Two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen, who currently works in driver management and is a brand ambassador for various companies, made a short analysis of the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, which Scuderia Ferrari finished on the top two positions, and was also asked to comment on the 2017 Formula One championship fight between the Maranello team and rivals Mercedes:
“Seeing Valtteri Bottas move over during last Sunday’s race to let Lewis Hamilton take the fight to Kimi Raikkonen is absolutely typical behaviour for him. He is not selfish in relation to the teams he works for. Like any top driver he is selfish enough to want to win, but also intelligent enough to know that working together will bring the results to the team. What he did required discipline and nerves. He easily could have kept Lewis behind, but he knew Lewis was flying and it was the right decision for the team. Later, when I saw Lewis allow Valtteri to overtake him and regain position, I thought to myself that this is a great example of a team working together, a real partnership. There were risks involved in that last lap, as Max Verstappen was very quick towards the end of the race so there was always the chance of giving away a position to him, but Valtteri and Lewis managed it perfectly.” – the former Finnish driver said.
“After the Mercedes domination in Silverstone, Hungary was a very different story. It was pretty clear that Hungary suited the Ferrari car. There is no doubt about it that when it comes to high speed corners and fast tracks Mercedes has the edge, whereas at the lower speed circuits they seem to struggle to get the balance right, and this is when Ferrari has an advantage. It is very difficult to change the overall characteristics of a car during the season, so the balance of the remainder of the season will be very interesting. At the next races in Spa-Francorchamps and Monza I think that Mercedes will be strong, but nevertheless everything will have to work perfectly on the car, and the drivers will need to push hard because Scuderia Ferrari is not going to give up this fight, as we have seen in the first part of the season. Sebastian Vettel has worked hard to maintain his Championship advantage, and Kimi Raikkonen is a strong team-mate.” – Mika Hakkinen concluded, as reported by the British media this weekend.
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