31/07/2012
NEWS STORY
Anthony Hamilton, father of McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, is taking legal action against Paul di Resta, as their management split takes a new twist.
It was revealed shortly ahead of the recent British Grand Prix that the Scottish driver had split with Hamilton, who had been his manager for the last couple of years. Though neither was willing to give anything away, it was clear that the split was far from amicable.
Today, the Daily Telegraph reports that Hamilton is taking di Resta to court claiming wrongful termination of contract and loss of earnings. In response, the Scot claims he dismissed Hamilton over a "multi-million pound deal" with the energy drink company Go Fast.
Di Resta claims that the deal, which was worth around £4.3m (less commission), was set up by close friend Jordan Wise and taken to Hamilton last year. Hamilton is alleged to have said that the best option would be to buy the Scot's sports drink rights from Force India so the deal could go ahead, claiming the (Force India) rights were worth £1.56m.
At this year's Chinese Grand Prix, di Resta is said to have asked his team how things stood, claiming that he had heard no more about the deal. The team allegedly informed him that the rights were in fact only worth £800,000, at which point the Scot chose to terminate his contract with Hamilton.
While neither party is saying anything in public, Hamilton is said to be strenuously denying any wrong doing, hence his legal action.
Hamilton guided his own son's career until early 2010 when, for reasons never fully explained, Lewis opted to drop his father, the pair falling out and not speaking for a couple of months.
Though the pair are now reconciled and the best of friends again, Hamilton is managed by Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment.
Di Resta is currently being linked with a number of teams for 2013, amongst them McLaren and Mercedes, while one recent suggestion to Pitpass had the Scot lining up alongside Fernando Alonso.