Kimi Antonelli is the 2026 Formula 1 World Champion: his race engineer, Peter Bonnington, has now revealed when the young Italian first caught his eye as a ‘diamond in the rough’
With a third-place finish at the 2026 Mexican Grand Prix, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was crowned Formula 1 World Champion for the first time in his career. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington – also known as “Bono” – knew, however, as early as two years prior that the young Italian had the potential to achieve this.
“I think the term ‘rough diamond’ sums it up perfectly – that’s what I saw right from the start,” Bonnington told Sky after the World Championship triumph in Mexico. He also revealed when he first noticed this special talent: “It was during the TPC tests. There was a diamond in the rough, but he was still very ‘rough’.”
So-called TPC test drives (standing for “Testing Previous Cars”) refer to Formula 1 tests carried out in older cars. Because testing opportunities with the current year’s cars are strictly limited, teams often let their young drivers get behind the wheel of older cars first.
Antonelli was allowed to complete his first laps in a Mercedes Formula 1 car in April 2024. At the Red Bull Ring in Austria, he tested the Mercedes W12 from the 2021 season. At that time, the young Italian was still competing in Formula 2.
Antonelli: “a diamond in the rough who needs a lot of polishing”
“Proving yourself in a Formula 2 car is one thing, but you have to take the next step to feel the power and the downforce – that’s the only way to see if someone can make the leap,” explains “Bono”, adding: “He really did manage it.”
“It was clear then: a diamond in the rough who still needs a lot of polishing,” recalls the experienced race engineer, thinking back to the rainy test on a Tuesday in April 2024, when Antonelli’s Formula 1 career really took off. “I wouldn’t have thought it would happen so quickly, though.”
“ “I thought it would take a few years,” admits Bonnington. Following a disappointing Friday session at his home race in Monza in 2024, Antonelli was awarded Lewis Hamilton’s vacated Mercedes seat for 2025. His debut season in the premier class was mixed, but not without its highlights.
Added to this is the strong competition from within the team itself. “We obviously have a great team-mate in George Russell, an extremely strong driver from whom he can learn a lot,” says Bonnington. Russell was considered the favourite for the title before the season, whilst Antonelli still lacked experience.
When Bonnington began to believe in World Championship success in 2026
Yet the Italian got off to a good start to the season and celebrated his first victory as early as the second race in China. Four further wins in Japan, Miami, Canada and Monaco followed. “He’s put in some exceptional performances this year,” praises his engineer.
Bonnington, too, began to believe more and more in the World Championship title. “When we arrived in Europe, I thought: ‘Maybe … but let’s keep that to ourselves for now and just carry on working’,” says the Briton. The experienced engineer has previously worked with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
But Antonelli is something special, Bonnington agrees. “It’s that phrase everyone uses: a ‘talent that only comes along once every few generations’ – and I believe he is exactly that sort of talent,” he says. “I used to believe in the ‘10,000-hour rule’.”
The 10,000-hour rule states that it takes around 10,000 hours of intensive practice and repetition to reach world-class level in a discipline. “I was firmly convinced that it was true,” the engineer admits.
“But then I witnessed true greatness and realised that talent really is a real thing. It’s those extra two-tenths of a second that you simply can’t learn through mere, constant lapping,” adds Bonnington, referring to Antonelli’s talent. “So yes, he’s got it – just as Lewis had it and Michael had it.”
Toto Wolff: Antonelli has “really changed the team”
But it wasn’t just the young Italian’s talent that proved decisive in 2026. His personality also made an impression. “Kimi has a very winning manner; he’s really changed the team,” reveals Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “We’re dealing here with very reserved, rather unemotional Englishmen who are normally quite aloof.”
“And suddenly along comes this Italian lad who starts hugging everyone in the garage,” says the Austrian. “You can really see how this has transformed the whole atmosphere. Now, all of a sudden, the Brits are hugging each other – quite an unusual sight!”