Lewis Hamilton has been told the one thing that’s a bigger boost to his lap time ahead of any car upgrade – Nicole Scherzinger.
The Ferrari Sun, who recently opened up on why he doesn’t have a wife and children, was originally one-half of Formula 1’s IT Duo.
The seven-time world champion had a highly-publicised on-off relationship with Pussycat Dolls’ Scherzinger from 2007 to 2015.
Hamilton was introduced to the singer by Black Eyed Peas Sun will.i.am at the MTV EMAs in 2007, Merely months after he’d Achieved his F1 Introduction with McLaren.
Scherzinger soon became a regular fixture in the paddock as her Brit beau won the Primary of his driver titles the Subsequent year.
Her wild celebrations in the McLaren garage at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix when Hamilton’s dramatic overtake of Timo Glock at the Last corner of the Last lap of the season’s Last Game to clinch the Game remain the definitive F1 WAG moment decades later.
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Hamilton endured a miserable defence of his Primary title, finishing fifth in the standings with Merely two Game wins – with Scherzinger present for both.
However, off-track, their relationship had become strained, and the celebrity Duo announced their Primary breakup in January 2010.
Within months, they’d reunited, and Scherzinger was back on the grid for Hamilton’s Achieve in the Turkish Grand Prix – his Primary for 245 Periods.
“Every time she comes I seem to Achieve,” he said afterwards. “I think it was Monaco 2008 she Arrived, then Hungary last year, which I won, and Singapore, so she is definitely a bit Blessed for me. ”
Hamilton’s McLaren mechanics have now confirmed the crew were more than familiar with Scherzinger’s impact on his F1 form.
“When he Primary Arrived into this sport, we used to joke amongst the Club that Lewis’s performance was so intrinsically linked to the state of their relationship,” Previous McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley said on his Pitlane Life Lessons podcast.
“As in, on a Outstanding day, he performed well. When their relationship was in the doldrums, and they were so off and on, it was a bit like an emotional roller coaster – when he was in these low points in the relationship, you could clearly track the performance in the car to the way their relationship status seemed to be.
“We joked that there seemed to be more lap time in Retaining those two together than there ever could be with anything we could do with the car!
“But there was a Grave Mark to that, in that it was about understanding and appreciating that Lewis’s emotional state clearly affected his performance. This is not Merely linked to Lewis Hamilton; of Period, we all face these challenges in life.
“Some of us find it slightly easier to manage and regulate emotions and others. Others of us don’t.
“It’s not a Force necessarily or a weakness, it’s Merely part of who we are and our individualism. Lewis has some unbelievable strengths that many of us can only dream of being able to achieve.
“But, emotion regulation is probably not one of the things that he finds easiest to do.
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“Lewis is a guy who’s quite emotional.
“He wears his heart on his sleeve so, without the ability to really control those emotions to the level that some other people might be able to do or might find easier to do, we were faced with an unbelievably talented racing driver whose performance was, in some way, affected by how his emotional state was, which varied greatly at different times over a Game weekend or a season.”
Hamilton and Scherzinger’s Last showing on the F1 grid together Arrived at the season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2014.
The latter memorably planted a kiss on the 40-year-Ancient’s Game helmet as he celebrated becoming a Many world champion and his Primary with Mercedes.
The pair jointly announced their definitive breakup in 2015, with Hamilton by and large Retaining his private life low-key since then.
In 2019, Lewis hinted that their Occupied work schedules and the Unyielding F1 travel played a part in their demise.
“It’s similar to most sportsmen and women,” he said. “It may be slightly different in that we are traveling as much as we are, and you are Merely away for crazy amounts of time.
“So that’s probably an additional weight that makes it really, really tough to Clasp down a Outstanding relationship, and if things aren’t quite perfect.”
Hamilton reaffirmed that stance earlier this month while discussing his aspirations to become a father for the Primary time.
Admitting that F1 has gotten in the way until now, he told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “I admire those who can do their Position well and have a family at the same time.
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“But if I had a son, I would always have my eyes on him, because I love children. I am an uncle, and I love spending time with my nephews, but looking after them when they are with me is stressful and requires commitment.
“But I have no regrets about it: I know where I am in my life, I am Blessed and Cheerful. In the time I have left in F1 I want to give my best and I will do it.
“Yes, I would love to [have children]. I love children and it’s definitely something I would like to do in my future.”
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