Häkkinen: Alonso dominates Räikkönen, Vettel’s attitude will harm him
In an interview, Mika Häkkinen discussed several events from the beginning of the season, starting with Kimi Räikkönen's situation at Ferrari, as well as Sebastian Vettel's attitude during the Chinese Grand Prix.
Discreet in the media, Mika Häkkinen, double Formula 1 World Champion in 1998 and 1999 for McLaren, was interviewed on several topics for the magazine Hermes. He notably discussed the situation at Ferrari, both on the track and behind the scenes, as well as Sebastian Vettel’s behavior during the Chinese Grand Prix.
Räikkönen dominated by Alonso
For the Flying Finn, the situation of his compatriot at Ferrari is not good: « Kimi has problems and they must be resolved. » For him, the sporting hierarchy at the beginning of this season is clear: « Alonso is simply dominating Kimi. It’s not a small difference. After four races, Kimi needs to do better. The car can’t be so bad that it’s impossible to compete with Alonso. Kimi must improve, and he must do so quickly. »
But, what to do to correct problems that seem to greatly handicap Iceman? « The simulator can be a good alternative because you can try all sorts of settings. » However, Häkkinen refrains from any interference: « However, I do not want to give Kimi advice because I imagine that a World Champion will find the right solution for his problems to beat his teammate and produce decent performances. »
The replacement of Domenicali by Mattiacci at Ferrari
If Mika Häkkinen acknowledges ties with the former director of the Scuderia, he believes that the time had come to change something: « Stefano is a friend, but sometimes change is necessary. It’s hard to say if Ferrari made the right decision, but when big companies don’t get results, heads roll. »
Even if he doesn’t want to judge Marco Mattiacci too soon, he believes that not coming from Formula 1 could be detrimental: « Only time will tell how it will go, but if you don’t have much experience in F1, it will be difficult to get to work quickly. »
The attitude of Vettel will « harm him »
The 1998 and 1999 world champion also spoke about the Chinese Grand Prix from the Red Bull side. He is puzzled by Sebastian Vettel’s attitude, who initially refused to let his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, pass: « For Vettel, it’s a bad surprise that Ricciardo beats him, but the team’s instructions must be followed. Already last year [in Malaysia], I was surprised by Vettel’s behavior towards his team, and now it continues. »
He condemns his refusal to comply: « Behaving like this will, sooner or later, harm him. Maybe he plans to change teams, but for now, he is not acting in the right way. » As a reminder, Vettel eventually let his teammate pass.
