Can Mercedes Survive Hamilton-Led Staff Exodus?

The highly-anticipated move of Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to Ferrari in 2025 could lead to a significant shift in personnel, with expectations that he might take a number of Mercedes’ top staff with him, such as his current race engineer, Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington.

This potential staff exodus has raised concerns about Mercedes’ future competitiveness in Formula 1. Some interpret Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari as a sign that he doubts Mercedes’ capacity to secure further championships.

Despite these concerns, Hans-Joachim Stuck maintains confidence in Mercedes’ resilience, believing the team can maintain its status as a formidable force in Formula 1’s post-Hamilton era.

“I think this is a discussion which everyone needs to have in the months to come,” admitted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff when asked about Bonnington’s potential exit.

Also interesting is that Mercedes already lost its performance engineer Loic Serra to Ferrari mid-last year. It is believed he is on ‘gardening leave’ and will start working at Maranello at the very same time as Hamilton.

And another Hamilton engineer, Riccardo Musconi, is also tipped to move to Ferrari in time for 2025.

If it sounds like the beginning of the end for Mercedes’ status as a true F1 title challenger, German motor racing legend Stuck, doesn’t believe it.

“I don’t assume that,” he told Eurosport Deutschland.

“Mercedes is a team at which nothing depends on a single person,” he said. “The knowledge of the engineers is known in-house so that a change doesn’t matter. I don’t see that as a problem.

“This will certainly help Hamilton, but Mercedes still has top people in its ranks and will find more. These changes happen all the time,” Stuck added.