Now, here is a man who knows a thing or two about championship machinery. Pete Bonnington—yes, that Bono, who guided Lewis Hamilton through six of his triumphs with Mercedes between 2014 and 2020—has been looking back on Kimi Antonelli’s stunning run to the 2026 World Championship. After navigating a tough rookie campaign in 2025 following Hamilton's departure, the now 20-year-old Antonelli seized the new-for-2026 regulations by the throat. Nine grand prix victories later, a third-place finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix cemented his place in history as the youngest Drivers' Champion in Formula 1 history.
Asked by F1 TV to single out the drives that built the foundation of this title, Bonnington pointed to three specific weekends. First up: the streets of Monaco. It is a venue where absolute mastery earns the instant respect of the entire grid, and Bonnington praised the unbelievable fashion in which the young Italian handled it.
Then came Monza. That particular outing left his race engineer looking backward at the lights and thinking, "oh, this is what the back of the grid looks like," before Antonelli launched forward with an unstoppable charge.
Finally, Bonnington highlighted the recent masterclass in Austin. Facing the strategic knife-edge of a one-stop versus a two-stop strategy, Antonelli had to manage the crushing mental pressure of knowing rivals were hunting him down. Instead of cracking, he simply kept his head down, pumped out the lap times, and came out on top. Bonnington also noted that other weekends like Silverstone—which slipped away due to a failure—and Barcelona showed just how consistent the youngster could be across varying track conditions, tyre warm-ups, and overheating challenges.
Away from the tarmac, the famous calm of Bonnington's radio messages contrasts with a notoriously playful dynamic. The pair have built a reputation for pranking each other, sharing their off-track hijinks on social media. Bonnington insisted that injecting an element of natural fun has been crucial in keeping the Italian focused and ready to bounce back.
“By having that element to the way that we work, it just sort of breaks down barriers so we can have open and honest conversations because we know at the end of the day we can still have a laugh and a joke,” Bonnington explained.
Reflecting on the journey as a whole, the veteran engineer described the championship success as a "mind-blowing" achievement. Pointing to Antonelli's rapid maturation and consummate professionalism over the year, Bonnington made it clear that this journey with the sport's newest champion has been nothing short of remarkable.
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