Mika Hakkinen: Ferrari is Red Bull’s biggest rival

Two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen shared his thoughts ahead of the Australian round of the championship, noting that Ferrari and McLaren look more convincing than Mercedes.

There are only two races left of the season, but it is already clear that the ten teams of the World Championship are divided into two camps: there are the first five, who compete for points and podium places, and there is the second, who must working very hard to qualify for the final qualifying round and finish in the prize money.

As Red Bull Racing continues to dominate, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin have no choice but to try and catch Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Outside of this group, only Haas F1 has a podium point – this was achieved by Nico Hulkenberg, who finished 10th in Jeddah.

For the third year in a row, Mercedes has admitted they have problems with the car, and this is bad news for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. We know how difficult it can be to solve a problem when it is of a fundamental nature. This year the team is aiming for speed and consistency, even though Brackley understands that overtaking Red Bull will be very difficult. However, Lewis continues to complain because he has no confidence in the car.

Mercedes’ problems allow Ferrari and McLaren to take the lead in the constructors’ championship. As we saw, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc reached the podium in the first two races of the season, with Charles also starting from the front row both times.

Such a confident start to the season allows us to consider Ferrari as Red Bull’s biggest rival, but McLaren is also performing well – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri scored points in both Bahrain and Jeddah.

It’s better not to make mistakes in Albert Park

Albert Park is a great circuit with an interesting configuration. On TV screens it looks more like a stationary race track, but in reality it is a city ring that runs through the park, and the barriers are quite close to that. There are not many safety zones, so it is better not to make mistakes in the fast corners, because in recent years we have seen many incidents that took place in the first three corners of the circuit.

Another feature of the Melbourne circuit is that it is quite uneven in places, and its condition changes significantly as the weekend progresses. No matter how hard the organizers try to prepare, even after the preliminary races, the speeds of the Formula 1 cars continue to increase as the asphalt becomes covered with a layer of waste rubber…

Naturally, this phenomenon is also observed on stationary circuits, but in Melbourne due to the low grip, problems can arise during training and any mistake can lead to a crash.

Mika’s prediction

Besides Red Bull, there are two other teams to watch this weekend: Ferrari and McLaren. Both started the season with good potential, and the Scuderia drivers manage to push Red Bull in qualifying – if not Max, then at least Sergio. And if you manage to get to the front row based on the qualifying results, anything can happen in the race.

McLaren does not plan to take any significant steps to modernize the car until May, but both drivers, Lando and Oscar, visited the base in Woking last week, where they analyzed data collected from the first two stages.

They already understand the car’s strengths and weaknesses and I expect Piastri to surprise everyone at his home track. He has a very serious attitude.

Another plus is that Oscar and Lando push each other, allowing the team to realize the car’s full potential. Both are very capable of finishing in good positions or even on the podium if Ferrari or Red Bull Racing don’t have a perfect weekend.