Hamilton reveals what he will miss from his time at Mercedes
Following his emotional exit from Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has revealed what he will miss in the future when he embarks on a new chapter of his illustrious F1 career at Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton announced his shock departure from Mercedes on the 1st of February. The announcement caught the Formula One community by surprise, as the seven-time world champion was set to race for the Brackley-based outfit until the end of 2025.
However, an exit clause in his contract allowed Hamilton to leave the team in 2025 if he wished, and the Briton elected to terminate his contract at the end of the current season and seek for a new challenge at Ferrari next year.
Hamilton is statistically the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, tied with the great German seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher on the number of world championship titles.
After the chequered flag fell at Abu Dhabi, the seven-time has revealed that he will miss the iconic “Hammer Time” radio call, and he suggested that he does not want to hear it from someone else at Ferrari.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have Hammer Time ever again. I’ll have to get Bono to give me a call or something… I can’t let anybody else say Hammer Time to me.”
The phrase, coined by Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington, became synonymous with the 105-time F1 race winner, used by ‘Bono’ as a call for maximum attack during race situations.
Having heard the 'Hammer time' call for the last time at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton has revealed its origin, which dates back to his first year with Mercedes in 2013.
The seven-time world champion explained: “It was really cool to have Bono say that, because I haven’t heard him say it for a while.”
“So, I remember telling him back in 2013, he’d be like, ‘Time to push this.’ I was just like, next time, tell me it’s ‘Hammer Time.’ And then he’s just never stopped," Hamilton said.
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