Lewis Hamilton to be managed by Simon Fuller

2011 F1 season

14th March 2011, 11:5219th September 2011, 8:18 | Written by Keith Collantine

Lewis Hamilton’s career is to be managed by Simon Fuller.

Fuller is a a major figure in the entertainment industry. He created the internationally successful “Pop Idol” series and has promoted many big names in entertainment and sport.

His previous involvement in F1 came through his company 19 Entertainment (now largely owned by XIX Entertainment), which created the ‘Earth Car’ livery which used by Honda in 2007 and 2008.

Fuller has represented other British sporting stars including footballer David Beckham and tennis player Andy Murray.

Hamilton said: “It was important that I took my time to make this decision as it had to be right for my career and my long-term future.

“I spoke to many interested companies in recent months but I felt Simon Fuller, along with his team at XIX Entertainment, not only wanted to help me become an even better racing driver, but they also shared my ambitions for the longer term. I look forward to working with them closely.”

Fuller said: “I’d met Lewis and his father several times in the past and kept an eye on his career closely over the years. Like any British sports fan, I watched with pride and admiration at his achievements, incredibly winning the world championship at such a young age.

“He’s not only one of the leading sportsmen of his generation, but he will, I believe, become one of the best of all time. It’s an honour to be partnering with Lewis in what will be a very exciting stage of his career.”

Hamilton was previously managed by his father Anthony, but that arrangement came to an end at the beginning of 2010 and he has been without a manager since then. He said: This is great news for Lewis and for Simon.

“Lewis has wisely taken his time to find a good person to look after him. I met with Simon a couple of years back and he was then at the top of my list as my potential replacement. I’m happy to see that, two years on, Lewis has also come to his own opinion about Simon and made his own decision.”

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61 comments on “Lewis Hamilton to be managed by Simon Fuller”

TommyB (@tommyb89)
14th March 2011, 12:59

Lewis Hamilton aftershave coming to a store near you.
1. Hairs (@hairs)
  14th March 2011, 13:40
  
  I wonder who manages Nicole Scherzinger?
  
  Lewis is an entertaining driver all right. Whether an entertainment mogul will do well as his manager is another matter… Still, as it doesn’t affect racing, Mclaren, or cars, I couldn’t care less, it’s Lewis’s choice.
  
  Welcome to the Piranha Club, Simon!*
  
  *Hopefully the Piranhas will take a few bites to make up for the pain inflicted on the universe by Pop Idol and its descendants, however.
  1. DeadManWoking
    14th March 2011, 14:07
    
    Still, as it doesn’t affect racing, Mclaren, or cars, I couldn’t care less
    
    Hamilton’s contract with McLaren expires at the end of 2012. Interesting that Vettel’ who manages himself, just extended with Red Bull through 2014.
    1. TrueF1Grit (@truef1grit)
      14th March 2011, 20:26
      
      I don’t think this has that much relevance, who knows what each drivers wants for their own future. Maybe Vettel is more committed in the long term? Maybe Hamilton wants to keep his options open?
mattclinch (@mattclinch)
14th March 2011, 12:59

thanks keith. just spat my lunch over my keyboard.

what a joke.
1. Hare (@hare)
  14th March 2011, 22:25
  
  Joke? Or brand management decision.
  
  It’s not like he needs to find a drive next season. He wants to make the best of his brand. That’s what Simon Fuller does.
  
  I get your reaction, but it’s less about F1 and more about making money as a business.
Rodrct777
14th March 2011, 13:00

Good for him! His new manager will take care his business. He already has his father if he needs advise relate to F1.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
14th March 2011, 13:11

Tlaking about liveries, does anybody know how the liveries are painted on the car? I mean, is it painting or it’s a big kind of sticker? I remember liveries like Toyota or that “World Dream” by Honda kind of awesome. Or is it robot-made? Answer please, even if the question is so oobvious for some
1. BasCB (@bascb)
  14th March 2011, 13:33
  
  I think most teams spray it on in a paintshop.
  
  Although some of those launch liveries were obviously done partly by stickers (the Lotus different colours and look at the white area around the HRT, Pirelli and Cosmic Motors logos on the HRT car).
  
  I read interesting stories about how a different amount of layers are needed for different colours which has effect on the car weight!
  1. GeeMac (@geemac)
    14th March 2011, 14:02
    
    Sauber just seem to have put a bunch of stickers in a cannon and fired them at the C30…
    1. US_Peter (@us_peter)
      14th March 2011, 17:29
      
      :-) Lol.
  2. QuadQuantum
    14th March 2011, 18:38
    
    It was my understanding that they are vinyl sticks which can be freely removed and replaced. Renault had to remove most their sponsorship stuff in 09 after Crashgate, so I think it can be done quite quickly and easily.
    1. damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
      15th March 2011, 1:09
      
      There was an article in F1Racing magazine about how McLaren paint their cars. Apparently the paint weighs over a kilogram in total! If someone bought that Toyota and ran it without paint, they’d have had a kilogram to play with for innovations! Someone should try running a plain carbon-fibre car as an experiment for one season. It’s look cool too! :)
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
14th March 2011, 13:18

Whenever I hear of Simon Fuller for some reason I always think of Simon Cowell! And I just googled him now, turns out they look a bit alike… http://static.unrealitytv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/simon-fuller.jpg
1. ajokay (@)
  14th March 2011, 14:14
  
  There’s a brilliant episode of Channel 4’s ‘Star Stories’ which tells the story of Simon Fuller, Simon Cowell, and their quest to saturate TV and Music with Pop Idols. Well worth a watch, might be on 4OD somewhere.
2. Cacarella
  14th March 2011, 14:31
  
  He does look like Simon Cowell.
  And they both look a lot like James Allen!
  1. Andy C
    14th March 2011, 15:12
    
    Have they all been seen in the same room at any point ;-)
3. Poul
  14th March 2011, 18:17
  
  By googeling his name I got seven photos in the second line…. one of which was of Simon Cowell, haha!
Gusto
14th March 2011, 13:19

Lol. How long before Simon Cowell becomes Vettel`s manager and the `Battle of the Simon,s` begins again.
1. james_mc
  14th March 2011, 20:17
  
  Perhaps some kind of Next Future F1 Star/Idol/X-Factor program where we can vote for who gets a seat in the RBR8 for a year?
  
  Better keep it quiet, Bernie might like that idea!
  1. Gusto
    14th March 2011, 21:20
    
    Lol, or perhaps `Iam a F1 star get me in there`.
Ben N
14th March 2011, 13:24

A good job he has a new manager but I think he would’ve benefited more from someone with F1 experience – someone like Martin Brundle, Jackie Stewart etc… obviously not them exactly, but with similar experience of the goings on, if not background in management…
1. topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
  14th March 2011, 13:45
  
  Brundle managed Coulthard (and, I believe, Button) for many years actually…
  1. GeeMac (@geemac)
    14th March 2011, 14:04
    
    Yup. 2MB Sports Management to be precise.
    1. Andy C
      14th March 2011, 15:13
      
      Is that a JV between him and Blundell? I know Mark trades on a similar tag if not the same.
      
      They are good mates, so would make sense.
      1. Red Andy (@red-andy)
        14th March 2011, 17:38
        
        Yeah, they are partners in the business. Nowadays they manage people in other sports besides the wheeled kind as well.
Whocares
14th March 2011, 13:24

http://forums.autosport.com/lofiversion/index.php/t143552.html

Paint
BasCB (@bascb)
14th March 2011, 13:24

Would be interesting to hear Fuller give his views on the HRT livery, wouldn’t it?

As for “managing” Hamilton, I suppose this is mainly about getting some personal sponsorship deals to fit into the McLaren portfolio.

Funny idea about him actually helping Lewis “to improve as a driver”.
1. DC
  14th March 2011, 14:51
  
  Well, I suppose if he looks after Hamilton’s business interests it allows Hamilton to focus on his driving. That could conceivably “improve” him as a driver.
the Erv
14th March 2011, 13:42

The beginning of the end for Hamilton, up next a spot on the X Factor judging panel followed by a duet with Justin Bieber
topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
14th March 2011, 13:44

Does this mean Hamilton is “F1 Spice” now?

Cue an awful lot more “living the dream” and “We’ve been on a journey” codswallop.
verstappen
14th March 2011, 13:49

The Honda-earth-car… Now, there’s an endorsement!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
14th March 2011, 13:50

Thought I reconised the name…bit of an odd choise, but if everyones happy, fair enough.
Baracca
14th March 2011, 13:56

Brilliant, seems like more sponsorship and advertising deals will be coming through.

I keep getting offers from a certain bank and a certain mobile phone company. I wouldn’t touch anything remotely related to McL with a 10,000,000 feet pole, so I tell them: the offer seems interesting; just get back to me the moment you stop sponsoring anything McL-related forever.

Maybe I’ll have to say that a lot more often in the near future. And sponsors just might eventually take a hint
1. judo chop
  14th March 2011, 16:50
  
  People who’d turn down what they know to be a good offer because of a particular F1 association are a minority sane sponsor’s are not too concerned with missing.
  1. Julian
    15th March 2011, 1:17
    
    I dont know what Vodaphone are like outside of Australia, but down here they are male cow poo.
John H.
14th March 2011, 13:59

If he wanted someone in F1, he would’ve stick with his Dad. Lewis said many times he wants to stay at mclaren and if He want to switch teams, he can ask his Dad to help him as his dad. There’s nothing wrong for a driver like Lewis to want to grow as a brand! I wish him good luck!
1. NuWo
  14th March 2011, 15:53
  
  and if He want
  
  Wow, a god already…
2. John H
  14th March 2011, 21:04
  
  There be another John H?
  
  I should have had more imagination I guess.
IllinoisBob
14th March 2011, 14:25

Yes, but when it becomes all about building the Lewis Hamilton brand, it will become less about winning world championships. I wish Lewis well, and it pains me to watch him change from a race car driver to a brand.
1. Sam
  14th March 2011, 18:16
  
  One has to maximise his eqiuty when he has the chance. Though I dont think you need to worry about Lewis losing focus on his driving. The guy geniunely loves to race, if he decided to qiut F1, I guarantee he’d be racing in some other series.
  I hope he tries NASCAR. He’ll garner far less unfounded and stupefying critism in America.
  1. Hyoko
    15th March 2011, 1:18
    
    I hope he tríes NASCAR
    
    and loves it so much never gets back to F1
Robbie (@robbie)
14th March 2011, 14:45

I think all athletes these days try to be their own brand…they all have websites and merchandise and try to capitalize on their name and success away from their sport, not just within it. And they often do great charity work because of their name, ie. their brand, as well…

Interestingly, Mac is a team not interested in drivers for the personal sponsorship they bring…they want their drivers loyal to the main team sponsors…not that their drivers can’t have other stuff going on outside of F1, but the Mac way is that their drivers are corporate drivers.

So I’m sure LH is just seeking to maximize his exposure and income as a brand while his name has some weight, no different than any other pro athlete in any other sport…and he is a WDC after all…

The real question is…can he sing?
1. John H.
  14th March 2011, 15:34
  
  lol… he plays the guitar! and he can use auto-tune too :-)
NJB
14th March 2011, 14:52

This seems like a good match.

Speaks volumes..
Icthyes
14th March 2011, 15:55

I think what we have to remember is that in F1, managers are not like football managers. The teams already supply advisors, in fact I can think of none better for Lewis at the moment than his current team-mate. Managers are all about contracts and the like, in fact Mark Webber said he liked having Flavio as a manger because he didn’t have to do anything, which shows how little importance managers have in relation to the drivers’ performance.
1. Hyoko
  15th March 2011, 1:23
  
  I can think of none better … than his current team-mate
  
  I’d think JB’s top priority would be getting wins for himself, not for his team-mate.
  1. Kenny
    16th March 2011, 8:36
    
    Ichytes’ point, I think, is that Jenson has influenced Lewis in a very positive way, and he is right about that.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
14th March 2011, 17:39

Yes, but how many jobs does he have? :D
jonnyw360f1 (@jonnyw360f1)
14th March 2011, 17:49

Does this mean that Lewis will be reaching for the stars and climbing every mountain high?
The Limit
14th March 2011, 18:59

Does this mean Hamilton is now a Spice Girl? Who do ya want do you really really want? Not Fernando thats for sure!
schooner
14th March 2011, 20:53

He should have hired Vettel!
John H
14th March 2011, 21:00

How the hell can Simon Fuller, along with his team at XIX Entertainment help him “become an even better racing driver?”
Regis
14th March 2011, 22:50

That picture of Hamilton is hilarious !!
1. Wobblebottom
  15th March 2011, 1:07
  
  Totally agree, it’s a ‘I just farted and I’m just waiting for someone to smell it’ face! :-)
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
15th March 2011, 2:17

I really don’t understand why do F1 drivers need a personal manager? Vettel don’t have? Neither do I think Roseberg or Kubica? Do only star drivers have??
1. Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
  15th March 2011, 9:15
  
  Pretty much all drivers have a manager. Managers usually organise all their public appearances and media events and negotiate new contracts.
2. phildick (@phildick)
  15th March 2011, 15:59
  
  Actually Kubica does have a manager, Daniel Morelli.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
15th March 2011, 9:14

http://old.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=402004&FS=F1

Hamilton wants to go into film and music. Honestly, I’m a little surprised he hasn’t appeared in one of Nicole Sureidbangher’s videos yet.

Speaking of, I think it’s about time we started referring to her as the Pussycat Doll. The rest are just glorified backup dancers.
Stephen W
15th March 2011, 22:01

Maybe his business interests have taken over? Selling his name as a brand? Selling your soul to the highest bidder is more like it,he should have had a manager to find a manager. Hamilton talks about humility frankly he wouldn,t recognise it if it shoved in the face.
AG
16th March 2011, 6:32

He is simply using his fame to cash in on many endorsement deals as he can while he can. Bottom line, its about money.

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