Two-time Formula 1 champion Mika Hakkinen has warned McLaren against pursuing Max Verstappen, advising his former team to protect its internal team spirit and avoid “rocking the boat” amid midseason driver market speculation.
Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast alongside his former McLaren team-mate David Coulthard, the Finnish legend addressed the ongoing F1 ‘silly season’ and persistent rumours linking Red Bull’s Verstappen with a potential move to the Woking outfit.
Coulthard raised the topic while discussing driver movements. Noting that Hakkinen remains very much a McLaren person, Coulthard asked how he would approach the scenario if he were acting as McLaren team principal.
Specifically, Coulthard questioned whether attempting to place a driver such as the four-time champion alongside Lando Norris would inevitably lead to internal complications and friction.
“It’s very interesting,” Hakkinen explained. “It’s not only Max out there, of course, but there are many other drivers. But what I have seen [with] how McLaren operates, they want to really look at the overall team package all the time. Because that’s the only way to achieve success — to build incredible team spirit power inside.
“If you would ask me what I would do, I would like to minimise that risk — that way you would lose this kind of team spirit if the team has two great drivers. Why rock the boat?”
Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
The Finnish driver drew upon his own tenure at McLaren. Hakkinen and Coulthard spent six seasons together as team-mates at Woking. He argued that when healthy team dynamics exist, management should prioritise continuity over driver market gambles.
“And of course McLaren having a world champion… and we were the longest team-mates in Formula 1,” Hakkinen noted. “That indicates that if there’s a good harmony inside a team, why have somebody else there?”
F1 returns for the Dutch Grand Prix from 21-23 August at Zandvoort.
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