Angela Cullen: The trainer who never leaves Lewis Hamilton's side

Since they started working together at start of the 2016 F1 season, Hamilton and Cullen have been inseparable. 

The 47-year-old New Zealander is the seven-time world champion’s physio and performance coach and is always seen by Hamilton’s side during grand prix weekends. 

Cullen, who is a mum of two, and Hamilton even share matching ‘Loyalty’ tattoos on their wrists. 

Alongside senior race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, Cullen is considered as one of the most important people in Hamilton’s inner circle. 

Hamilton has hailed Cullen as “one of the greatest things that’s happened” to him. 

"People for sure won't understand it because they see it from a distance," said Hamilton. 

"But she has been one of the greatest things that's happened to me in my life.

"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 deadweights, 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."

Hamilton reportedly pays his confidante more than $100,000. 

As well as supporting Hamilton at grands prix, the pair also spend time together away from F1 race track. They have been spotted partying, skydiving, surfing and training together. 

"Angela and I are naturally incredibly close,” Hamilton said. “We pretty much live together.”

He added: “When you come into Formula 1, there’s this whole idea of physios, but a lot of them, or some of them, are just trainers. 

“They still take on the title of ‘physio’ – but a physio is a physiotherapist, and for years, I’d always had a male trainer, but I noticed that I was always having different problems. I’d have, like, muscle tightness in my neck, or I’d have problems with my lower back, or glute, whatever it might be, and my trainer could never fix it.

“So you’d have to just deal with it through the weekend and I was like, ‘This doesn’t make sense. I don’t need to train on the weekends.’ So I was like, ‘I need to find a physio.’ 

“Angela had done a bit of work on me back home, so I spoke to her and asked her, ‘Would you like to come on the road with me?’ and little did I know that we would have the greatest partnership.”