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Lewis Hamilton’s former right-hand woman Angela Cullen is a part of Hintsa Performance, and Lewis explains the impact the company and its founder had on him.
Lewis Hamilton’s former physiotherapist, assistant and overall right-hand woman is a performance coach at the Hintsa Performance coaching company.
She joined the company in 2014, after learning about its founder Dr Aki Hintsa, and his ‘model of wellbeing and philosophy’.
Finland’s Dr. Aki Hintsa, originally a specialist in orthopaedic and trauma surgery, has been involved in Formula 1 since Mika Häkkinen invited him to assist him and his family in his quest to win the 1998 World Drivers’ Championship.
After Häkkinen won the title in 1998 and 1999, Hintsa found Formula 1 to be “the most fascinating laboratory” for his philosophy of wellbeing and high-performance.
Later Dr. Hintsa became one of Lewis Hamilton’s mentors in his early years at McLaren. After Hintsa passed away in 2016, Angela Cullen joined Hamilton’s team and the rest is history.
Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis talked about Hintsa’s influence on his career and life.
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“Well when I started in Formula One, Hintsa was my dear friend who passed away from cancer,” Hamilton said.
“But he had a huge influence on me even getting into a team and then he started up this company servicing athletes.
“Pretty much all the drivers use Hintsa with medical and trainer application and physio and stuff like that. It’s an incredibly challenging role for anyone in those positions.
“It’s a lot of travelling, it’s a lot of time away from family. You grow incredibly close together.
“If you’re at dinner or during your weekends while you’re travelling it’s usually you and your patients or physio.
“It’s incredibly intimate in that sense and you become great friends,” the Briton concluded.
