Hakkinen Explains His Incredible Prophecy Of McLaren's Progress

Sunday, 17 December 2023 at 21:00

The double World Champion Mika Hakkinen predicted McLaren's 2023 incredible success when the team struggled at the back of the grid, and now he has revealed how he knew it.

McLaren F1 team finished the 2022 season in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship and planned to compete for a better position in 2023, but the beginning of the season was a bit of a harsh reality for the team.

The Papaya team admitted that when they introduced their 2023 car, they were not where they wanted to be, and the first few races showed McLaren's lack of performance as the team struggled at the back of the grid.

Almost nobody would then say that McLaren had a chance of improving so much the team would challenge the Red Bull Racing team in the same season.

However, there was one person who somehow predicted the big step in development that the team would make, and that was Mika Hakkinen.

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The Finn suggested that after the Canadian Grand Prix, McLaren would be challenging Red Bull by the end of the season, which raised a few eyebrows, considering McLaren had collected only 17 points up until then. He said:

"The only surprise I think we’ll see is McLaren’s possible progress during the next two months. I think they will surprise us massively. Just in terms of the speed of the car, they will probably challenge Red Bull."

When asked where his prediction came from, Hakkinen explained he had spent a big portion of his career in factories talking to people. After he toured the McLaren factory, he could tell there was something special. As reported by McLaren, he said:

"From spending time at the factory with different departments. Talking with different people in the factory, seeing their motivation and how confident they were – they knew what they were talking about. And every department felt like a team."

While his predictions were more than brave, the 55-year-old suggested he saw what he had seen in McLaren during his successful era.

"You could tell that they had done their homework and calculations, which made me confident. You need team spirit, and you need confidence in the team's leaders, and that is what is going on."

One of McLaren's drivers, Lando Norris, recently praised the new team principal, Andrea Stella, for doing an incredible job in terms of uniting the team under one clear direction, and that is what Hakkinen described he has seen.

"There is a direction, and that is an important motivating factor. The mechanics, engineers, marketing, media, everybody at the track and factory is working super hard. The teamwork is a mega success."