Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Peter Bonnington shared an embrace with each other after the Mexican Grand Prix, with the race engineer admitting it “felt like the old days”.

Hamilton’s brilliant drive from sixth to second in Mexico City has already been described by team boss Toto Wolff as “one of his best performances he’s had in a while”.

And another member of the Mercedes team who thought this performance stood out as another timeless Hamilton classic was his own race engineer.

In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by Mercedes, the man known by his colleagues as ‘Bono’ shared a hug with Hamilton while telling him that his hard-charging exploits reminded him of their past glories together.

Lewis Hamilton has scored six podiums so far in 2023

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are both embroiled in a battle for P2 in the two championships

“Felt like the old days.” ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9Bg6Fb46Ve

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) October 31, 2023

Second-best for Mercedes and Hamilton

In their bid to hold off Ferrari and protect second place in the constructors’ championship, Mercedes have been under pressure to maximise their performance from the final few race weekends of the season.

Their quandary looked especially worrying after Hamilton was disqualified from the United States Grand Prix, with the 38-year-old losing his second-place result in the process.

But the team managed to bounce back in Mexico, as Hamilton replicated another excellent podium finish. Now, just three rounds remain and Mercedes still lead Ferrari by 22 points.

Perhaps more important to Hamilton is his personal battle with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for second in the drivers’ standings.

After his Austin disqualification, Hamilton lost ground to the Mexican driver but was able to regain the initiative with his podium while Perez retired on the opening lap from his home race.

Going into the sprint weekend at Brazil, the Mercedes star is just 20 points behind Perez whose future at Red Bull remains under threat.