Hamilton recalls origins of iconic Mercedes radio call

Lewis Hamilton has recalled the origins of his iconic “hammer-time” Mercedes radio call after one final charge in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton stormed back in the closing stages on a contra-strategy at Yas Marina to pass team-mate George Russell for fourth on the final lap, having taken nearly 17s out of the sister car after his pit-stop.

Race engineer Peter Bonnington gave Hamilton the iconic “hammer-time” radio call for the last time in the race, with the former set to receive a promotion and not follow Hamilton to Ferrari for 2025.

Together Hamilton-Bonnington won 83 of his 84 races for Mercedes, with the exception being the 2019 Mexican GP where Bonnington was absent for medical reasons. 

Reflecting on the final iconic call, Hamilton paid tribute the long-serving engineer.

“I noticed that as well, when he told me, I was like: ‘I can’t even remember the last time he told me hammer-time’,” he told media including RacingNews365.

“I remember when I told Bono to say hammer-time back in our first year together, I was like: ‘don’t tell me to go faster, tell me it’s hammer-time.’

“What a roller-coaster ride its been with Bono, he’s been one of my closest friends for many years and it is something I didn’t expect to have because he worked with Michael Schumacher, other great drivers.

“But he stood by me and for an engineer to stick with someone as frustrating and as painful as it can sometimes be, he stood by me every single day without failing.”