The 2022 edition of the Goodwood Festival of Speed has witnessed unique moments in the history of the event, such as Max Chilton’s performance with the McMurtry to break the official and unofficial records or the reunion of Nigel Mansell with his legendary Williams FW14B with the number 5 red with which he won the Formula 1 world title in the 1992 season.
However, one of the stellar moments came with another driver who managed to reach Olympus in the highest category of motorsports, and not once, but twice. Mika Hakkinen , who added his two championships in 1998 and 1999, delighted all the fans by climbing the hill on the estate of the Duke of Richmond with a car that is in the memory of the vast majority of fans.
The Finn climbed into the legendary McLaren MP4/5B , the evolution of the car in which Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost fought an epic duel for the world title in 1989. Redesigned aerodynamics and a rear end with larger radiators were the updates to the single-seater for the 1990 season, in which both drivers had already broken their relationship as teammates at the Woking team.
In that campaign, the Frenchman, who at that time won the world championship due to the crash in the remembered Japanese Grand Prix, had his greatest rival in Senna, and the Brazilian took revenge by his own means by repeating contact in Suzuka to add his second world title with only one appointment pending in 1990, the Australian Grand Prix.
Returning to modern times, the car with the white and red decoration that wears the number #27, went up the Goodwood road roaring with its Honda RA100E V10 engine , which managed to triumph in six races in that year in which it competed in Formula 1, in addition to being able to win the constructors’ title after adding 121 points, 11 units more than Ferrari.
That McLaren MP4-5B climbed to the podium in all the appointments of the season except in the final stretch made up of the race in Spain, Japan and Australia, but in total there were 18 times among the positions of honor, but on Saturdays he dominated without a rival take 12 of the 16 pole positions, i.e. a conversion rate of 75%.
Mika Hakkinen , getting out of the car and taking off his emblematic helmet, showed a big smile for this opportunity he had at Goodwood, but even before taking the controls of this beast, the Finn’s desire to test it was noticeable.
