Lewis reveals: This is where Hammertime comes from!
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer Peter Bonnington are close. Since 2013 - the moment Hamilton arrived at Mercedes - the pair have worked together. According to the former world champion, 'Bono' is a key reason for his success.
Bono is also known for saying 'It's Hammertime', indicating that it is time for Hamilton to push extra. Hammertime, of course, refers to the letters HAM, as Hamilton is displayed on the screens in Formula 1. Furthermore, the phrase is a reference to a 1990 song by MC Hammer, 'U can't touch this'.
Push
Hamilton has told, among others Motorsport.com told that he came up with the phrase himself once. Rather, Hamilton did not want to hear anything like,'You have to push now', because he often was annoyed that he had long since done so. Rather, he wanted to hear something else, and so that became 'It's Hammertime'.
It has since become a familiar phrase in Formula 1, which was rarely heard this season. It was only in Mexico that Bono said the phrase again. Hamilton realised at the that moment that he had not heard the phrase for at least a year.
Hamilton and Bonnington are statistically the most successful driver-engineer duo in F1 history, with six of Hamilton's seven world titles and 82 of his 103 Grand Prix victories achieved together.