver’s popularity on the grid and their influence over a team.
CONFIMATION: Lewis Hamilton is FORBIDDEN from directly poaching Mercedes staff to join him at Ferrari due to a clause in his Mercedes contract.
Motorsport Italy first reported the clause this morning, and PlanetF1 reached out to Mercedes and confirmed that the clause exists. pic.twitter.com/5MxkZQybK9
— Mercedes-AMG F1 News (@MercedesNewsUK) February 8, 2024
Sebastian Vettel had a similar clause in his contract with Red Bull. When he joined Ferrari in 2015, the clause blocked him from taking his race engineer, Guillaume Rocquelin, with him. Similarly, there were rumors of Bonnington and Andrew Shovlin moving to Maranello alongside Hamilton.
Addressing the speculations, Toto Wolff revealed he had a chat with Bonnington over his future in F1. Per Wolff’s words, Bonnington thought Wolff was joking when he told him Hamilton would be going to Ferrari. He later mentioned that there would be talks between the two regarding Bonnington’s future at Mercedes. “It’s something we will discuss in the coming months.”
Ferrari don’t want Lewis Hamilton to feel lonely
Hamilton will be moving to Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season after activating an early release clause. The switch will mark an end to a 12-year association between Hamilton and Mercedes. With Hamilton moving to a new country, it will be a big change for him, and Ferrari understand that. As such, they want to create a familiar environment for the 7-time world champion.
BREAKING : LOÏC SERRA VA REJOINDRE FERRARI !
Pilier de Mercedes depuis 2010 et directeur de la performance (pneus, suspension, aéro), il rejoint Maranello et est le “top” ingénieur. Il sera aux commandes de l’interaction entre la mécanique et le concept aérodynamique. pic.twitter.com/7I5IaYD3SS
— Scuderia Ferrari FRA (@FerrariF1FRA) July 21, 2023
Given the same, Hamilton will not be arriving alone at Ferrari. Unlike Vettel’s move to the Maranello outfit, Hamilton will find familiar faces waiting for him in Italy as Loic Serra is also moving to Ferrari. There are also chances of Ricciardo Musconi (George Russell‘s race engineer) moving to Ferrari, adding to the list of familiar faces Hamilton would meet at Ferrari.
