"They have blood in their hands": Lewis Hamilton fans in disbelief as F1 failed to broadcast Peter Bonnington's 'hammer time' message

Lewis Hamilton's fans were left disappointed during the recent Canadian Grand Prix as Formula 1 failed to broadcast race engineer Peter Bonnington's iconic message, "Lewis, it's Hammer time!"

Hamilton had an impressive outing in Montreal, securing a well-deserved podium finish alongside Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, despite not driving the best car on the grid. This was the second time that this trio shared the podium this season.

However, it was not just Hamilton's drive at the Canadian GP that caught the attention of the fans online.

Enter Bonnington, the Mercedes race engineer. On the team radio moments before Hamilton's second pit stop, the race engineer, commonly known as Bono, exclaimed on the team radio, "Lewis, it's Hammer time!"

Over the years, Bono has become known for his enthusiastic radio messages to the seven-time world champion. "Lewis, it's Hammer time!" has become a catchphrase that signifies Hamilton's ability to unleash his full potential on the track. It had been a while since this phrase was last heard during a race, making it all the more anticipated by fans.

However, much to the disappointment of Lewis Hamilton's ardent supporters, F1 failed to broadcast this moment on Sunday, June 18. Turning up immediately on Twitter, some of the reactions were hilarious, while some expressed their genuine frustration.

This is how the internet has been reacting to the incident.

"They have blood on their hands," a fan tweeted.

"Why would they take this away from us. I think we need a public apology," user wrote.

I’ve noticed some very selective broadcasting of late …

There was no hammer in the toolbox though...

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The story of Lewis Hamilton and "It's hammer time"

It has been a long time since Lewis fans last heard the famous catchphrase during a race. They would have loved to experience the thrill at the 2023 F1 Canadian GP.

The catchphrase "It's hammer time" in itself has an interesting story behind its origin.

A reference to the iconic track "U Can Touch This" by MC Hammer from 1990, the call by race engineer Peter Bonnington has been a hallmark of the relationship between him and Hamilton.

Hamilton himself explained the story behind "It's hammer time" recently. The seven-time world champion revealed that it was he who coined the catchphrase.

In an interview with motorsport.com, the 38-year-old explained how he had grown frustrated with the times when Bonnington asked him over the team radio to "push". It was then that Hamilton came up with the idea of using the words "It's hammer time" whenever he needed to go 'all out'.

“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," Lewis Hamilton said.