Where does Lewis Hamilton's 'It's hammer time' call come from? Origins of famous radio message explored

Lewis Hamilton recently revealed the origins of his infamous 'It's Hammer time' radio message. The Mercedes driver's race engineer Peter Bonnington is often heard using the phrase to prompt the world champion to give it his all in the race.

The now-infamous catchphrase partially serves as a reference to MC Hammer’s 1990 song “U Can’t Touch This” and also to an abbreviation of Hamilton's designation in the sport (HAM). The seven-time world champion claims the catchphrase is something he came up with to get him to give his everything in that part of the race.

Lewis Hamilton told Motorsport:

"I think I came up with hammer time. There was a point where he was like, ‘now is the time to push,’ and I got frustrated with him because I was like, ‘dude, I’m already pushing! But I was like, if you’re trying to signify now’s the time to go all out, use everything you have, I said just tell me it’s hammer time. That was part of our growth."

Hamilton and 'Bono' make up statistically the most successful driver-engineering pairing in the history of the sport. The pair have a mind-blowing total of six title wins and 82 F1 GP victories between them, making them the most successful pairing in the sport.

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Lewis Hamilton had to overcome Mercedes' lack of competitiveness in 2022

Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin claims Lewis Hamilton had to overcome a bit of a shock with his team's lack of competitiveness in the 2022 season. The seven-time world champion was 'used to' having a competitive car underneath him since 2014 but suddenly found himself fighting for points this year.

Lewis Hamilton is edging closer and closer to that ever-elusive first win of 2022. If the Briton is unable to win a single race this year, it will be the first time in his career that he has failed to do so. Shovlin claims the British racing veteran was in a bit of a shock regarding his team's sudden fall from grace, making the season all the more challenging. Hamilton's championship-winning mindset eventually kicked in, however, enabling him to once again find a healthy outlook for his team's otherwise woeful season.

Shovlin spoke about the Mercedes world champion in a press conference ahead of the 2022 F1 Mexican GP, saying:

"Lewis is always working hard, super motivated, and desperate to try to win. And I think, going from the competitive position that we’ve had in the preceding years, to a really difficult car at the start of the year, was a bit of a shock for him. And also a bit of an adjustment for us to get used to working… effectively racing in the mid-pack for a lot of the early part of the year, having to make a lot of compromises with the car to try to get the best out of it and then learning at the same time."

With only two races to go, the seven-time world champion will be trying his hardest to get his first win of the season - potentially upsetting Max Verstappen in the process. With the Dutchman riding a huge wave of confidence, however, Lewis Hamilton's much anticipated first win of 2022 remains in jeopardy.