Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington Explains ‘Game Is On’ Moment as Lewis Hamilton Worked His Tire Magic

Lewis Hamilton is finally a Grand Prix winner once again after 945 days. The#44 driver broke his two-and-a-half year-long winless streak as he crossed the chequered flag first at the 2024 British Grand Prix. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington (Bono), has now revealed the moment he knew the game was on and Hamilton was on course to victory.

Sky Sports F1 quoted Bono as explaining, “You know when it comes to the wire, he is the one that will manage the tires and get you to the end. I know as soon as I get told to shut up, the game is on.” 

Hamilton had indeed asked Bono to not speak when he entered into the last ten laps of the race. The 39-year-old secured his record ninth race win at Silverstone after a masterful bit of tire management during the last phase of the race.

Max Verstappen chased him down with fresh hard tires but the Briton managed to just edge out the Dutchman on the less durable soft tires. Hamilton had to deliver some really fast laps to keep the chasing pack out of the DRS range.

Naturally, the red-walled softs were degrading at a greater pace than Verstappen’s fresh hard tires. The #1 driver had already passed Lando Norris and was piling the pressure on the Briton. But in the end, Hamilton’s experience prevailed as he registered his 104th career Grand Prix win.

Hamilton won the 2024 British GP thanks to McLaren’s strategic error

After the race, an emotional Hamilton recalled how he has been bearing the burden since 2021. Years of just being patient and putting in the work despite the setbacks finally paid off as he won a record ninth time at his home race.

But it was actually a strategic mistake from McLaren that handed the advantage to the #44 driver with twelve laps to go. Norris was asked to do an extra lap on the intermediate tires whilst Hamilton pitted for the slicks.

A slow pitstop cost Norris as Hamilton was handed a two-second advantage after the final round of pitstops. In the cool-down room, Hamilton even remarked that Norris had left it one lap too late.