Mika Häkkinen is a two-time Formula 1 world champion (1998-1999) and knows a little about the ideal time to retire from the premier discipline.
The man who was Michael Schumacher’s toughest opponent during the German’s prime with Ferrari also left F1 as a driver and a man close to being washed out, mentally and physically tired of the demands of a discipline of all kinds. the moments required by the regular fight for the world title in Formula 1.
Also, as Lewis Hamilton prepares to begin a new chapter in his storied F1 career by donning the red suit of Ferrari this year for a supposedly two-season contract, the Finn warns that the man who seemed to be losing his mojo in recent years will have to look yourself in the face and assume your own level of driving, consistency and motivation towards your legendary team.
Without in any way saying that Lewis Hamilton is not cut out for the role that awaits him at Maranello, Häkkinen nevertheless believes that the Briton will have to be extremely sincere about what remains in him in order not to have one season too many and leave the good way.
Lewis Hamilton in particular was beaten regularly in qualifying by his teammate George Russell during their collaboration at Mercedes, and particularly sharply in particular in 2024, to the point that Hamilton himself admitted at the end of the season to having lost something.
“If something similar happens to him, he needs to speak up.”believes Häkkinen about these difficulties. “He is the right person to answer this question, but he is committed to the future. So I am sure he will work on this question to make things go well this year,” he told the PlanetF1 website.
“I retired in 2001 and that year I started to lose track: sometimes I was very fast. Sometimes I wasn’t there. I lost two or three tenths and those two or three tenths are a big, big problem.”said Häkkinen, who sometimes expressed the idea of having stopped too late himself.
