22 July 2023 , 18:07
929
0
A delighted Angela Cullen sent a message of support to Lewis Hamilton after he got the better of his Formula 1 rival Max Verstappen in Budapest on Saturday.
The Red Bull racer was favourite to secure his sixth-straight pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. But he was usurped by Hamilton, who put in a huge final flying lap to snatch the front grid slot away from the championship leader.
Sunday will make the first time Hamilton has started a race on pole since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. By his side that day was Cullen, who spend seven years as the Brit's physiotherapist, confidant and rock in the F1 paddock.
She is not longer in that role at Mercedes following their split earlier this year. But it is clear she continues to cheer on the 38-year-old from afar.
Cullen provided evidence of that as she took to social media after Hamilton's qualifying success on Saturday to congratulate her former colleague. "Boom, mega job!" she wrote alongside an image of the seven-time world champion sitting on the pole position block.
Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"
Hamilton was visibly emotional as he reacted to the result. Despite it being his 104th career pole position in F1, he said it felt like his first, given how long it has been since he was last able to celebrate such a result amid Mercedes' performance woes.
"I've lost my voice from shouting so much in the car. It's amazing, the feeling," declared a delighted Hamilton. "I feel so grateful to be up here because the team have worked so hard. We've been pushing so hard over this time to finally get a pole.
"And a big thanks to the crowd, we always have an amazing crowd here in Budapest. Wow. I really didn't expect, coming into today, that we would be fighting for pole. So when it went into that last run I gave it absolutely everything. There was nothing left in it.
"It's been massively challenging for every single person in the team and there have been ups and downs. It's a big rollercoaster ride, but none of us have lost faith. We've all pulled together, united, to focus on trying to steer the car in the right direction.
"Today, we were losing time in turns four and 11 compared to the others, so I just sent it and hoped I stayed on track. It's been tough, and it's going to continue to be tough from here, but this shows that we're on the right track and that we can keep pushing."