Fanbois and haterz, get your keyboards at the ready – the interweb is about to burst into a flame war. Autosport is today reporting that Marmite driver Lewis Hamilton will no longer be managed by his father. Expect hit-generating headlines aplenty, probably along the lines of ‘Lewis sacks his own father’.

As Hamilton tells it, he is ready for a change in management. Now that Anthony has competing business interests of his own, the two men felt it was time to restore their relationship to father-son.  “I think it was inevitable that there had to be change at some point. … I am my own man now, I've been in F1 for quite a while now and I wouldn't have been able to do it without my dad. He's done a fantastic job. But he's done that job."

In what reads as quite a poignant interview, the former world champion talks about the effect his racing career has had on the traditional father-son relationship. "The most important thing for me is that I have been with my dad working on my career since I was eight years old, and it was therefore hard to go and do father-and-son things. When we were at the race track he was always my manager, so we always did business things not father-and-son things.”

"What I am really, really excited about now is having my dad just as my dad,” Hamilton continued. ”I want to have a manager, who can take care of all the stresses and do all the other stuff, and then I want to do dad things with my dad. I want to go for a beer with my dad. I want to go bowling with my dad. I want to go on holiday with my dad.  And then I want to be able to say to him: 'How is GP Prep going?' And I want to be able to tell him about all the experiences I am having too ‒ but as a dad. I want to be able to have that, and build that relationship."

As a driver, Lewis is like Michael Schumacher. Both men seem to have an unnatural ability to split opinion firmly down the middle – people either love them or hate them, with no middle ground. One of the biggest complaints made by those in the hate-camp has long been Anthony Hamilton’s constant involvement in Lewis’ life, and his permanent presence in the McLaren garages. Given that Jenson Button’s father John is a pretty permanent pitlane presence, bets were being placed on the 2010 McLaren Dad Wars.

Now it looks like all bets might be off. Anthony Hamilton’s involvement in motorsport has increased in recent years, and he now manages a number of drivers across various race series, including Force India test driver Paul di Resta. Hamilton Sr. is also involved in GP Prep, and in football. It was today announced that Hamilton’s young driver academy (GP Prep) has been given FOM approval. “Mr Ecclestone and Formula One Management have given us their official seal of approval as the Academy for the development of Formula 1 drivers," Hamilton Sr. said in a press release.

So what does this mean for Formula 1 fans? Well, putting Hamilton Sr.’s new business interests to one side for the moment, as it’s pretty obvious how they’ll benefit fans in the long term, I think this is all about Lewis the boyracer becoming Lewis the man. As the Stevenage champion told Autosport, this new independence will see some changes in the season ahead: “Being able to make some of my own decisions, my own steps. Sometimes you have people who protect you, for all the right reasons, but then you don't get to experience certain things.”

Without his father as manager, Lewis will be looking after his own interests in partnership with McLaren until a new manager is lined up. The polished McLaren team – and the years remaining on Lewis’ contract – mean that there shouldn’t be much in the way of slip-ups during this transition period, but it will be interesting to see where Lewis chooses to go next.

Teammate Jenson Button’s manager was heavily criticised for his handling of the champion’s move from Brawn to McLaren, and former McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen’s manager was accused of pressing for too much money in the 2009 silly season. Lewis’ choice of manager could have far-reaching implications on his future image.

A key question is why the Hamiltons have made this decision now, rather than after Lewis’ 2008 championship win. Obviously Anthony now has more demands on his time, and his new opportunities have their basis in the managerial skill he showed in his handling of his son’s career. There was always going to be a point where Hamilton Sr. had to chose between developing his son’s career and developing his own. Now that Lewis has been both champion and loser, has been feted and lambasted by the media, and has come through it all a stronger character, the two men obviously felt it was time for each to take charge of his own life.

That’s the logical solution. But there’s always room for the illogical in this sport, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone spins this story as the Hamiltons being afraid of the Buttons in the battle of the garages. Because that makes so much sense in the context of the past links between the two families.  Kate Walker for Girlracer Magazine http://www.girlracer.co.uk 

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