The championship battle between Hamilton, 36, and Max Verstappen came down to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, where the Brit hoped to stand alone as the most successful Formula 1 driver in history.

The two drivers were tied on points coming into the last race for a season ending for the ages, with whoever finished in front taking the crown.

But it was not to be for Hamilton. In a dramatic race, Verstappen overtook him on the final lap to win the race and take a seven-point lead in the championship.

Lewis Hamilton shares a close bond with trainer/performance coach Angela Cullen (left), pictured at the US F1 Grand Prix in October

Hamilton hailed Cullen as a ‘very special human being’ in October as he made a huge comeback with three wins in a row to keep his season alive.

‘Angela and I are naturally incredibly close,’ Hamilton said. ‘We pretty much live together.’

He previously described Cullen as ‘one of the greatest things that’s happened’ to him and called the Kiwi woman one of the hardest working people in the world.

‘People for sure won’t understand it, naturally, because they see it from a distance, but she has been one of the greatest things that’s happened to me in my life,’ Hamilton said in more praise last year.

‘I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of people… and she’s the single hardest-working woman that I get to be around.

‘She’s focused, selfless, and she makes my weekends peaceful. Every day I wake up, whatever time it is, she’s just positive – never a single day has she been negative, so that’s very, very important.’

Kiwi mum of two Angela Cullen is a close confidante of F1 racing champion Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hmilton (right) recently hailed performance coach Angela Cullen as ‘very special human being’.

Cullen was born and raised in Auckland, where she represented New Zealand in hockey between the ages of 15 and 21.

After graduating with a health science degree majoring in physiotherapy, Cullen moved to the UK and worked with track athletes sprinters, cyclists, and triathletes on the British Olympic team and at the English Institute of Sport.

It was then colleague Pete McKnight who suggested the idea of working with Hamilton.

‘At the time, Angela was mainly working with corporate clients, but when the opportunity to work with Lewis came up we thought, ‘Why not give this a go?” McKnight told Telegraph Sport.

‘It has worked out perfectly.

‘There’s also just something quirky about it: a woman in her forties, with a family at home, two young kids, and then there’s this mid-thirties racing driver. It might seem a really weird match, but it just works.’

Cullen lives in Switzerland with her cycling coach husband and children as she continues to work for one of the best F1 drivers in the world.

Angela Cullen embraces Lewis Hamilton moments after winning his fifth F1 world championship title in 2018

Lewis Hamilton celebrates with trainer Angela Cullen after qualifying in pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix earlier in December

Cullen regularly shares a glimpse of her life travelling around the world with Hamilton on the F1 circuit on her Instagram.

‘I am so blessed in my job for many things but one of the most significant in terms of well-being is being on the move the entire day,’ she recently posted.

‘On any given race weekend day I can do up to 18,000 steps, this is such a blessing… and I don’t sit down at all.

This is a choice… staying upright, moving keeps my body fit and mobile, in a world where computers and devices are making us more sedentary, to be able to move constantly throughout the day is such a blessing.’

Cullen described her job as ‘amazing’, relishing the challenge of assisting her driver to be the best he could be every race weekend.

‘I see my role as removing the noise of the race weekend to ensure things run as smoothly as possible, managing schedules, and timings of travel, nutrition, focusing on energy management to ensure the driver arrives on Sunday with the best possible perpetration to give the optimal performance,’ she said.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is underway with Verstappen starting in pole position.

Angela Cullen (pictured) has been Lewis Hamilton’s  performance coach, inseparable trackside companion and close confidante since 2016