Martin Brundle has expressed concerns regarding Lewis Hamilton’s demeanour following his announcement that he has parted ways with his long-time performance coach, Angela Cullen.
During the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Hamilton finished in fifth place with Red Bull leading the way. Despite Hamilton only being able to secure seventh on the grid during qualifying, his teammate George Russell was able to claim a spot on the second row.
Unfortunately, Mercedes was unable to compete for victory in Jeddah. Hamilton finished in fifth place, with Russell finishing one spot ahead in fourth.
The Sky Sports presenter pointed out that Hamilton appeared to be downbeat throughout the weekend, and Russell outperformed him for the second time this season.
“George Russell did a fine job for Mercedes all weekend and out-qualified Lewis for the second time this season,” he wrote for Sky Sports.
Angela Cullen has been an essential part of Hamilton’s team since 2016, and Brundle has referred to her as ‘indispensable’.
“Lewis has parted company with his apparently (to me anyway) indispensable physio and confidante Angela Cullen, and also said he can’t connect with this car.
Despite having the opportunity to switch to faster medium compound tires during the race, he was unable to take advantage of this, finishing behind those on harder tires.
It was Hamilton’s first race weekend in Saudi Arabia since announcing his split with Cullen, who had been by his side for four of his seven world championships.
Brundle believes that Cullen’s departure may have affected Hamilton’s performance over the weekend.
“His chin was down for much of the weekend and he wasn’t ultimately able to benefit from good timing with the Safety Car and switching to faster medium compound tyres when all around him were on hard tyres to the finish.
