Hakkinen

[davebreen]

Heard a sports journalist on the radio after the race refer to him as the "flailing Finn", maybe it really is time for him to go. Not at the end of the season, now. Good performance in Qualifying and a possible failure of his LC at the start, but still if he leaves now he will be remembered as a great champion, who realised when it was time to quit. Wurz is up to the job, and can surely do no worse than Mika was been. So maybe, its time for him to pass on his title as the Flying Finn to the emerging talent of Kimi Raikkonen

[EERO]

I think he will see out the season. Today's stall was not his fault, (I hope) but bad luck has a way of compounding. I still believe he'll call it quits at the end of the season, but from what I understand, the desire to compete has not diminished, though his pace when actually able to race seems to contradict this.

[Suzy]

Hi folks

Today's stall was NOT Mika's fault - it was down to, according to Ron, an incorrectly assembled component in the gearbox! As a staunch Mika supporter, I am pretty gutted that McLaren seem to have forgotten how to build a proper racing car. I don't know what is happening but I do think that Mika should stay. He's already talking about next season which is promising. You have to remember that he's been let down by his car on this occasion and it's nothing to do with him. I know he can come back and he will be strong; I just hope he feels the same way as me.

Still I bet a few heads will be rolling at McLaren very shortly if they don't get things fixed. There will be a few heads slammed in laptops and a few of the gearbox assembly guys ought to keep a low profile for a bit.

As an aside, my budgie (Baba) was watching the race with me and he talks. He chattered his way through the race (his commentary was far more interesting than James Allen's) and when we got to the post-race press conference and Michael was talking Baba started saying "pretty boy" (one of his favourite phrases). As soon as Rubens began to talk, Baba just put his head into his wing and went to sleep until the commercial breaks cut in Nice to know what the budgie thinks of each driver. I'm still trying to teach him to say "Mika is brilliant" - he can say "Mika" which is a start. Oh, I love having a talking bird - great fun (but that's beside the point).

Kind regards

Suzy

[davebreen]

I said that I didnt think it was Mikas fault today, but i think he will be giving serious consideration to his future. His car has been given the same treatment( better at the start of the season) that DC's has. I know he has had bad luck but some of it has been down to a lack of edge. It is well acknowledged that he is just not as committed this season and in F1 if your not giving 100% all of the time, you shouldnt be there

[Bononi]

It was a pity seeing he stalled at the start... I was hoping he could do a good job today.

Unlucky is a bad sign... way to retirement.

[R]

It's good to hear that what happened at the start of the warm up lap today wasn't Mika's fault. It was nevertheless tremendously disappointing.

"Unlucky" doesn't even begin to describe Mika's disastrous season... I don't think any word is strong enough to describe it anymore!

[Speed]

Originally posted by davebreen
maybe it really is time for him to go

Don´t think so..., he started from the second row of the grid, and definittely doesn´t deserve to be treated as a Mazzacane...

[JeremySmith]

I think that it is unfair to suggest that Mika Hakkinen should retire considering his season so far has been plagued with CAR related problems..not pilot error..

The car is just not up too it, Mika has the speed, the machine does not.

We are talking about a WDC here..not some novice! Ask Michael who he realy respects and the answer will be Mika every time.

[Kalevi]

Mika sure has had more than his share of bad luck this year, usually from technical reasons. He has always been a bit unlucky guy but still is twicely crowned world champion. Bad luck is no reason to retire when he is still very fast.

I can think a couple of current f1 drivers who should retire rather than Mika.

[drexel]

The question isn't whether he is good enough, of course he is. It comes down to him having his heart in it and at the moment he doesn't. That is why Coulthard regularly out qualifies him these days. IMO the Maclaren isn't that bad, i think the only problem is it doesn't have the edge on Ferrari it did in the past, and Coulthard is not a driver that can lift the team emotionally, like Michael and Mika.

[Super Tourer]

With Mika, I feel its just a case of priorities. Right now his top priority is his wife and son - as it should be. If he still feels that way in a few races time he should quit, before fate turns a hand. He's won two WDC and survived a near fatal shunt - that should be enough for anyone.

In anycase, what's the point of him continuing - what more has he got to prove. By the end of this year he will already be two WDC (probably!) behind MS - so equaling him will be almost impossible. He's won loads of races and two champs. Well done. But don't turn into a Damon Hill and go a season too long, poor old DH is almost remembered as much for his pitifull last year as his WDC.

When you are near the top of the tree, there is generally only one way to go and that's down. Trying to get higher or even stay where you are becomes more and more difficult (unless you are MS, but I don't think that MH has anywhere near the level of drive that he has).

Driver's can't go no forever - deciding to stop is almost as important as knowing where to start!

[RussianFriend]

Bad luck is not a reason for retirement, but it may destroy the motivation, the lack of last is enough reason to call it a day.

Mika was bad luck guy for a long time, but he had a lots of motivation to return and overtake his misfortune. Now he's twice crowned. The fact Mika was fighting for good position in qualification and took 3th place confirms that he's still interested in racing.

The only question is how much of bad luck is his motivation able to survive?

[Bononi]

Yes, and the most important is the man inside the driver. If he's thinking more in his life outside F1, then he must remake his plans. I remember drivers like Damon Hill, Prost and Piquet saying that.

[racer69]

I think its time to give it away. sure, most of the problems haven't been his fault, but when he has had a good car he hasn't done much with it. At Melbourne was the only time he has really been competitive, maybe that major crash near the powerhouse on lap 32 still haunts him, because he been going pretty bad since. I think he should see out the season and see if he improves. if not, he should retire and have a go at le mans or touring cars or something, things that allow him to race and spend a good amount of time with his family. Imagine Hakkinen in the BTCC or ETC.