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Hakkinen no fan of penalties: "That would be a shame for Formula 1"
- GPblog.com
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was controversial in many ways, but it proved all the more given that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are in the midst of one of the most hard-fought world championships in the history of the sport. That's the opinion of Mika Hakkinen, who hopes the title will be decided on the basis of 'pure racing', rather than penalties.
The two-time world champion calls it "brilliant" that the rivals go into the final weekend with exactly the same amount of points. "After 21 hard races, with lots of ups and downs, we now have a race to decide the World Championship. It’s a beautiful moment for Formula One but I want to see the title decided on the basis of pure racing," explained the Finn in his column for Unibet.
Decisive race for the championship
"That means the quickest driver and car combination should win on Sunday," continued Hakkinen. "I don’t want to see penalties being used to determine who wins the World Championship – that would be a shame for Formula One and the most important people in the sport, the fans."
Although we use words like 'battle' or 'fights' to describe the intensity of the competition between Verstappen and Hamilton, Hakkinen stresses that this is not a war. "We do not want to see cars colliding with each other, increasing the risk for everyone. Formula 1 is dangerous enough," writes the former McLaren driver.
Hakkinen was also on the edge of his seat during the race in Jeddah. "Lewis and Max pushed as hard as they possibly could. Max's first restart was a brave move, but ultimately a waste of time since he had to hand the place back. His second restart, when he went for the gap on the left as Lewis moved right to cover of the impressive Esteban Ocon, was just perfect. This is the kind of manoeuvre which can win a race, or even a championship," he concluded.