Formula 1|Mika Häkkinen has a painful memory of chasing McLaren in the World Cup battle.
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The championship battle of the F1 season has intensified as McLaren emerged as Red Bull’s challenger.
McLaren is just eight points behind Red Bull in the Manufacturers’ World Championship.
Max Verstappen’s lead in the World Drivers’ Championship has shrunk to 62 points over Lando Norris.
Mika Häkkinen recommends supporting Norris in the championship fight, even though it’s not McLaren’s way.
Expiring The championship battles of the F1 season have intensified rapidly during the summer. As usual, Red Bull started the season as clear number one, but McLaren has closed the gap.
According to expert estimates, McLaren has the fastest car at the moment, and Ferrari and Mercedes are also right behind Red Bull.
At the same time, the situations in the championship battles have thrown a bull’s-eye. McLaren is only eight points away from Red Bull in the manufacturers’ World Championship, and Ferrari is only 39 points away.
In the World Drivers’ Championship Max Verstappen’s the lead has shrunk to 62 points ahead of McLaren Lando Norris. And Norris could be even closer, if McLaren had overtaken the Briton with team regulations in Hungary and Italy’s Monza Oscar Piastri before.
Oscar Piastri finished in Monza before Lando Norris. It cost Norris points in the championship fight.
McLaren has been criticized for tactical errors and unwillingness to help Norris. There are eight races left, and the championship would still be possible for Norris.
What would a “team manager” do Mika Häkkinenif he could decide on the matter?
“A very difficult question, because there are many factors involved. If you look coldly at the numbers, it’s clear. Everything
is bet on the fastest driver, and the other driver does what he is told,” commented Häkkinen at the golf event of gambling company Unibet in Tallinn.
At the same time, he points out that the matter is not always so simple. The position of the drivers within the team is often recorded in the contract.
If, for example, Piastr is guaranteed equal treatment in the contract, McLaren cannot just slip away from it.
“The boys of yesterday’s tea do not make these agreements. Both are given a chance to win. If you’re not allowed to win, you throw a bunch of paper on the table and say it’s not going to happen like this.”
Häkkinen reminds that, unlike for example Red Bull, Verstappen and by Sergio Perez case, Piastri is equal in lap times with Norris.
In the end, when Häkkinen has first thought about his own driving career, he reaches his conclusion over the finish line.
“Today, the competition has changed a lot. I would make a solution [Norrisin suosimisesta] immediately. It makes sense at this point. It has not traditionally been McLaren’s practice, but the team needs to find a consensus.”
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In the 2000 season, Mika Häkkinen would have liked more support from McLaren for the championship fight.
What is that your own memory from the career that was referred to a moment ago?
Häkkinen still fondly remembers the 2000 season, when he was chasing his third consecutive world championship. The battle was once again Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher against.
Three more races before the end of the season, Häkkinen led the World Series by two points ahead of Schumacher. However, one race before the end of the season, the German secured the championship.
A significant change to the 1998 and 1999 seasons was that Häkkinen’s teammate David Coulthard got better results than before and hung on the edges of the championship fight.
“In my situation, it happened that I won the first championship, then the second and the journey continued. The following year we went again and I told the team on the radio many times during the season to tell David to let me pass. It didn’t make any sense. I had a chance to win the championship, and that guy kept me behind”, Häkkinen repeats passionately.
The stable boss Ron Dennis remained tight. Old school from the garage didn’t believe in team regulations until one of the drivers was completely out of the championship fight.
Ferrari, on the other hand, was built entirely around Schumacher.
Do you be
lieve chasing McLaren cost you the world championship?
“It definitely paid off. It was exhausting and exhausting. Of course I understood David’s point of view. He wanted to win too. But hey… come on!”, Häkkinen says and spreads his arms.
“We saw time and time again that the guy is 3-4 tenths slower in qualifying. If you accidentally pass at the start, don’t let it take away points. But that was not McLaren’s policy.”
Häkkinen finished second in the race twice during the season, while Coulthard drove to victory.
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