Hamilton explains ‘hammertime’: “I was frustrated by that at first”

Lewis Hamilton has collected six of his seven world titles in his Mercedes years to date. During his successes, followers of the sport were often awakened by the well-known on-board radio message ‘it’s hammertime’. After years, the British Mercedes driver now comes with an explanation of that well-known statement.

Hamilton is currently having a difficult season but in previous years he has been very successful. When his team forced Hamilton to push harder, his engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington regularly shouted the well-known phrase ‘it’s hammertime’ over the radio. The phrase has now acquired an almost legendary status among his fans and provokes irritation among people who are not fans of his.

Push

The phrase has now become established within the sport, but Hamilton himself has hardly ever spoken about it. The British seven-time world champion now explains the matter and is quoted by Motorsport.com: “I think I came up with the concept of ‘hammertime’ myself. That in turn stems from a moment when Bono told me it was time to going to push.”

Frustration

Hamilton wasn’t exactly a fan of Bonnington jargon at first. The Mercedes driver was annoyed by it: “I was frustrated by that at first. I thought ‘Dude, I’m already pushing’. I also told him to shout ‘hammertime’ if he wanted to indicate that I am full. had to go and really give everything. That was part of our joint growth.”