F1 star ‘wants change’
Lewis Hamilton continues without close confidants
03/18/2023, 10:08 am
Angela Cullen accompanies record world champion Lewis Hamilton through the great Formula 1 career of the Brit for seven years. But now the common path is over: The New Zealander leaves the team around Hamilton. The statements of the team boss allow the interpretation: The separation is not entirely voluntary.
Formula 1 record world champion Lewis Hamilton no longer works with one of his most important confidants. On Friday, his trainer and physiotherapist Angela Cullen said via Instagram: “I am delighted to announce today that I am embarking on the next adventure.” According to her and Hamilton’s statements, the farewell came exactly seven years to the day after her first day at work in a Formula 1 paddock.
She drove him to his best version, Hamilton also wrote in a photo showing the 38-year-old seven-time world champion from Mercedes with her. “Thanks to her, I’m a stronger athlete and a better person.” She is now taking the next step towards fulfilling her dreams, Hamilton wrote about Cullen, who also did not reveal what exactly she wants to do now. “I know my story will go on,” wrote the 48-year-old New Zealander.
“Lewis wants change”
“She was a part of this team for a long time,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Friday at a Fia press conference of several team bosses and also referred to Cullen as the “mascot” of the team. But it’s not a static situation, “we all develop as people, as an organization. And when things don’t work anymore, you have to be honest and change something.”
However, it has not been clarified exactly what the reasons led to the separation at what is certainly a remarkable point in time after just one race this season. Wolff said on Sky on Friday evening, “We have already observed that Lewis wants a change.” The success-spoiled Hamilton, who lost the world title to Max Verstappen in the last few meters of the season in 2021 and experienced a very bitter season in 2022, had a disappointing start this year in fifth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix.