Bonnington names Antonelli’s best three races in ‘amazing journey’ to maiden title

Pete Bonnington has selected his favourite three races that set Kimi Antonelli on the path towards becoming the 2026 World Champion, praising the Italian for his “mind-blowing” achievement.

Head of Race Engineering Bonnington – or ‘Bono’ – is no stranger to title success, having acted as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer during his incredibly fruitful stint at Mercedes that saw him triumph six times between 2014 and 2020.

Once Hamilton departed the team for the 2025 season, Bonnington continued in his role for rookie Antonelli, guiding him through a challenging campaign before the now 20-year-old began to thrive under the new-for-2026 regulations.

After nine Grand Prix victories, Antonelli finished third at the Mexico City Grand Prix to secure the Drivers’ Championship, becoming the youngest to do so in the history of F1.

Asked which highlights stand out from the record-breaking season, Bonnington told F1 TV: “I think three stand out, and I think people will know what those three races are.

“For me, Monaco was just super special. It’s one of those races where if you can prove that to the rest of the grid, I think your peers respect you even more, and the way that he did it was just unbelievable.

“And then the Monza race… just wow. I remember turning around thinking, ‘oh, this is what the back of the grid looks like’, and then off we went. There was no stopping him.

“And then last weekend in Austin, that was a champion’s drive. It was the one-stop versus the two-stop. There’s the mental pressure in the car thinking, ‘I’m going to get caught, I’m going to get overtaken’, but no, he just kept his head down. He kept putting the lap times in and came out on top.

“Three drives of the year that really sealed that performance, but to be fair, other ones like Silverstone… without the failure, that would’ve been a really good result. Barcelona, we were looking good as well, so it’s that repeated performance that’s consistent. He can drive across a range of tracks, be it overheating, tyre warm-up, whatever.”

Bonnington is admired for his calm radio messages during races, but he and Antonelli have also garnered a reputation for pranking each other, with their off-track hijinks regularly shared across social media.

While it may not align with the high-stakes world of F1, the experienced race engineer insisted that having a more light-hearted relationship has been crucial to the Italian’s ability to remain focused and bounce back when he needs to.

“You can pick up a load of management books that will tell you any successful organisation has an element of fun in it, but he just does it naturally,” he explained. “It’s the way that he feels most comfortable, and it’s the way that he gets everyone else to feel comfortable.

“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. It’s a real big part.”

Elaborating on what Antonelli’s achievement means to him, he said: “Mind-blowing, I think is the word. It’s just been such an amazing journey with him. He’s really matured over this year and wow, he’s just grown into the World Champion that he is.

“It’s been a real fun year – the way that he’s brought that element into the team. He is the consummate professional and just such a talent.”