“It is always best to avoid the other guy”– Mika Hakkinen advices Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen how to avoid collision in races

“It is always best to avoid the other guy”– Mika Hakkinen suggests to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen that it is best to avoid contact.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s collision in Italy is the biggest talking point in Formula 1 right now, and it will definitely reflect on their championship fight later.

Talking about the incident, Mika Hakkinen has his opinion on what should the two drivers do while also claiming that the contact was avoidable,

“The collision between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was avoidable, but when two drivers are fighting for the same trophy they often end up fighting for the same piece of tarmac,” he said.

“The stewards decided Max was mainly at fault, giving him a grid penalty at the next race. A much bigger penalty is that Max did not win the race. To beat Lewis he must out-perform him.”

I took a different approach

Hakkinen then talks about his racing days where he claimed that his contemporaries Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna had similar incidents while he tried to take a different approach.

“My old rivals Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher were involved in many controversial accidents, but in my opinion, it is always best to avoid the other guy and stay focused on winning,” he said.

“When you have contact, you can never be certain what will happen. Your competitor might have a damaged car, but it can easily be your turn to suffer. There is no certainty about crashing into each other.

“It is so much better to focus on staying flat out, running the best strategy and accepting that you cannot win every race. Sometimes second or third is an important result, especially when you are trying to win a World Championship.”

Moreover, Hakkinen also asserted that safety is an important aspect apart from the competition, and it shouldn’t end up with any of them getting harmed.

“In Silverstone, Max was lucky not to be injured following his high-speed collision with Lewis. On Sunday, we saw Lewis saved by the Halo device,” added Hakkinen.

“Two potentially serious accidents in [five] races is very concerning because none of us should take safety for granted. We cannot be complacent.

“This year’s World Championship is fantastic to watch and very close. I want to see Max and Lewis give 100 per cent on every lap, but also wish to see them finish the races and stand on the podium. Let the results decide the championship, not the number of accidents.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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