Hakkinen sees new threat to Verstappen: 'Great to see McLaren up there'

The realisation that Max Verstappen's chances of winning the championship are increasing seems to be coming home to roost in the F1 paddock. Four wins in five races, including the race in Baku, show that the Dutchman is in great shape. Mika Hakkinen sees that too, who enjoyed all the orange fans present in Speilberg.

"It was great to see all the action around the track again for the first time since 2019 and to see how excited the fans were," begins Hakkinen in his column on Unibet. The Finn is very appreciative of the way Verstappen managed to take his third win in a row. "Mercedes is strong, but Red Bull has a clear advantage and Max Verstappen is already taking advantage of that. We already expected Max to be fast after his win a week earlier, but the team managed to find even more momentum."

Hakkinen proud of McLaren

Hakkinen, therefore, saw that Verstappen had little to fear from his rival. "Max secured an easy win and it looks like he's in the top game." Hakkinen also looks at the action behind the Dutchman, particularly explaining McLaren's performance.

"Max of course grabbed pole on Saturday, but on a small difference from the start of the weekend, Lando Norris. It was great to see him at McLaren. The result was another podium. Ricciardo was seventh, so overall a good weekend for my old team. It's great to see that they were only 0.048 seconds off pole," Hakkinen concluded.