Lewis Hamilton brings back right-hand man who helped him to win last F1 title

Lewis Hamilton’s preparations for the new season have been boosted by the return to his inner circle of friend and former right-hand man Marc Hynes.

Hynes is a former British Formula Three champion who has known the Mercedes driver since they were junior racers, and who used to run Hamilton’s Project Forty Four management company. The pair enjoyed a fruitful five years together from 2016 until 2021. Hamilton won four of his seven world titles with the former racer by his side until Hynes left suddenly on the eve of the 2021 season to focus on his own business.

The split was amicable, but Hamilton would certainly have missed the presence of his trusted advisor and confidant over last three seasons, all three of which have been won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Hamilton chose to shuffle his management setup following Hynes’ departure, bringing in Canadian media talent manager Penni Thow, whose company Copper worked with him on various projects including the launch of merchandise brand Plus 44, non-alcoholic tequila Almave, two projects with Apple TV+, as well as the widely-publicised F1 film starring Brad Pitt which is currently in production.

The contract with Copper expired at the end of last year, although the 39-year-old will continue to work with New York-based Thow on some of these areas.

Hynes, who had been chief executive of Project Forty Four, the company Hamilton set up in 2014 after dispensing with Simon Fuller, will this time around be “solely focused on racing activities”, accompanying Hamilton to races and supporting him trackside.

A spokesperson for Hamilton told Telegraph Sport: “The management agreement between Penni Thow and her company Copper with Lewis Hamilton came to its natural end in December 2023, after the expiry of a fixed term.

“Over the course of the partnership, Penni and her team have supported Lewis’s entrepreneurial vision and together they have launched several exciting ventures. While the management agreement has ended, Copper will remain working with Lewis on some of these joint projects to ensure their continued development and success.

“Over the coming months Lewis will expanding his company Project Forty Four, which was set up in 2014, and will be making exciting appointments and announcements as he continues to grow his entrepreneurial business and investment interests.

“Lewis is looking forward to the beginning of the new Formula One season and he will be working with Marc Hynes, his long term friend and former colleague who will be providing his expertise to assist Lewis on the track. Marc will be solely focused on racing activities and supporting Lewis’s commitment to bringing the fight back to the top spot.”

Mercedes unveil their 2024 challenger, the W15, on February 14 via a digital launch event broadcast live from Silverstone.

The car promises to be a radical departure from the W14, with Mercedes finally accepting last season that they got the philosophy of their design completely wrong when new regulations came in in 2022.

Team principal Toto Wolff told Telegraph Sport in a recent interview that simulator driver Ant Davidson had reported favourably on the feel of the new machine. “He was driving Melbourne [in the sim],” Wolff said. “And he said: ‘The car feels like a car for the first time in two years…”

Hamilton will find out for himself soon enough as he will be back in the factory this week ahead of the launch. Pre-season testing takes place in Bahrain from February 21-23 before the first race, also in Bahrain, on March 2.