Hakkinen: I wanted to hang a punching bag in the camper

Mika Häkkinen, two-time world champion, who now works as an expert with TV channel Viaplay, commented on the events of the Spanish race weekend, which ended with another victory for Max Verstappen†

It was another confident victory for Max Verstappen. His engineers did a great job coming up with the right tactics to help him succeed, especially when the DRS system on his car failed. Red Bull Racing strategists have come to the conclusion that the optimal choice is a schedule with three pit stops.

The race could have easily been won by Sergio Pérez, but the team used tactics that ensured Max’s victory, realizing that every point earned is important in the battle for the title. They also understood that Max was hampered by technical problems.

Championships are won by the effort of the whole team and Sergio is an ideal team player, although it must have been very difficult for him to give the victory to his partner.

If we talk about Mercedes, then in Spain they showed the results of hard work to solve the problem of destabilization of the car, which in the first five races of the season did not allow to reveal the speed potential of the W13.

As in Miami, already in training on Friday, it was clear that they had taken a step forward, but this time the team continued to make progress, both in Saturday’s qualifying and in the race. It seems that Mercedes, in preparation for the Grand Prix, managed to find very correct settings for the car. We can quote this fact: according to the results of the race, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took 2nd and 3rd place in the ranking of the fastest laps.

Finally, the team has given Lewis and George a car they can rely on to compete at full strength on the track. This was evident from the way Russell defended himself against the Red Bull drivers during the Grand Prix.

In addition, it should be noted that Hamilton managed to make a stunning breakthrough from last position, where he was on lap 1 after the incident, to 5th place at the finish. It looked like a collision with Kevin Magnussen could lead to retirement, but neither Lewis nor his team would give up.

And we know he could have finished 4th had there not been a coolant leak, forcing him to slow down in the final laps.

With three teams now battling for podiums, the only question is whether Mercedes can take the next step to claim race wins. I think they can.

Of course I understand very well the disappointment of Charles Leclerc, who was forced to withdraw from the Grand Prix race, even though he was confidently in the lead. The same happened to me in Spain in 2001, the only difference being that I was in the lead until the last lap, 42 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari. But due to a leak in the hydraulic system of my car, the clutch failed.

I remember telling the press at the time that I even wanted to hang a punching bag in the camper – I was so angry.

But Charles returned to the pits and thanked all the Ferrari mechanics for their hard work, which was touching in its own way. Although he was terribly upset, he understood that the team was going through no less.

Now Ferrari must rebuild, understand the causes of the problem and prepare a reliable car for the race in Monaco. From now on they will have to fight for the win not only with Red Bull, but also with Mercedes. But the Formula 1 fans will win anyway, as the intrigue of the season gets more and more exciting.