Mika Hakkinen is not afraid that the coming season will once again be all about the unconditional dominance of Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen. The two-time world champion prefers to refrain from making premature predictions, because in the history of Formula 1 there were many examples in which the balance of power in the championship changed quickly.
“Have there been many cases where teams and drivers that were predicted to be champions, even before the start of pre-season testing, ended up without titles? Even too much,” the Finn reasoned in an interview with Bild. – Don’t get me wrong: I also think that Red Bull and especially Max Verstappen will set the standard again, but it is not worth saying in advance that they will win all the trophies if no one has driven a meter yet.
Why be too hasty in making predictions? Max has achieved incredible success over the past two years, he is talented enough to become the best driver of all time, but in Formula 1 he is not the only one who can fight for victories.
For example, I expect a lot from McLaren. Last year this team started the season very poorly, but subsequently made impressive progress and, above all, showed consistent results. Probably Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri can be considered the strongest driver pair after the Ferrari team.
Although they have not yet reached the level that David Coulthard and I were at at the time! (laughs) But both have championship potential. Piastri is already pushing Norris, and even Verstappen will feel it next season.
As for Mercedes, this team is now at a crossroads. It dominated the championship for a long time, but has lost ground in the last two years, and it seems this has affected both management and employees. This is good by the way! They will only be angrier, it is useful for them. To win races again, they must muster all their will. This team really needs to come together to get back to that level. She still lacks this blind faith in her own strength.
Mercedes remains very much Lewis Hamilton’s team. He finished in 3rd place in the individual rankings last season, and George Russell only finished 8th. And this doesn’t surprise me, because on the one hand Hamilton wanted to prove anyone who believes he is no longer the same wrong; on the other hand, George continues to feel this enormous pressure.
When your partner is a seven-time world champion, all eyes are automatically on you. If your partner is ahead of you, even your podiums won’t convince anyone.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
