Hakkinen believes in Hamilton: “In champions they emerge in difficulties” | FormulaPassion.it

“I won both of my world titles in the last race, so I know what it’s like to be engaged in a point-to-point fight”. Mika Hakkinen in 1998 he broke the resistance of Michael Schumacher repeating the success in 1999 when the surprise opponent was Eddie Irvine. Thanks to the Finn, McLaren managed to get the better of Ferrari in those two years, with the Scuderia di Maranello which from 2000 onwards opened the golden luster of victories with the German driver until 2004. After the Mexican Grand Prix Max Verstappen he has a 19-point lead over Lewis Hamilton, who despite having won half of the Dutchman’s races – 9 to 5 – is still fighting for his eighth career title.

Mika Hakkinen believes that the battle for the world title is far from over: “It is true that on paper Red Bull should still be the car to beat in Brazil – the words of the former Scandinavian driver published in his usual column on the site Unibet – but we must not forget that Hamilton won at Interlagos in 2016 and 2018. Then there will be two tracks where it is impossible to make predictions, because F1 has never raced there. At this moment it is clear that Red Bull has something more in terms of pace, but champions emerge in difficulties and it is in these situations that they manage to make a difference. I am sure that the championship will remain open until Abu Dhabi, it will be the goal that Mercedes will set itself and will try to reach it with all its strength. Hamilton likes challenges and Verstappen is a great challenge. If the title remains open, surely some thoughts in the season finale will not fail to reach Verstappen’s head. Hamilton will do everything to put him in trouble ”.