Mika Hakkinen: I’m very happy for Adrian Newey

Mika Hakkinen, two-time world champion, commented in his traditional column on the key events of the Japanese Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen securing his second title ahead of schedule..

Max did an incredible job – when you’re fighting for a world title, you can only dream of a race like that. Before the start of the weekend, he stated that he wanted to make it perfect, especially after the problems that prevented him and his team in Singapore a week ago.

Winning pole position was not easy, he was only 0.01 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver, but Max drove a very good lap.

At the start of the race Charles seemed to have taken the lead, but Max acted very confidently and managed to regain the first position. In the first corner on a wet track you can take the outside section, for a kart driver this is a typical technique and all his experience came in handy for Max.

He was ahead of Charles and then showed real class, taking full advantage of the machine’s capabilities. He won by 27 seconds – for such a short race is a brilliant result. Max’s 12th win this year confirms that he certainly deserved the title as he achieved overwhelming superiority.

I am also very happy for Adrian Newey, head of technical department at Red Bull. When he worked at McLaren it was thanks to him that I had great cars in which I won two championships, and he continues to win victories with Red Bull Racing, even though so many years have passed.

He has rightly been called the most successful constructor in Formula 1 history and while I know he has a great team of engineers working with him, he is extremely successful in leading it. Even during the Mercedes-dominated years, the Red Bull Racing team remained competitive and now we see that Adrian and his specialists have taken advantage of all the benefits of the transition to the new technical regulations very effectively. I congratulate him on winning the championship!

Safety issues remain a priority for everyone in Formula 1. This applies to drivers, teams, marshals and spectators. The FIA, together with the championship leadership, are making great efforts to improve the level of safety and we know that conclusions have been drawn following the tragic incident with Jules Bianchi in 2014. In F1, this was the only accident in the last 28 years that resulted in the death of a driver, and we don’t want a repeat of such incidents.

What happened on Sunday is alarming as it was clear that Pierre Gasly was just shocked to see a tow truck on the highway. He was ticketed for speeding under red flags, but it’s good that the FIA ​​has started investigating these events, because poor visibility can cause the driver to be distracted by something, not notice a signal or not realize what’s going on with the driver. hand.

It is necessary to create a system that ensures that all drivers and teams understand exactly what is happening on the track. Everyone wants Formula 1 to be as safe as possible, and in every incident you can learn lessons, make improvements and prevent a recurrence.