Hakkinen: 'They show that experience really counts in these conditions'

Perfect start

Mika Hakkinen discusses the performance of Racing Point in his column for Unibet. He has many good words for Lance Stroll. "He did a really good job on Saturday and again in the race on Sunday. The Racing Point was working well, as we saw with a very strong performance from Sergio Perez, but it was Lance who took the pole and then made a perfect start," said the former Formula 1 driver.

The win slipped out of Stroll's hands - due to oversteer and graining of his tyres - and he had to settle for ninth place in the end. "It was tough for him to lose his tyre performance, but a truly brilliant result for the team when Sergio finished second." The Finn hopes Perez can get another seat for next year. "Both he and Sebastian show how experience really counts when driving an F1 car in difficult conditions like this."

Enough to smile about

Lawrence Stroll, co-owner of Racing Point, had a good weekend anyway, according to Hakkinen. "Now that Sebastian Vettel finished third, I'm sure Lawrence Stroll had enough to smile about, and Sebastian will be looking forward to joining a team that seems to be moving in the right direction."

Hakkinen has known Stroll for a very long time. "I have known his father, Lawrence Stroll, since one of the companies he built - Tommy Hilfiger - was a sponsor of Team Lotus during my first seasons in Formula 1. Lawrence is a good businessman, full of energy, and his deals to buy Racing Point and Aston Martin are exactly the kind of thing he does well."

Buying Racing Point and letting his son race there often leads to criticism of Lance. Hakkinen thinks this is unfair. "I have known lots of drivers who have had family support during their career, but in Turkey we saw that Lance has the talent and skill necessary to be racing at this level.”