Former F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen says driving for Ferrari always brings added pressure due to his Italian status.
Ferrari got off to a good start with two wins in the first three races of the 2022 F1 season and looked to be in a strong position to challenge for both championships, but only managed two wins in the next 13 races.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull are on track to claim the title, with Ferrari under pressure from Mercedes for second place in the constructors’ standings.
In an interview ahead of last weekend’s Italian F1 Grand Prix, the Ferrari chairman said too many mistakes had been made by the Maranello-based team.
Mika Hakkinen, who has driven for McLaren for most of his F1 career, believes being part of Ferrari brings more pressure than other F1 teams.
“There is still a lot of pressure on Ferrari,” Mika Hakkinen wrote in his Unibet column.
“And that’s particular to them. Of course at McLaren you felt the pressure to compete to win and do your best. You felt the pressure not to be happy if you don’t win, but Ferrari have always been a kind of national team. There’s an added pressure to be
“There’s always added pressure. It’s not easy for the management and the drivers who have to keep working hard, sticking together and not blaming themselves when things go wrong.”
“It’s interesting to see the comments of the president of Ferrari, especially in public, because it increases the pressure on the team.
“I think this season has been difficult because they started with a fast car, won races and had a lot of confidence. But Red Bull ran very efficiently, made few mistakes. and upgraded the car. I was
With Max Verstappen now leading by 116 points in the Drivers’ Championship, Mika Hakkinen expects Verstappen to celebrate his second F1 title in the coming weeks.
“What I really want as a driver is not a one-lap car, but a fast racing car,” said Mika Hakkinen.
“I think Ferrari did a good job.[en Italie]with Charles. They tried a different pit stop strategy than Red Bull, but Max kept chasing.”
“It’s his fifth win in a row. He’s won every Grand Prix since France and Red Bull have really taken the lead.”
“Barring reliability issues, he will celebrate his second world championship in Singapore or Japan in early October.”
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