Lewis Hamilton could have ’emotional’ struggle on F1 return, admits former world champion Mika Hakkinen – and he might find it ‘really hard to accept’ a poor Mercedes ahead of the sport’s rules revamp this year
- Lewis Hamilton has been considering his F1 future after controversial title loss
- New rules and regulations are coming into force for the sport starting this year
- Car designs will be revamped and could reset the top order of the grid
- Mika Hakkinen fears Hamilton faces an emotional battle if new Mercedes is slow
Mika Hakkinen believes Lewis Hamilton may find it tough to continue in Formula One if Mercedes fail to produce a competitive car ahead of a new era of the sport starting this year.
The Mercedes star is already considering his career after a controversial loss at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix back in December saw him dramatically lose out on a record eighth world championship to fierce rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton has not spoken publicly since, and has been considering his future in the sport. Former two-time champion Hakkinen believes the 37-year-old Brit will not have lost any confidence and hopes the Mercedes star will still continue
Lewis Hamilton has not spoken about his F1 future since losing the world title in December
‘Lewis’ journey in Formula One has been really long and there are so many elements which will come into his opinion as to whether to continue,’ said Hakkinen, who won consecutive titles with McLaren in 1998 and 1999.
‘Lewis has the confidence. He has been winning, he has been on the top of the podium, and everybody has been looking at him like, “Wow, you are great”.
‘He is thinking that it must continue this way, so this is going to be a very interesting year for him.
Mika Hakkinen shakes hands with Hamilton back in 2007 – now he hopes the Brit will continue
‘There are a lot of question marks surrounding Lewis. We don’t know whether he is coming back, but let’s hope he is.’
Hakkinen narrowly lost out on defending his world title to Michael Schumacher in 2000, before he showed a huge decline in form after his McLaren team were unable to match the pace of Schumacher’s Ferrari, leading to the great Finn’s retirement at the end of the season.
While Mercedes have largely dominated the sport since 2014 – winning eight constructors’ titles in a row, a huge revamp of rules and regulations means there could be a big shake-up on the grid for the 2022 campaign and beyond.
Formula One will undergo a revamp of rules and regulations, with a prototype of how the 2022 cars could look unveiled at Silverstone last July (pictured)
Now 53, Hakkinen fears Hamilton may go through a familiar phase of not being able to accept a loss of competitiveness should this year’s new Mercedes not bring him the success he has largely enjoyed since joining the team in 2013.
‘The regulations in Formula One have dramatically changed. It is going to be a completely new machine and the chances are that the designers might not find an optimum machine. If that happens to Lewis it is going to be really hard for him to accept,’ Hakkinen added.
‘If you have been at the top of the mountain and suddenly you have to climb back up the mountain because you don’t have the best car, it is going to be emotional for him to control.’