"His management need to do more," he urged.Īt the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton dismissed as "rubbish" suggestions that he would benefit from having someone to talk to. Under the floodlights there was further contact with Massa, which earned another drive‑through, after which his father, back in the paddock managing Paul di Resta, questioned Fuller's role. Again frustration and clear dissatisfaction were the result when, before the British Grand Prix, with McLaren way off the pace, he complained volubly about the amount of sponsor-related work he was expected to do, and then in Canada where he arranged a private meeting with the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner.īy the time F1 reached Singapore, the 14th race of the year, he had won only twice, had not been on the podium since the fifth race of the season in Spain and was being strongly outperformed by his team-mate, Jenson Button. But Fuller's organisation played the more traditional behind-the-scenes role and besides the clashes, retirements and bad luck, he simply was not achieving the results on the track. Hamilton signed with Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment management company in March, a decision initially welcomed by Anthony.
I've been to see the stewards five times out of six this season," he said, as questions started to be asked about how well he was coping without his father. More importantly, it was also clear that he felt he was being singled out: "It's an absolute frickin' joke.
That's what Ali G says," he said in a flippant remark for which he later apologised. That he found himself regularly competing with Massa rather than at the front of the field must have been exasperating but when he was given two drive-throughs at Monaco his frustration was given voice. Despite the win in China that followed, he was in trouble again at Monaco, clashing with Felipe Massa for the first time in a season during which the pair seemed unable to avoid one another on track, coming together on six occasions. There would be four more in a year during which he would be investigated by the stewards 14 times. By the second meeting in Malaysia he had received his first drive-through penalty. This year could not have been more different.įrom the start, an off-the-pace McLaren did not augur well but speed was to prove the least of Hamilton's problems. He was in the fight for the championship at the final race in Abu Dhabi, where Sebastian Vettel claimed the win and the title. That season, the absence of a close professional and personal relationship seemed to have little ill-effect. It was my time to mess about and have a kid's life – to be normal."
He noted tellingly, after the split, that while growing up: "School felt like an escape. Perhaps it should not have been such a surprise that this hugely successful young man wished to be more in control of his destiny.
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