di Resta, Hamilton settle out of court

Former F1 driver Paul di Resta and erstwhile manager Anthony Hamilton have called a truce in their legal dispute after settling out of court.

The pair had fallen out over a failed sponsorship deal, with di Resta alleging that Hamilton had misled him over the finances involved. Having been dismissed from his role, Hamilton then accused the Scot of breach of contract

di Resta is understood to have taken the proposal from energy drink brand Go Fast, estimated at more than EUR5.5m, to Hamilton who, in turn, advised the Scot that, in order to buy the rights to drinks sponsorship from Force India, he would have to find EUR2m. Making an independent approach to the team, di Resta was allegedly told that the cost of the rights would be only EUR1m. Believing that he had been deceived, the Scot terminated the relationship with his manager.

The case was heard at the High Court in London, culminating shortly before Christmas. Hamilton's evidence was derided during the hearing, while he retorted by suggesting di Resta had become 'fixated' by the possibility of making a lot of money from the deal, which he claimed was clearly 'a scam'.

While Hamilton does not believe that there was any deception towards his client, he admitted lying to Go Fast, claiming that he already held the drinks rights, having purchased them from Force India. However, he insists that it was acceptable in the circumstances, as he believed that the prospective sponsor was lying to him. Hamilton also insisted that it was acceptable to distort the truth if it helped further a client's career.

Hamilton denies lying, however, over accusations that he falsified evidence presented in his case. Responding to claims that he altered the dates on emails he submitted to the court, he insisted that any 'error' was the result of installing a new security system at his home that had made changes to the iPad he used for correspondence.

The pair have since agreed on an out of court settlement, although no figures have been released.

Neither appears set to feature in F1 this season, with di Resta having lost his seat at Force India and returned to the DTM touring car series for 2014.

"This has been a difficult year and I am just pleased to put it behind me and to concentrate on my racing," the Scot said.