Pete Bonnington knows a champion when he engineers one. Fresh off guiding Kimi Antonelli to the 2026 title — the youngest driver's champion in F1 history — Bono singled out three performances that sealed the Italian's coronation: Monaco, where Antonelli earned the grid's respect on street circuit mastery; Monza, a back-to-grid charge that left his engineer staring at the midfield wondering how they got there; and Austin, the clincher, where the 20-year-old held off faster two-stoppers on a gutsy one-stop that demanded mental steel.
Antonelli closed the title with third in Mexico City after nine wins, capping a turnaround year under the new technical regs. The kid who struggled through a rookie 2025 campaign found his gear when the rulebook reset. Bonnington, who stewarded six Hamilton titles from 2014 to 2020, calls it "mind-blowing." With a year of champion-caliber pace now banked, Antonelli enters the off-season as the man everyone's chasing in 2027.
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