Former F1 World Champion Hakkinen backs Piastri to bounce back after Azerbaijan GP crash
Former Formula One world champion Mika Hakkinen backed F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri to bounce back after a nightmarish weekend in Azerbaijan, a fortnight ago, where the Australian crashed in qualifying and the race.
“Well, you just analyse your mistakes, of what happened with the team, and [if] there was something in the car; what we could do differently to be able to do better and not to make mistakes. It’s quite a simple process. I don’t think Oscar will experience anything negative here. I think he is just going to work harder to be able to get the maximum result,” said Hakkinen in a chat with Sportstar organised by Fancode.
The two-time world champion (1998, 1999) knows a thing or two about bouncing back from mistakes while fighting for a title. At the 1999 Italian GP, Hakkinen binned his car while leading comfortably when he was locked in a tight championship battle with Ferrari’s Eddie Irvine.
“I think this is exactly what happened,” the Flying Finn recalled. “We analysed very carefully — personally, my own performance as well as the team’s performance — and why these kinds of things happen. So Oscar, I’m sure he has done identical work and knows the reasons.”
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Hakkinen also praised the improvements Piastri has made from last year. “Well, if you don’t look at the last Grand Prix, I think he has massively improved his qualification performance. Races, he has been extremely fast and very consistent. But this year, he has improved the qualification performance, and that’s very impressive.”
From being out of the title race before the summer break, Max Verstappen has come back strongly since with a second place and two wins in the last three races. Though he is still 69 points behind, the former McLaren driver felt the reigning champion could still fight for the title with seven races left.
“Of course. Max is there (in the fight). He is there to win races. So it’s always a distraction for Oscar and Lando. Max has had an incredible performance. I think it’s very difficult to compare him to other drivers at the moment. I think he’s in a different league,” said Hakkinen.
Published on Oct 03, 2025