Lewis Hamilton sees Ferrari contract clause bite him as F1 superstar to split with his ultimate ally

Ferrari has made a tough decision about Lewis Hamilton. A clause in his contract reportedly means he can't bring his race engineer and good friend Peter Bonnington to Ferrari.

Instead, Hamilton will be working with Riccardo Adami, who has been with Carlos Sainz since he moved to the Scuderia from McLaren. Hamilton and Bonnington, often called 'Bono', have become a legendary team at Mercedes. The 49 year old has helped the British driver win six Drivers' Championship titles with the Silver Arrows.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff talked about the chance of Bonnington joining Ferrari after Hamilton's move was announced. He said: "I think this is a discussion which everyone needs to have in the months to come. And as much as I've spoken with Bono already, when I told him [about the move] he said, 'Is it April the first? ' That's something which we will discuss in the future.", reports the Express.

But, the famous duo won't be together after the end of the 2024 season. An Italian news report from Analisi Tecnica says that a non-poaching clause in his Mercedes contract, signed halfway through the 2023 season, has stopped Ferrari from tempting Bonnington from Brackley to Maranello.

Adami only got the role after a similar contract clause stopped four-time world champ Sebastian Vettel from bringing Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin with him from Red Bull in 2015. From then, he's managed to impress the Ferrari bosses with his work with the famous German and more recently with Sainz.

Even though Hamilton will certainly be sad when his long-lasting partnership with Bonnington ends after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it's said that the 39-year-old is excited about getting to work with Adami.

There's lots of interest in how a big star like Hamilton