Kimi Antonelli has reached a new level for his second season: as championship leader, the young Italian shows a serenity that contrasts with the difficulties encountered during his first year.
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For Toto Wolff, Peter Bonnington plays an essential role in this evolution.
The race engineer, long associated with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, now supports Antonelli on a daily basis: “Bono is the engineer who is closest to him. All the preparation and all the debriefings are done with Bono”, explains Wolff.
The experience of Schumacher and Hamilton
The Mercedes boss especially believes that Bonnington’s calm has gradually rubbed off on his driver: “He is a very calm and balanced engineer, and that has certainly been passed on to Kimi. There are no big emotions on either side. There is no panic when things go wrong and no euphoria when they go well.”
Bonnington especially has considerable experience at the highest level. Before Antonelli, the Briton notably worked with Michael Schumacher and then supported Hamilton during the most successful period of his career.
“Bono has worked with the best and he has learned. He was alongside Michael, he worked closely with Lewis for a long time”, recalls the boss.
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This experience seems particularly valuable for Antonelli, who had suffered more from pressure during his rookie season: “Last year, there was pressure, sadness and moments when we didn’t really know how he was going to get out of the hole,” admits Wolff. “Today, none of that is left.”
Adopting the right method
And this evolution would not be simply linked to victories or his position in the championship. Wolff notably cites George Russell’s win in Melbourne, which did not provoke any particular negative reaction from Antonelli.
“He has simply become a different person compared to last year,” he notes. “I think it comes from the way he processes information, facts and the feedback he receives.”
For Wolff, Bonnington has precisely the essential quality of a mentor: knowing when to intervene and when to let his driver find the answers himself. An approach that seems to be paying off since, after the difficulties of his learning in 2025, Antonelli has now moved from being a great hope to a genuine world title contender.
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