Mika Hakkinen: Aston Martin lacked stability

Mika Hakkinen, two-time world champion, is happy for Fernando Alonso, but is ready to criticize the Aston Martin team and also speaks highly of the work of Oscar Piastri, the McLaren driver who was recognized as the best rookie of the season.

Mika Häkkinen: “The Aston Martin team started the season very strongly and everyone, including myself, was surprised. “Wow!” – I said then, looking at her performance. I thought it was a very positive sign, also for Fernando Alonso.

The way he works, what his attitude is and generally the fact that he is still competing in Formula 1 and can show such results is all very impressive. Especially after how the previous phases of his career unfolded.

But then other teams started to gradually improve, especially McLaren made rapid progress, but Aston Martin for some reason remained stuck. In modern Formula 1, it is interesting to observe how the work of teams is affected by budget limits and restrictions related to aerodynamic research. All this affects the pace of modernization.

And I think Aston Martin lacked consistency, but this team was not able to maintain results at a high enough level.

Returning to McLaren, I note that Oscar Piastri was able to take full advantage of the opportunities that opened up to him thanks to being in a great team with a great leader. Although it is not easy for a newcomer in Formula 1.

This team made great progress in modernizing their car and Oscar continued to perform better. This is also interesting because Lando Norris, his partner, is a very fast racer. But they worked together quite effectively and helped the team refine the chassis.

I already mentioned that Max Verstappen knows how to ensure that the Red Bull car meets his preferences and suits his driving style. The team responds to his comments, analyzes them and builds a car that suits him.

McLaren drivers are about the same level in terms of speed and I don’t think their driving style is very different. Both provide the team with useful information and the process of refining the car has continued throughout the season. With every race the MCL60 got better and better, and Piastri was also able to prove to everyone that he continues to work on himself and improve his skills.

If he had driven all year in the car he started the season with, he would hardly have been recognized as the best rookie. But he was helped by the fact that the team was constantly modernizing its equipment, and by the fact that he himself is a very calm and balanced man.

Oscar knows how to remain realistic, maintains the necessary composure and gradually progresses. I heard how he communicates with McLaren engineers and always provides them with very important and useful information. It will be interesting to see what he does in the future, but he has done a great job this year.”