Lewis Hamilton reflected on the poignancy of his final ‘Hammer time’ radio message from Mercedes Race Engineer Peter Bonnington at Formula 1‘s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton had a mountain to climb in his final race with Mercedes at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday as the only driver to start on Hard tyres for the 58-lap race, way back in 16th on the grid.
After gaining four places on the opening lap, Hamilton went on a lengthy 34-lap opening stint before switching to Mediums.
Hamilton then had a healthy tyre offset to everyone on Hards, but was in seventh place and nearly 20 seconds back from fourth-placed Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Cue one last ‘Hammer time’ call from ‘Hamilton’s long-serving Race Engineer Peter ‘Bono’ to claw back that deficit, culminating in a superlative overtake on the outside of Turn 9 to pip Russell to fourth on the final lap of the GP.
After 12 seasons with Bonnington, where he has helped guide him to 84 Mercedes victories and six world titles, Hamilton was asked to reflect on the poignancy of that final ‘Hammer time’ radio call.
“When he told me I was like, I can’t remember the last time he told me ‘Hammer time,'” the outgoing Mercedes driver told select media including Motorsport Week post-race in Abu Dhabi.
“I remember I told Bono to say ‘Hammer time’ back in the first year together, I was like ‘don’t tell me just go faster, just say tell me it’s ‘Hammer time’ and I’ll know what it is.’
“And what a roller coaster ride I’ve had with Bono, he’s been one of my closest friends for many years.
“It’s something I didn’t expect to have, he’s worked with Michael Schumacher, he’s worked with great drivers, but the longest he’s stood by me, an engineer to stick with someone, a frustrating and painful as it can sometimes be, he’s stood by me every single day without fail.”
Catching Mercedes team-mate Russell ‘took perfection’
Hamilton’s final stint in Mercedes colours exemplified the talents with which he’s been able to attain such great success in silver.
Utilising his positive tyre offset to great effect, Hamilton was able to sign off with a flourish in catching and passing Russell.
Asked to give his take on the race, Hamilton said Russell “was driving great.
“Obviously he started a lot further ahead than I did, so to catch the 14 seconds was tough, but he was putting in good laps, and so it took perfection.
“I had to really put together the best laps I could possibly do, obviously in Vegas I was catching for a period of time and then stopped, so I was trying to make sure that I kept taking chunks out of the gap, and I only caught him right at that last lap, and I was like it’s now or never.”
Now it’s time for Hamilton to close his Mercedes chapter, the most successful in F1 history, to join the most successful team, Ferrari in 2025.
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton labels Mercedes F1 spell the ‘greatest honour of my life’
