Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen will mentor rookie Formula 2 racer Kush Maini, the pair have revealed.

Maini began his maiden campaign in the second-tier series as a regular points scorer with Campos Racing, peaking with a third-place finish in the Australia Sprint race.

But the Indian’s form has nosedived since then, only achieving three points finishes in the past 14 races. Maini has since slipped to 11th in the standings with 60 points.

However, Maini believes he can be a regular contender at the front in 2024 with the support of Hakkinen, who previously worked with multiple-time F1 winner Valtteri Bottas.

“I think from next year, my approach and that of my team is going to be a lot more structured thanks to Mika,” Maini said. “Having a trainer who’s looking after your nutrition at the track, a mind coach looking after anything you’re going through on a race weekend. Basically the way Mika works is you narrow down everything to the point where the driver just has one job.”

Maini is the younger brother of Arjun Maini, who previously competed in F2 for two seasons and temporarily held a role within Haas’ F1 operation as a development driver.

The 23-year-old is relishing the prospect of working with one of the sport’s greatest-ever drivers as he strives to reach the top flight.

“I’ve watched Mika since I was young. And I know everything he has achieved in this sport,” he commented.

“So just for him to believe that I could reach Formula One shows that we’ve done something right in these last 15 years. It’s a massive weapon you have in your arsenal when you have Mika Hakkinen standing behind you!”

Hakkinen states that progressing Maini through to F1 is their collective ambition.

“I have a lot of experience from working with Valtteri Bottas seeing him developing and growing as a driver,” Hakkinen added. 

“More recently I’ve been following Kush, understanding his abilities, his talent for driving. It’s a very interesting journey together to develop, to be an even more professional racing driver. F1 is our objective, not forgetting the current situation.

However, the Finn insists he will not detail into instructing Maini on specific driving techniques: “I don’t think I have to put my nose into that,” he clarified.

Instead, Hakkinen explains that his newfound role will comprise utilising the “communication and the network that I have. These assets are very powerful when looking after a young talented driver.

“I’ve been an ambassador for Formula One and been part of F1 since 1991. It’s an asset, the power that I have to take this young driver into the right places at the right time.

“Of course, India is an enormous, powerful country. I’m part of bringing a young driver from India to Formula One, bringing these mega companies, learning to understand the opportunities that Formula One can bring them. And vice versa, of course, what Formula One can experience and create with India. I can only see beautiful success stories.

“India is going to be very powerful. And I want all Indians to know Kush Maini, I want everybody in India cheering him. I want them to feel that he’s going to be a winner in Formula One. Of course it requires very hard work and a lot of sacrifices.

“Because of my experience in this motor racing world, I do understand timing, being in the right team, having the right partners, working with the right people is crucial.”

Despite still having the F2 season finale in Abu Dhabi to contest, Maini expressed that he has already got his eye on next year.

“Having Mika behind me, my whole team being created now and not having to stress about racing, I think it’s a very exciting time for myself, and I definitely feel I haven’t showed anywhere near what I am capable of in the car,” he explained. “I’m very excited to hopefully show it next year.”

Maini’s career will also be supported by Guillaume le Goff, who also works with Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly. He will manage the day-to-day business of Maini’s career.

Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen asserts Ferrari must provide its drivers with “a car up to scratch” to enable them to “achieve incredible results”.

After returning to winning ways last year, Ferrari began the season aiming to go one better from 2022 by mounting a sustained challenge for the World Championship.

However, the Italian marque has been unable to battle Red Bull, who have won all 12 races to this point, while also dropping behind both Mercedes and Aston Martin in the standings.

The Maranello outfit has struggled to get on top of its inconsistent SF-23 charger, resulting in both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz being susceptible to committing mistakes over the course of 2023.

But Hakkinen believes that the pair’s errors have emanated as a result of its troublesome car, with the Finn backing them to deliver with a more competitive package.

“When your car is difficult to drive the possibility of making mistakes is higher,” Hakkinen is quoted by Motorsport.com via Gazzetta dello Sport.

“The two Ferrari drivers are always on the limit.

“Leclerc and Sainz are not rookie drivers who have to learn. But it is true that, having never won a World Championship, they have more pressure on their shoulders.

“But they are two great drivers who just need support. When those two have a car up to scratch they will achieve incredible results.”

While the early phase of the season witnessed a three-way contest between Aston Martin, Ferrari and Mercedes, McLaren has since joined the fight behind Red Bull.

The Woking-based squad’s revised MCL60 car has proven to be a substantial leap forward, elevating Lando Norris onto the podium at Silverstone and the Hungaroring.

Having revealed he was already aware of Ferrari’s issues in pre-season, Hakkinen says the Scuderia can recover from its torrid 2023 by looking to McLaren’s resurgence.

“Seeing it [Ferrari SF-23] in action in certain corners I said to myself, ‘Oh, they have the wrong car,’” Hakkinen noted.

“The drivers after the first outing said they had small problems, but from my point of view it was really big trouble, even more so because the Red Bull was flying.

“But recovery is possible: what McLaren did recently is a great example. No one in Woking has pointed the finger at anyone, they have worked hard. What makes the difference is the people.”

The opening half of Ferrari’s campaign ended on a more promising note, with Leclerc delivering the team’s third podium of the year at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Leclerc has also been responsible for Ferrari claiming two pole positions, although at Spa-Francorchamps it was inherited due to a grid drop for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Ferrari has closed to within five points of Aston Martin in the contest for third place in the Constructors’ Championship, with McLaren a further 88 points adrift in fifth.

Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen has called on Ferrari to continue the confidence it displayed last time out in Canada at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Ferrari opted not to pit under an early Safety Car in Montreal, allowing its drivers to go deep into the race on Medium tyres in fresh air.

As a result, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz crossed the line in fourth and fifth place respectively following a dismal qualifying session the day before.

Ferrari’s 2023 season has been so far marred by a lack of performance as it has taken just one podium result in the opening eight rounds.

Writing in his column for Unitbet, Hakkinen says Ferrari mustn’t be discouraged if it is behind some of its rivals in Austria and instead focus on continuing its strong decision-making.

“Ferrari ran a good strategy in Canada and they need to build on that kind of confidence, even if Mercedes and Aston continue to have a performance advantage,” he said.

“Max Verstappen is running away with the World Championship for Drivers, while teammate Checo Perez has really suffered some poor races since Monaco and knows he needs to put together a consistent weekend.

“Behind Max there is so much to enjoy as Aston Martin battles with Mercedes Benz. 

“It was great to see Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on the podium with Max in Canada – three great world champions together. 

“Fernando and Lewis are beginning to close the gap to Checo in the World Championship and, just like Checo, their team-mates have had some problems.”

Hakkinen hails Alpine investment from Ryan Reynolds

One of the bigger news stories from this week was Alpine’s announcement that it had secured €200 million through new investments.

Included in the group of investors are Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – a situation that Hakkinen sees as a positive for F1.

“Alpine, fifth in the World Championship at the moment, had big news this week with the announcement that investors including Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have bought a quarter of the team,” he said. 

“I think that’s fantastic news for F1, showing how strongly the sport is performing in America, attracting new fans, sponsors and celebrity investors.”

Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen believes that Lewis Hamilton’s head is no longer completely focused on racing.

Hamilton is currently in his 17th year of Formula 1 competition and holds the most successful career of any driver.

The Briton has scored more wins, podiums and pole positions than any other driver in F1 history, while he is also tied with Michael Schumacher on seven titles.

However, his Mercedes squad has been uncompetitive over the last 18 months, leading to suggestions that Hamilton could seek a new challenge.

Rumours of a switch to Ferrari for 2024 began to surface earlier this year – however Hakkinen doesn’t see the 38-year-old making the move to the Italian squad.

“Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari would be a surprise,” Hakkinen told Unibet. “Does money motivate drivers? 

“I know Lewis’ head is not 100 per cent in racing anymore. It’s completely normal. But does money motivate? 

“Of course it does, but there are many risks involved. I think it’s highly unlikely he will join Ferrari.  

“I always say that when people get older, the order of your thoughts change. Your priorities in life change.

“Formula 1 just won’t be the most important thing anymore. It wouldn’t surprise me when the competition gets tougher and young drivers emerge, what George Russell is doing with Lewis at the moment, result-wise, it’s not an easy situation.  

“Does Lewis have enough energy to wake up every morning, give his everything and bring results so that he can beat his team-mate? Is that the right future for him?”  

Hamilton shut down the rumours of a Ferrari switch, stating last month that he was close to penning an extension with Mercedes.

His current deal with the Brackley-based squad expires at the end of the 2023 campaign.

Mika Hakkinen has praised Stefano Domenicali for experimenting with the Formula 1 race weekend format ahead of the first sprint race of the season.

The FIA ratified changes to the sprint format, announcing on Tuesday the debut of a ‘Sprint Shootout’.

From the Azerbaijan Grand Prix onwards, sprint weekends will see a qualifying session on Friday which sets the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.

Second practice on Saturday has been scrapped, and replaced by another, shorter qualifying session known as Sprint Shootout.

Mirroring the standard qualifying session, Sprint Shootout sees reduced session times with tyre choices restricted to Mediums for Q1 and Q2, with the Soft compound only permitted for Q3.

Two-time World Champion Mika Hakkinen has voiced his support for these changes.

“It’s brilliant to see how popular Formula 1 has become and I believe F1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali is right to experiment with [this] new form,” he wrote in his column for Unibet.

Hakkinen pointed at the loss of practice time as a particular area of interest which could test both teams and drivers.

“With only one practice session on Friday before the teams move into qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix, there is very little time for teams to gather data and play with set-ups.

“There is no possibility of getting the usual overnight support from the factory before heading into qualifying, so you need a really good baseline set-up and a driver who feels confident in the car.

“Where I feel the Sprint format has the potential to really affect Sunday is if a driver has a big accident of the kind in which the gearbox or engine suffers damage, or where a penalty hits a driver’s grid position on Sunday.”

Hakkinen believes that the changes put greater emphasis on the Sprint as a standalone race which will change the approach of teams and drivers.

“The 100kms Sprint Race takes on a different perspective for the teams and drivers since it no longer sets the grid for Sunday, and I think that is a fantastic move.

“F1 is introducing this to create more excitement for fans, spectators and TV broadcasters, and I really think it will work.  The teams are already quite nervous about the potential for extra damage!”

Lando Norris has received high praise from Mika Hakkinen, who claims the Briton is on the same competitive level as Max Verstappen.

Norris is currently in his fifth F1 season, having joined McLaren as a rookie in 2019.

However, compared to some of his peers that he grew up racing alongside, he has not been handed front-running machinery.

Norris is tied down to McLaren until the end of 2025, but his future at McLaren has been questioned by some amid the Woking-based squad’s struggles.

Hakkinen, who won both of his F1 titles with McLaren, has heaped praise on the 23-year-old.

“[He’s] a very quick driver, he’s achieved a lot, or rather he’s shown convincing results consistently,” he told Unibet.

“He’s super-talented, no question about it. He’s on the same level as Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz. He’s on a very high-level speed-wise.”

McLaren endured a difficult start to the 2023 campaign last weekend, with Norris pitting six times due to a pneumatic leak while team-mate Oscar Piastri retired on his debut.

The Woking-based squad admitted prior to the start of the year that it had missed development goals with the MCL60 car, leaving it to start the campaign on the back foot.

Despite that, it is targeting a top four finishing position in the Constructors’ Championship.

Hakkinen says that the potential of the current McLaren squad won’t be seen for a number of years.

“I don’t think McLaren has very high expectations this year,” he said.

“They know their development department, and their sponsors and partners are world-class technology giants. McLaren has their support but the team knows they aren’t quite there yet. The result need a couple more years.

“They are in it for the long run and have good partners. Like I said, there might be some results this year but I think the true performance will be seen in a couple of years.”

Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen says Sergio Perez must stay realistic with his hopes to beat Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Verstappen has enjoyed a highly successful stint with Red Bull across the last two years, winning back-to-back F1 titles.

Verstappen convincingly out-paced Perez in 2021 and 2022, but the latter has set his sights on improving his form for the 2023 campaign and challenge race race victories at every event.

However, Hakkinen has backed Verstappen to get even stronger during the year ahead, believing an unreliable car is the only hurdle standing in the way of his third title. 

“Max Verstappen is a very strong driver, that’s obvious,” Hakkinen told Unibet. “He always has been. 

“He’s worked hard to become the driver he is today. Is there currently someone faster than him on the track? I doubt it. I don’t think there is. 

“The championships have reinforced his self-confidence. He knows better how to prepare for the season. He’s still young. 

“The team knows what he can do, the team believes in him 100 per cent. His talent will further develop, it won’t go backwards, it develops. 

“Now it only comes down to one thing – if the team fails in their technical development, making the car unreliable and not being able to score points. 

“That’s when the other teams can get the upper hand. That’s the only thing stopping them.”

Perez famously played a major team role during the 2021 season to help deliver Verstappen his first title, which included holding up Lewis Hamilton at the finale in Abu Dhabi.

Having bowed to Red Bull’s wishes at times during the first two years at the team, Hakkinen says that he must concede that he won’t be able to best Verstappen during their stint as team-mates.

“Perez is a good team-mate” Hakkinen said. “He’s allowed to be the naughty one. He seems to be very obedient. 

“What I mean by being naughty is that sometimes the team asks him to do things, such as slowing others down. Sergio doesn’t care. He’ll slow them down, if the team wants. 

“Whether it’s the qualifying or the race, he’ll do what he’s asked to do. I think it’s dirty, but if it works, it works. 

“It’s a question of one’s image, though. But that’s how it goes sometimes. You won’t get that far unless you think you’re fast.

“But when you have a team-mate like Max, you need to be realistic and look in the mirror. You need to admit you can’t beat Max. 

“It takes something almost supernatural to beat Max. Perez will be second, there’s no question about it.”

George Russell possesses the ability to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him at Mercedes, believes two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen.

Russell was part of the Mercedes junior programme for several years before joining the F1 team as a full-time driver in 2022, having spent three seasons racing for Williams.

In his first year at the Brackley-based squad, Russell headed Hamilton in the standings with 35 points separating the duo.

Russell took Mercedes’ only victory of the year at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he was forced to deal with pressure from Hamilton late on in the race.

Speaking to Top Gear Magazine, Hakkinen has backed the 24-year-old to keep Hamilton in his mirrors going forward.

“What he did in Brazil, it was brilliant,” he said. The team has improved the car massively, so they can win races. Is he able to continue that trend?

“If he can keep with that experience what he has in Mercedes, and experience what he has in Formula 1 in general, he can keep Lewis behind. It’s really impressive.

“Because Lewis is incredible. Incredible personality, incredible driver. So if George can go for it, then I think England can look like ‘Wow, what a driver we have.”

Russell has enjoyed success in his junior career, taking titles in GP3 and Formula 2 – and Hakkinen believes that he can wrap up the F1 title one day.

“The list is unbelievably long when you start fine-tuning every aspect of being a racing driver,” Hakkinen said. “But he has already a massively long career behind him.

“Talking about karting, all those other categories, and his knowledge of data, his capabilities handling the car in extreme situations… I am confident he has all the potential to be a great driver, potentially becoming a World Champion.”

Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen has backed Daniel Ricciardo to return to the sport in the future.

Ricciardo has taken on a third driver role with former team Red Bull following his departure from McLaren.

The Australian driver had a difficult two seasons at the Woking-based squad and often struggled to extract performance from his cars.

Ricciardo’s original contract was not set to expire until the end of the 2023 campaign.

He is hopeful of a return to the F1 grid in 2024, a scenario that Hakkinen thinks could come to fruition.

“It was great to see Daniel Ricciardo finish his career at McLaren by joining Lando Norris in the points on Sunday [in Abu Dhabi],” Hakkinen wrote in his column for Unibet. 

“Daniel is a good driver, but after some years in F1 a break can be important. 

“When I retired from F1 [in 2001] my McLaren team boss Ron Dennis convinced me to call it a sabbatical, but I knew I would not be coming back.

“I think Daniel is different – he has had a couple of tough seasons and just needs to rediscover his motivation.  At 33 years of age, he has time on his side.”

At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last month, there were commemorations throughout the weekend for Sebastian Vettel, who took part in his last race before retirement.

“Sebastian Vettel’s retirement is a big moment for him and F1,” Hakkinen said. 

“He did an absolutely brilliant job at Red Bull to win those four titles and I feel sure we can say that finishing 2nd in a Ferrari to Lewis in 2017 and 2018 – at the top of Mercedes dominance – was really a great achievement.”

Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen believes the negative publicity that Red Bull received following its cost cap breach will be enough to deter teams from exceeding the spending quota going forward.

Last month, the FIA revealed that Red Bull had breached last year’s $145 million cap by £1.4m, a figure which would’ve been reduced significantly had a tax credit been appropriately applied.

The energy drink squad was the only team to be found guilty of being in a “minor” spending breach, while Williams and Aston Martin fell under the category of a less severe “procedural” breach.

Red Bull was fined $7m and will have reduced aerodynamic testing time in 2023 – but Hakkinen believes that it won’t necessarily be the punishment that will scare teams off in the future.

“The first thing to say is that I am glad this matter is now closed and the FIA’s penalty accepted by Red Bull,” Hakkinen wrote in his Unibet column.

“With technical and sporting regulations you generally have a clear decision, for example if the car is under the weight limit or a driver goes outside the track limits, but with the financial regulations there was always likely to be a grey area.

“I think that is why everyone accepted two levels to breaking the budget cap – a minor or major overspend. The FIA recognised that there could be various levels of overspend and reasons for doing so.”

“Red Bull’s penalty for the minor overspend is still significant. Far more than the financial or aerodynamic penalty, it has been an uncomfortable experience for the team.

“The good thing is that no team will want to risk repeating this next year, so although it has been a very difficult and controversial moment for Red Bull, I believe it will benefit F1 in the long term because every team boss will be determined not to have this kind of negative publicity in future.”

Hakkinen hails Verstappen and Red Bull’s 2022 F1 season

The controversy arose for Red Bull in a season in which it has been dominant, taking the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships with a number of rounds to spare.

Last time out in Mexico, Max Verstappen took his 14th win of the campaign, setting a new record for the most wins in a single season.

“It has been an incredible season for Max and the Red Bull team,” said Hakkinen. “They are in that perfect position of having total confidence in themselves, their car and race strategy.

“In the early part of the [Mexico] race Max managed to protect his soft compound tyres in spite of Lewis pushing hard in 2nd position, and when he then switched to mediums you could see that Mercedes’ selection of hard tyres for Lewis was too conservative.

“Basically Mercedes’ drivers were on tyres which were one compound too hard throughout the race, while Red Bull got it just right.”

“To win 14 Grands Prix in one season is crazy, something we have never seen before. It’s a fantastic achievement for Max and his team – and they can easily add to that in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

“When you look at Sergio Perez’s result, finishing 3rd, it shows how tight the margins really are. Max is on a different level.”