F1 News
Hakkinen enjoys title fight: 'Chances of hitting each other are there'
- GPblog.com
The battle for the World Drivers' Championship title reached a new high at Silverstone. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton fought for the lead during the entire first lap and that ended with Verstappen in the gravelpit and Hamilton with a time penalty. According to former F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen such accidents are inevitable.
"As a top driver, going for the World Championship, you are not there to back off. It’s our job to race, and I know from my own experiences that when you are racing wheel-to-wheel there is always the possibility of the cars touching", explained the Finn in his column on Unibet. Hakkinen sees the accident as a racing incident, he explains in his column.
Duels still frequent this season
He also looks at the interests of both drivers, which caused them to hit each other. "Max is feeling very confident. He has won five Grands Prix this year and is leading the World Championship. He made such a great start, and was not going to give up the position to Lewis very easily, particularly at such a fast corner. Lewis is equally confident in himself and his car. He has achieved so much success."
"He has so much experience, which means he is very focused on the win, and to gaining track position over Max". Hakkinen expects the two to clash more often this season. "This accident will really put some fire between these guys and their battle for the World Championship. Neither of them will want to repeat that accident, but they will be even more determined not to lift off the throttle the next time they are in this kind of close battle. We are going to see them fight hard for the rest of the season. It’s going to be really fascinating," Hakkinen concluded hopefully.