Who is Angela Cullen and what's her role next to Lewis Hamilton now?

She isn’t the driver’s sister or just an assistant—this New Zealander, born in 1974, is Hamilton’s physiotherapist, athletic coach, and an indispensable presence in his life.

Cullen has been by Hamilton’s side for almost a decade, since 2016, when he was racing for Mercedes, and now, after taking two years of stop in 2023, she followed him in his new experience in Ferrari. Her responsibilities go far beyond physical support: she oversees training, fitness, nutrition, and rehabilitation, while also acting as a multi-tasking personal assistant.

Before her F1 career, Angela Cullen was an accomplished athlete. She played field hockey at a high level, joining the New Zealand national team between the ages of 15 and 21, and also competed in swimming, basketball, cricket, and volleyball.

After completing her studies in Health Sciences with a specialization in Physiotherapy, she moved to the UK in 2000 to work at the English Institute of Sport in London, supporting elite athletes, including Olympic gold-winning 4x100m relay sprinters.

Cullen later worked as a consultant for New Zealand’s SPARC and joined Hintsa Performance, a coaching company founded by Aki Hintsa, the late physician and former assistant of Hamilton. After Hintsa’s passing, Angela took over, beginning the journey that would make her an essential figure in Hamilton’s life.

Angela Cullen’s love of sports goes far beyond Formula 1. In 2006, she completed a remarkable cycling journey, averaging 250 km per day from South America to Central America, traveling from Tierra del Fuego in Argentina all the way to Colombia—roughly the distance Hamilton covers in a year driving a Formula 1 car.

In 2022, after the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Angela even completed a daring river jump, keeping a promise she made to Hamilton: if he finished on the podium, she would take the plunge. Lewis finished third behind Sainz and Verstappen, and she delivered.