WATCH: Lewis Hamilton reveals the origins of the iconic term ‘Hammer Time’

Lewis Hamilton puts in some incredible laptimes after hearing the term 'Hammer time' from his race engineer.

WATCH: Lewis Hamilton reveals the origins of the iconic term ‘Hammer Time’

Lewis Hamilton explaining the term 'Hammer Time' (via @F1/X).

Lewis Hamilton is often regarded as one of the better drivers in Formula 1. Mercedes used a special term called ‘Hammer time’ during Hamilton’s domination era. Now, amidst the preparations for the 2024 season, The former world champion details the exact reason behind this term.

Hamilton explained that the race engineer asked him to pit during a race. Hence following this, the Briton needed to ‘push’ the car to the limit to extract maximum performance from the fresh compound. However, sometimes the call disturbs the driver as they’re pushing to the limit anyway according to the former world champion.

Hammer time is.. say my pit stop is lap 20 or 25, in that moment, usually they say, 'time to push'. And I'm like, sometimes you're just pushing anyways....
Hamilton told F1 in a recent clip on X.
YouTube video

Additionally, Hamilton’s race engineer Bono [Peter Bonnington] devised long sentences to deliver the message for the driver to ‘push’ himself during the race. Hence, the 39-year-old came up with the idea of shortening the sentence and terming it as ‘Hammer time’ which meant that the former world champion needed to ‘push like a m***’. This term gained popularity very quickly and became a fan’s favorite thing to hear every time the driver started to dominate the playing field.

FS Video
Bono would come up with thse long sentences, ' Hi Lewis just to let you know, it's time to push' and I said, "Bono just tell me it's hammer time.' It means push like a m*** and get going.

Lewis Hamilton wants to push for championship contention in 2024

The once-dominating driver has been unable to manage any victories under his belt since the past two seasons. Hence, a winless slump is far from ideal for the former seven-time world champion. Additionally, Red Bull’s untouched performance eliminated any chances of competition early on in the season. Expectedly, Lewis Hamilton wants to return to his winning ways as soon as possible.

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO)

Mercedes has been meticulously working on developing the W15 challenger for the coming season. Hence, as the paddock awaits the chassis’ unveil, the team has produced optimism over the challenger. Time will tell if the W15 will finally be able to contend for the championship for the once-dominating outfit in Formula 1. Hamilton has supported Mercedes‘ development over the winter.

Lewis Hamilton has also been training continuously for the challenges upcoming. Although Red Bull’s performance trajectory would surely not fall out any time soon, Brackley did come close to Milton Keynes on a few occasions in 2023. Hence, a tough and close-call competition between the top two rival teams isn’t far-fetched for the 2024 season of Formula 1.

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