In the column he writes for the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat<\/i>, Mika Hakkinen discussed the Scuderia Ferrari duo for 2014, Alonso\/R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen. The Finn believes that his compatriot will be most comfortable behind the wheel of the 2014 Ferrari equipped with a Turbo V6 1.6L engine and that R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen should therefore be able to surpass his double world champion teammate: \u00ab I think Kimi’s driving style is really perfect for these turbo [engine] cars. Alonso attacks too much, so I think Kimi will beat him, \u00bb explains Hakkinen.<\/p>\n
Hakkinen also thinks that the environment at the Maranello team will be more conducive than that of Lotus, allowing R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen to fully focus on his performance on the track: \u00ab Everyone knows that Ferrari has enormous resources to develop [its car] during the season. Development will not stop, even if good engineers leave. And Kimi doesn’t have to worry about the financial aspect, Ferrari has what it takes. \u00bb<\/p>\n
On his side, R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen seemed rather confident, in a video published on Ferrari’s website, about his adaptation to his new car: \u00ab My feeling is that driving these new cars won’t be as difficult as people think. Hopefully, we will finally find that it’s quite simple. Clearly, it will be challenging for the technical staff, everyone who had to make a new engine, new gearboxes, and all that. But I don’t think it affects the driver too much. We will obviously have new buttons and everything that comes with it, but let’s wait and see. It will be easier to say after the first tests. \u00bb<\/p>\n
The native of Espoo also expressed his delight at reuniting with the Scuderia and the Tifosi: \u00ab It’s nice to come back here [to Maranello], of course it’s pleasant to be back and see people who were already there when I was at Ferrari [between 2007 and 2009]. Also new people, but it’s really been very good so far. There are a lot of good people in the team, with a lot of knowledge. We have to do our best and see where we end up, but there’s a chance to really do well. It’s also nice to see the fans, and the fact that they’re happy I’m back at Ferrari is obviously a bonus. Hopefully, we can achieve good results and make them even happier. \u00bb<\/p>\n
Thanks to this return to the Reds, Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen hopes to reach the top again in Formula 1 and perhaps clinch a new world champion title: \u00ab There is only one thing we are going to try to do, and that is to win championships. Let’s hope that as a team we will be able to do it. It’s going to be complicated, especially with the new regulations. It’s very difficult to say where everyone stands and what will happen. \u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mika Hakkinen believes that Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen’s driving style could give him the advantage\u2014with F1 cars equipped with turbo engines\u2014over Fernando Alonso. R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen himself believes that these new single-seaters shouldn’t change things too much, but he hopes his return to Ferrari will allow him to reach the top in Formula 1 once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":40140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[360,777,998],"class_list":["post-16211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-alonso","tag-raikkonen","tag-mikka-hakkinen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n