Angela Cullen continues to support Lewis Hamilton from afar and sent the Mercedes racer a message of encouragement ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Cullen worked with Hamilton for seven years as his physiotherapist, but offered much more than that. She was also one of his closest confidants in the paddock right up until it was announced last month that they would no longer be working together.
But clearly the seven-time world champion is still central in Cullen's thoughts on a race weekend. Even though she is not there in person to offer encouragement, social media means she is able to do so from afar.
And Hamilton was sent a public message by his former ally on Instagram ahead of today's race in Baku. "The present moment, find your stillness – that's where you create magic," wrote Cullen on her story.
Hamilton announced in March, on the eve of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, that he and Cullen were no longer working together. "For the last seven years, Angela Cullen has been by my side, pushing me to be the best version of myself," he wrote in an emotional social media post.
"I am a stronger athlete and a better person because of her. So today I hope you'll join me in wishing her the very best as she takes her next steps to pursue her dreams. Thank you for everything Ang, I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you."
Explaining the split, he later told reporters: "Angela and I are good. She's in a different phase of her life, we're still super close. We keep texting every day, massively supportive and I'm massively supportive of her, so grateful to have had her with me on this journey. She's one of my closest friends and continues to be."
He had previously gone into detail about the importance of Cullen's support in his career. "People for sure won't understand it, naturally, because they see it from a distance, but she has been one of the greatest things that's happened to me in my life," Hamilton said.
"I've been fortunate to work with a lot of people... and she's the single hardest-working woman that I get to be around. She's focused, selfless, and she makes my weekends peaceful. Every day I wake up, whatever time it is, she's just positive – never a single day has she been negative, so that's very, very important.
"I think it's important in life to put positive people around you. You can't be going around with dead weights, you can't be going around with people who don't inspire you to be better and lift you up when you're down. You need to be around people who can do that for you, and she's one of them."
