Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton split up.

Nicole Scherzinger and F1 racing driver Lewis Hamilton have split up.

Lewis Hamilton, 26, who is 7 years junior to Nicole Scherzinger, decided to end the relationship due to their conflicting work schedules meant they were seeing less and less of each other.

Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger – who rose to fame as part of The Pussycat Dolls pop group – had been dating for 4 years.

One of their friends confirmed they split up: “Yes, they’ve split. It’s a real shame because Nicole really tried to make it work.

“They are still very good friends and it was an amicable split, but they just decided it was impossible to keep the relationship going with such conflicting work schedules.”

Nicole Scherzinger is a Hawaiian-born singer and is part of the judging panel on X Factor USA, alongside Simon Cowell.

Due to her activity, Nicole Scherzinger, 33, is currently based in Los Angeles, California.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, as a F1 leading driver, travels all over the worl and has a home in Switzerland.

The sportsman was seen yesterday at an event for his driving team McLaren and a source told he was in “good spirits”.

Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton met at the European Music Awards in Munich in November 2007, before going public at the Monaco Grand Prix six months later.

Nicole Scherzinger was by his side as he was crowned world champion in Brazil in November 2008.

During their relationship, Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton spent increasing amounts of time apart due to their busy careers.

In July this year, there was unconfirmed speculation that Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton had become engaged.

Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton had been separated before, in January 2010, when they had been together for 20 months.

Lewis Hamilton said at that time: “I just want to move forward in a positive manner. The focus is on this season and doing the best I possibly can and getting the results on the track. I’m just keeping my mind on that.

“It never was a distraction but I am not going to take my mind off what I’ve got to do by thinking about it.”

Recently, speaking of his relation with Nicole Scherzinger Lewis Hamilton said: “We go to the gym together quite often and she goes running with me. She does her own programme and I do mine and it’s pretty cool.”

So far, Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton declined to comment.