Not a parent or a technical expert, the person who helped Lewis Hamilton dominate the F1 race all this time is a woman who rarely appears on screen. She is Angela Cullen, a coach specializing in the performance and spirit of the British racer. They have become a good pair over the years.

Superwoman

In 2016, Hamilton and Cullen began working together at the Mercedes racing team. That was the time when Hamilton had just lost the F1 championship to his teammate Nico Rosberg, and the German driver surprised everyone by announcing his retirement at the age of 31. But his companion and biggest rival suddenly Disappearance is just the tip of the crisis iceberg.

During that year, Hamilton manager Marc Hynes resigned. He also had to witness his longtime therapist, Aki Hintsa, suddenly pass away. In the midst of that chaos, Angela Cullen arrived as a savior of Hamilton’s life. They were so close to each other that Hamilton seemed to spend more time with Cullen than with his previous girlfriends.

Cullen understands better than anyone the suffering of a top athlete because she was once in that position. In her youth, she was a member of the New Zealand hockey team. The hustle and bustle of life forced her to soon leave this sport at the age of 21 to switch to majoring in therapy and medical science. No one expected that this would be the job that would help Cullen go far in his career.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Cullen was a senior therapist for the UK athletics and triathlon team. She is likened to the woman who carried the hand of King Midas when she helped the British team unexpectedly win the gold medal in the women’s 4×100 relay Olympics. This event was previously only a competition between American and Jamaican athletes.

If you want to give advice to someone, you have to become one of them and experience what they have faced. That principle of work has been kept by Cullen for many years. In middle age, married and with two children, she still possesses health that few people can match. At a bicycle race in 2006, she cycled 240 kilometers per day. Therefore, the fact that Cullen and Hamilton work together is the British driver’s luck.

Ms. Angela Cullen, coach in charge of the performance and spirit of racer Lewis Hamilton

“Loyalty” engraved on the hand

As someone who has been active in the sports industry for 3 decades, it is not difficult to understand that Cullen possesses an extremely strong personality. As if to affirm their inseparable bond both on and off the track, she and Hamilton tattooed the word “loyalty” on each of their wrists.

“Angela and I have a particularly close, yet very natural relationship. We spend a lot of time together,” Hamilton shared. “People probably won’t understand how close we are, but she is definitely one of the most wonderful people to ever appear in my life.”

At the age of 38, Hamilton has dated many famous women and long legs, but in the end maintained his closest relationship with a colleague at work. Commenting on Cullen, Hamilton said she is a person who is always focused when working and knows how to think about others. Most importantly, she helps him maintain a positive way of thinking day by day. She helped Hamilton feel more confident to win the championship from Verstappen.

As for Cullen, the only downside to her wonderful working relationship with Hamilton was that she had to live away from her family. At the age of 50, Cullen often has to talk to her husband and children through a phone screen rather than being able to meet in person. That is the price of being an expert sought after by all top athletes. They all want her to take care of every meal and sleep.

“I have a lot of luck with this job. Each person has their own choice for their life, and this is the way I live,” Cullen expressed. Instead of sitting in the house and looking at computer and phone screens all day, she wants to explore the big world out there. From running to climbing to cycling, Cullen experiences it all to absorb the world into his eyes.