Tuesday 22nd July 2008
Mika Hakkinen believes Lewis Hamilton is on the road to delivering a more harmonious McLaren their first World Title for nine years.
It was in 1999 Hakkinen won the last of McLaren's Formula One Drivers' Championships before Ferrari and Michael Schumacher began to dominate.
Although Hakkinen retired two years later, he has remained close to the team, and occasionally still attends races as their guest.
The Finn was on hand on Sunday to congratulate Hamilton following his latest glorious triumph at the German Grand Prix, giving the 23-year-old a big bear hug as he entered the McLaren brand centre.
The two men have also built up a relationship of late as they are ambassadors for Johnnie Walker's 'Responsible Drinking' campaign, and regularly attend promotional functions together.
Compared to last year when McLaren were riddled with problems on and off track given the spy scandal and discord between Hamilton and team-mate Fernando Alonso, as an outsider looking in, Hakkinen can see the difference following Alonso's departure and Heikki Kovalainen's appointment.
"What Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug have done is brought together two fantastically talented young drivers," Hakkinen said.
"They are fast, they motivate the whole team, and they are getting better, stronger, more solid, more stable - they deliver the whole package.
"I can see right now McLaren Mercedes is a solid team, positive in terms of spirit both behind the scenes and on the track.
"I can sense that just by being around the teams these days."
With Hamilton now four points ahead in the drivers' standings after back-to-back victories in Britain and Germany, Hakkinen senses the team's long wait for a title could soon be over.
Asked about Hamilton's chances, Hakkinen replied: "It is easy to answer because I can relate what is happening now to Lewis to when I was racing.
"When I was a young guy at McLaren I was flat out, always at the maximum.
"Sometimes the excitement took over my thinking and there were times when I went over the top, I made mistakes.
"It took time for me to stabilise myself and calm down a little, and then I got the results.
"That is now the situation with Lewis. He has calmed down and is stable, more mature.
"There is still a way to go this year and a lot of things can still happen, and yes it is a long time since I won McLaren's last title, but I am hopeful this year they can do it.
"They just have to keep working, thinking positively."
Hamilton had team-mate Kovalainen to thank for the victory as the Finn let him through following a second pit stop, which saw him drop from the lead to fifth.
Kovalainen's kind gesture, also acknowledged by Dennis and F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, gave Hamilton the opportunity to hunt down and pass Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet in his Renault to claim the win.
And Hakkinen feels Kovalainen has brought more than just generosity to McLaren, claiming he has helped transform them overall.
"Heikki has brought great harmony to the team," insisted Hakkinen.
"He has been working really well with the engineers and with Lewis, and the harmony is now great, and that's a very important point."
1 comment:
Great post. If all goes well it looks like Hamilton will lead them to a title. He is having a fantastic year.
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