How and when did ‘Bono, my tyres are gone’ originate?

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Here’s everything you need to know about Lewis Hamilton’s infamous F1 message – ‘Bono, my tyres are gone’

If you are an avid F1 watcher, you must have heard this phrase – ‘Bfono, my tyres are gone’. Do you wonder how and when did this phrase originate? Well, it dates back to 2020 and in just a short span of time, it has become one of the most iconic phrases in Formula One.

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Bono, my tyres are gone

This phrase was first used by Sir Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 British Grand Prix in Silverstone. During the race, Hamilton was struggling severely with his tyres and that’s when he sent this infamous message over radio to his race engineer. “Bono my tires are gone. Think something happened to my left tire also”, Hamilton told Bono, his race engineer. He left the call as late as possible to evade his opponents and had he made the call earlier, Verstappen wouldn’t have pitted before the last lap. Hamilton did emerge victorious in the race despite struggling with his equipment, owing to this timely, witty call.

‘Bono, my tyres are gone’ has become a meme template on the Internet

Hamilton’s infamous radio message has transformed into a meme template for users on social. Some companies selling merchandise with this phrase inscribed on it have recorded great sales in the online market. It is also important to mention that the subject of this phrase is Peter Bonnington, affectionately referred to by Hamilton as ‘Bono’.

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Lewis Hamilton and Peter Bonnington

Bonnington has been Hamilton’s race engineer at Mercedes since 2012. He has previously worked as Michael Schumacher‘s performance engineer and then as race engineer for one season. After Schumacher retired, Bonnington was assigned as the senior race engineer for Lewis Hamilton. They share a great camaraderie and ‘Bono’ has played a pivotal role in helping Hamilton win multiple F1 championships.

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