Hakkinen: ‘Watching McLaren is painful’

Double world champion Mika Hakkinen has said that watching McLaren is “painful” but expects them to fight back to the front again.

The Finn drove for the team between 1993-2001 and won 20 races on his way to back-to-back world titles in 1998 and 1999.

However, McLaren’s glory years are over as Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button struggled badly in 2015 as the team limped to ninth in the Constructors Standings.

"Of course it's painful to watch them because everyone is talking about the failure. It's physiologically demanding,” he said.

The route of McLaren’s problem proved to be the new Honda engine, which was unreliable and lacking power.

However, Hakkinen believes they will get over their problems and become a force once again.

He said: "If McLaren had a bad season this year, I don't see that as the end of the world. It's a big team and there are some great people working there.

"I'm sure with the right positive mentality and thinking, they will get over the problems and they will come back to being successful.

"This is not the end of McLaren. This is the start of McLaren. It's a new relationship they have with a new engine manufacturer.

"This is a like a test to see how they can go over the problems together and face the challenges in the future.

"When you learn new things, you make mistakes and those mistakes make you wiser and you can be better."

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