After finishing the first qualifying session of the 2022 season in Bahrain, Hakkinen dedicated harsh words to Sergio Pérez in his role as a commentator for the Viaplay channel in the Netherlands.
The Mexican driver had qualified fourth, 0.363s off Charles Leclerc’s pole position in the Ferrari and 0.240s off Max Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate, who had been second.
For the Finn, two-time F1 world champion, however, what Pérez did that day was not enough and he assured that the Mexican “was not helping Verstappen”.
In the second weekend of the season, Checo dispatched with an impressive performance in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which earned him his first pole position in Formula 1.
That #11 performance now appears to have changed Hakkinen’s opinion of him.
“It has been very satisfying to see ‘Checo’ get his first pole position in Formula 1. 11 years, 220 grands prix is a long time waiting for that, but you need a competitive car and he is making the most of that opportunity,” said the former McLaren driver on the Unibet betting website.
“It shows the confidence he has in the car, and it’s good news for Red Bull that Checo is able to push performance to the limit,” he added.
Unfortunately on Sunday Pérez was unable to turn his pole position into a victory, affected by a safety car just after making his first pit stop, which dropped him from first to fourth, where he finally finished the race.
For Hakkinen, however, Pérez will take away many positive things from his time in Jeddah and hopes that he can continue to improve on the pole position obtained on one of the most difficult circuits on the calendar.
“The safety car moment was a disaster for him, but these things happen and you just have to stay focused and try to recover,” said Mika Hakkinen.
Falling behind Carlos Sainz and dropping to fourth only added to his disappointment, but I think Checo can take a lot of positives out of this weekend. It will give him even more confidence to have put that first pole position behind him.
