F1 legend hints at inside info as Red Bull warned over unexpected challenge

16 June 2023 , 16:42

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Mika Hakkinen has discussed his old team McLaren's chances in the near-future (Image: AP)

Mika Hakkinen hinted that he knows something about his former McLaren team's upgrade plans as he made an eye-catchingly confident prediction for their season.

McLaren had made strong progress and looked the most likely team to challenge F1's 'big three'. But, since the start of 2022, their progress has stalled and others have emerged from the midfield instead.

The story has been the same so far this season. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have managed only 17 points between them, tying them with Alfa Romeo in sixth place.

They are separated from leaders Red Bull by just the 270 points after seven races. Regardless, Hakkinen is backing his former team to close the performance gap to the defending champions before the end of this year.

While he admitted Red Bull are most likely already too far ahead for anyone to catch in terms of points, the Finn feels McLaren are well-placed to be able to fight at the very front in a few months' time.

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"I don't think anyone is able to catch up [to Red Bull] this year," he told Unibet. "The only surprise I think we'll see is McLaren's possible progress during the next two months."

While McLaren seem to be some way off the quickest cars, he felt confident enough to add: "I think they will surprise us massively. Just in terms of the speed of the car, they will probably challenge Red Bull."

Hakkinen thinks the McLaren cars could soon be just as fast as the Red Bulls (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Norris appears to be less optimistic about the rest of his season. Speaking to reporters in Montreal, ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, the Brit made it clear he is still less than pleased with the performance of his MCL60.

He said: "No track suits our car! We struggle in corners. Long corners are definitely a lot worse. For us, high speed corners are the best.

"We're actually very competitive at high speed – I would say close to being one of the best on the track. But the opposite in the slow speed corners."

Daniel Moxon