In a sincere moment that brought tears to the most hardered hearts of motorsport, Angela Cullen, the woman who was like a pillar behind the most legendary modern pilot of Formula 1, revealed a piece of personal history she never expected to hear – and never knew they needed.
It was a letter. A manuscript. None other than Lewis Hamilton himself.
Cullen, who for years remained the silent force walking alongside Hamilton through tracks, victory parades and finishes in disgust, finally raised the curtain at the beginning of her now iconic partnership-a moment she calls “the turning point of all my life.”
At that time, Angela Cullen was thriving in her own track. She was not part of the circus the drooping jet of adrenaline, which is Formula 1. Instead, she was working with the GB-SIM Olympic Triathlo team, England’s own elite by giving athletes to sculpting podium materials with their unparalleled experience in physiology and performance performance. “I loved this work,” she admitted in a recent interview, “and wasn’t looking to leave.”
But then it camepaper.
“It was not flashy,” says Cullen with a soft smile. “It was a page. Simple role. But every word in it? It seemed a call.”
According to Cullen, Hamilton had heard of her through mutual connections in the athletic world. But instead of letting a manager or a third arrival, he sat down and wrote his thoughts in the old way. It was a mixture of vulnerability and vision – Lewis was not just looking for a physical therapist. He was looking for someone who could beleaf. Not just for the exercises, but for the weight of Lewis Hamilton.
“He wrote that he needed more than support – he needed confidence,” she recalls. “He needed someone who believed him not only when he won, but when he hesitated. And he said he had the feeling that I was that person.”
Angela Cullen read this letter once. Then again. Then three more times.
Two days later, she renounced her role in the Olympic Triathlon team.
“There was something in that letter that made it impossible to ignore,” she says. “It was not an job offer. It was more like an invitation to walk alongside someone on a path that had not yet been built.”
The rest? Well, it’s the story of Formula 1.
On the first run of racing together, fans could feel that something was different. Cullen was not just another team member in the Mercedes garage. She was always one step behind Hamilton-Segling her bottle of water, whispering a quick word of focus before getting into the car, running next to him in warmths likethatChampionship in play.
Their bond became the material of the legend. And yet, for years, no one really knew the depth of it.
Cullen now, this letter now reveals, is still safely hidden in its private diary. “I read every year,” she says. “Usually before the start of the season. It reminds me why we did it all.”
In the following decade, Hamilton would win seven world titles, break records that remained for decades, and become a cultural icon far beyond racing. And Cullen? She was there forallHis – the ups, the low, the podiums soaked in champagne and the quiet moments behind the scenes when a round of bad qualification threatened to break his spirit.
Over the years, there have been rumors – about whether their relationship has gone beyond professional limits. Cullen always laughed them. “What we have,” she said once, “It’s not romantic. It’s something rarer. It’s a confidence on a level that few people experience.”
In fact, Cullen was not just Hamilton’s physiotherapist. She became her confidant, her emotional shield and, in many ways, her secret weapon.
So when fans were shocked by their silent departure from F1 Paddock in 2023, many wondered if there was a fight. Cullen’s latest revelation proves otherwise.
“We talked,” she says. “He said to me, ‘You gave me everything I didn’t know I needed.’ And I told him, ‘You made me believe more than just sports sciences. You made me believe in purpose.’
The two remain close friends. In fact, sources say they still send messages after each race. Cullen, now semi-compared, occasionally consults for elite athletes, but nothing-and no one-way attracted her the way Lewis did with this letter.
In a world where partnerships usually collapse when cameras stop rolling, it – between a race legend and the woman who helped shape her legacy – remains one of the few forged in sincerity and sealed by shared dreams.
And it all started with a single piece of paper.