Finnish former racing driver Mika Hakkinen, who won the F1 titles in 1998 and the following year, confirmed that there is an additional pressure involved in driving for Scuderia Ferrari, comparing it to an Italian national team.
The former F1 driver’s statements come after Ferrari president John Elkann was recently interviewed by the Italian media and pointed out that the Maranello team has been making too many errors this season and urged to Ferrari to improve, with the goal of winning the F1 world championship by 2026.
The current Formula 1 campaign started promising for the Italian side, as Charles Leclerc secured two race victories in the first three rounds, in Bahrain and Australia, establishing a lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship that gave hope to the fans in a potential title duel against Red Bull.
Yet too many power unit reliability issues, combined with some poor strategy decisions and a few driver mistakes has led to Scuderia Ferrari and Charles Leclerc quickly falling back, leaving the door wide open for Red Bull and Max Verstappen to gain a huge advantage at the top. This means that the Dutchman might even seal the 2022 Formula 1 crown as early as the next round, when Formula 1 heads to the Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore.
Ferrari chairman John Elkann also publicly expressed his faith in the abilities of Team Principal Mattia Binotto to bring the team back on track, while Mika Hakkinen felt that the public nature of the Ferrari chairman’s comments led to extra pressure on a team which is already under intense international scrutiny due:
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma! Enter the online Puma Store and shop securely! And get your F1 tickets for every race with VIP hospitality and unparalleled insider access. Click here for the best offers to support Charles and Carlos from the track!
“Ferrari has always had a lot of pressure, and it is something unique to them. Of course, at McLaren we felt the pressure of competing to win, trying our best, not being satisfied if we were not winning, but Ferrari has always had this additional pressure of being a kind of national team. There is always the feeling of extra pressure, and this cannot be easy on the management or drivers who need to keep working hard, pushing together and making sure they do not start to blame each other when things go wrong. It’s interesting to see the comments of the Ferrari chairman, especially in public, as that adds more pressure on the team. I think this season has been difficult because they started with a quick car, race wins and a lot of confidence, but Red Bull have operated so efficiently, making so few mistakes and improving the car.” – Mika Hakkinen wrote in his article for Unibet at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, as the former F1 driver also referenced his time spent with McLaren, during which he took 20 Grands Prix victories and two titles.
Leave a Reply