Hakkinen backs McLaren to win double after 26-year gap

CHENNAI: The last time McLaren won the constructors’ championship was more than two-and-a-half decades ago. It was another world, another time. But two-time champion Mika Hakkinen, a McLaren legend, would surely remember it like it was yesterday. The year 1998, when the team won the coveted F1 prize was the same year the Flying Finn won his first driver’s title.

Now, 26 years hence, the team and its drivers stand a real chance to score a rare double, believes Hakkinen. Oscar Piastri’s hard-fought victory last week in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and a recovery drive from Lando Norris climbing from a lowly 15th to 4th powered McLaren to pip Red Bull to lead the constructor’s championship, something which it last did back in the opening race of the 2014 season.

“Being a McLaren brand ambassador, I’m happy to see how the team has been developing, not just this year but the last 5-6 years,” says Mika, speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of Madras International Karting Arena (MIKA) outside the city.

The team hasn’t had the smoothest of rides since 2012, which was the last time it was a legitimate title contender. The intervening years were hard. The return of the once-legendary engine partnership with Honda did not yield the desired results, with even the double world champion Fernando Alonso, who was then driving for the team, disparaging it as a “GP2 engine”.

When you are losing and the whole team is down, it is very hard to come out of it and keep the spirits up, he says. “How to keep the spirit up? We can say yes, we will do it; yes, we can do it. But it can only be done when there are logical steps taken [to] improve to go better in the future. And in that [sense], it has been amazing what McLaren has done this season,” praises the former champion.

McLaren is leading the pack (20 points ahead of Red Bull) among constructors, but the driver’s championship is far from over. Lando is fighting hard, now lying 59 points behind the reigning champion Max Verstappen.

Mika feels McLaren still has the chance to clinch both championships and also stresses on the important role of Oscar in helping his teammate on his journey to acquire the prestigious crown.

“Mathematically, Lando still has the chance to win the World Championship. So, it’s great that the team is giving him a chance to achieve that goal. McLaren is leading the construction championship, but there is still a chance to win the driver’s championship, too,” the 55-year-old says.

“There are fans of Lando and fans of Piastri, and all this is maybe challenging to understand. But being a racing driver myself, and also being in a position where I needed support from my teammate, I didn’t get that until the very last minute.”

With seven races left to go, the fight is not just between Red Bull and McLaren. Ferrari has shown great promise on many occasions; even last week in Baku, Charles Leclerc was fighting for the win till the very end. Now that every point is crucial, Mercedes, too, can spoil the party for any of the other contenders.

Speaking about the ongoing season, Mika says, “It has been a brilliant season; new drivers are coming in and have shown their potential. The season has had different winners (seven so far) from different teams, which is particularly exciting for the fans. Red Bull is not dominating anymore; of course they are not happy. But it’s great for the sport.”