“I know the pain when things go wrong”– Mika Hakkinen concerned with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton taking ‘very high risks’ to edge past each other

Tanish Chachra | 03/02/2022
"I know the pain when things go wrong"– Mika Hakkinen concerned with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton taking 'very high risks' to edge past each other

Mika Hakkinen thinks Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen shouldn’t go over the limit while competing for titles as things could go wrong.

Mika Hakkinen has been one of the most daring F1 drivers to ever grace F1. But it came at a toll when he himself had to suffer through injuries because of the few crashes.

Now seeing Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen vie dangerously in the 2021 season, Hakkinen is worried that the two F1 drivers shouldn’t be so extreme with their competition.

“Is it my style to do things that those two drivers did? Not really, it is not my style and that is because I had a very bad accident,” Hakkinen told the Press Association.

“I spent a lot of time in hospital and I know the pain when things go wrong. These two drivers, they don’t know that, so they do take risks, very heavy risks, and they rely a lot on the safety of the car and the safety of the track.”

Also read: Helmut Marko draws similarities between Max Verstappen, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher

Mercedes failing from here wouldn’t be good for Lewis Hamilton

Hakkinen further reveals that under the new regulations if Mercedes fail, it wouldn’t be easy for Hamilton. His reason is that it’s hard for someone to fall suddenly after a prolonged success.

“It is going to be a completely new machine and the chances are that the designers might not find an optimum machine. If that happens to Lewis, it is going to be really hard for him to accept,” he said.

“If you have been at the top of the mountain and suddenly you have to climb back up the mountain because you don’t have the best car, it is going to be emotional for him to control.”

“There are a lot of question marks surrounding Lewis. We don’t know whether he is coming back, but let’s hope he is.”

Also read: Watch Max Verstappen playing “Never Have I Ever” along with Marc Marquez and Bradley Smith as they reveal some of their secrets

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mika Hakkinen

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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