Bono's right-hand man becomes Russell's new race engineer

A driver and his race engineer have to be two hands in one during race weekends. The driver leans a lot on his companion behind the pit wall. George Russell has a new race engineer for the 2023 F1 season; Marcus Dudley, an acquaintance of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Staff shifts at Mercedes mean Russell will have a new race engineer in 2023. His old engineer, Riccardo Musconi, has been promoted to the performance engineer position, leaving a spot vacant next to Russell. To fill Russell's race engineer spot, an employee of Hamilton's garage has been taken.

Russell will work with Marcus Dudley, Peter Bonnington's former second-in-command, from 2023. Bonnington, also known as Bono, is again Hamilton's race engineer. Bono and the seven-time F1 champion have a particularly long partnership in F1.

Speedweek.com quotes Hamilton: "I am eternally grateful for Bono's work. I don't think any race engineer has ever worked with a driver as long as he has with me. He is like a brother to me. He is probably one of the few people who can deal with all my rough edges. His composure during the race is extraordinary." This testimony from Hamilton indicates how intense the bond can be between driver and race engineer. Dudley and Russell will only really get to know each other this season.