Lewis Hamilton, a man who now stands alone on and off the track, has explained the reasons for his split with the management company XIX Entertainment, whose clients include David Beckham and Andy Murray.
Speaking after his 10th win of the season in the United States Grand Prix, his fifth victory in a row which extended his world championship lead to 24 points, he said: “We’ve had four years together, and through this year I’ve thought about what I’m going to do with my future.
“I saw some comment about how I wanted Simon [Fuller, the boss of XIX Entertainment] for the high-life and fame, and it’s complete rubbish. I wanted to have a good solid team around me do something different. Simon’s a fantastic guy, a dear friend. That will always be the case.
“A lot of drivers come back as commentators, but I personally have different plans and aspirations. So it’s about positioning myself so that when I stop I have something to continue on with. There’s going to be an undeniable urge to get back in the car, because I’ve been racing since I was eight years old. That’s going to be natural. I remember Mika [Hakkinen] coming back – it’s like a drug.
“At some stage, when I retire, I’ll have something that I’m also really interested in that is a substitute for racing. So that’s something I want to start working towards now. I’m not taking on a management team or anything like that.
“My management team was great at giving me support. It wasn’t particularly guiding me – ultimately I made my own decisions. I hired them to help me make the opportunities visible. There’s not really much to say at the moment because I’m thinking about the championship.”
Hamilton will continue to work with a few key individuals who are at XIX Entertainment but his contract with the company has already expired.
One of his first tasks will be to negotiate a new contract with Mercedes. He is already tied to the team for the 2015 season and will start fresh negotiations at the end of the year. His team-mate and championship rival, Nico Rosberg, has already signed a deal which will keep him with the Silver Arrows until the end of the 2017 season.
Hamilton said: “I’m quite comfortable doing it myself. Nico did his himself, Sebastian [Vettel] did his himself, and there’s no reason I couldn’t do it myself. Whether or not I will, I haven’t decided myself. I hope to see a long future with this team. Nothing needs to be changed too much.”
Hamilton will not be getting back together with his father, Anthony, who guided him towards his first and only world championship in 2008. When asked whether there would be a reunion he said: “Nope. Me and my Dad have a great relationship, he’s aware of where I am, and proud of where I am.”
Hamilton’s win on Sunday, his 32nd, saw him become the most successful British driver as he passed Nigel Mansell’s record.
“I hadn’t been thinking about it all before the race,” he said. “Even when I crossed the line, I was just so excited. But then my engineer said something about it, and I thought, wow. To be with Nigel, with those greats, I do feel very proud at what I have achieved.
“Who would ever have thought it of us Hamiltons turning up at the track the first year in karting, the only black family there, it was almost like everyone thought ‘what are they doing here’? It was so funny. We had the crappiest little box trailer. I feel very proud.”
Referring to Mansell, he said: “Nigel has been very supportive this year. It’s good to have support. I see a lot of negative stories and negative things said from legendary ex-drivers and I always think to myself, ‘why would you not want to be supporting me? We’re from the same place’.
“So it’s great to have that support from Nigel, who has achieved a huge amount, who has said I was there, I did it, owned the T-shirt.
“One day, when I’m gone and I come back to watch, I want to be supportive. I want to be seeing the next Brit come through and to be encouraging rather than kicking them in the guts. I want to be inspiring young drivers rather than talking crap.”
