Abu Dhabi: Two-time Formula One world champion Mika Hakkinen insists his ailing former outfit McLaren can recapture their former glories given their formidable track record of success.
The eight-time constructors’ champions were second from bottom of the 10-strong standings before Sunday’s Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to persistent problems with their Honda engine.
Hakkinen, who won successive world titles with the British marque in 1998 and 1999, insists the team’s storied history means a revival is around the corner.
“If you look at the history of McLaren and what they’ve been doing over the years, they have been a very great and successful team,” the Finn, who is one of 11 drivers to have won a global crown with McLaren along with illustrious names such as Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview.
“I believe they will continue doing that in the future but at the moment, for sure, with the changes they have done and the engine manufacturer, all that has affected many things.
“But when companies make decisions, they always concentrate on long-term programmes, so that’s why I don’t think we should look too much at what’s happening tomorrow. You really need to go much further.
“I believe they will get their success back.”
“I am looking at the history and what I had with them and what they had with great drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.”
But how is dwelling on the past profitable?
“It’s about experience. That counts in my opinion. If you’ve never won a grand prix, never been on pole position or won a world championship, you don’t know how to get there.
“The teams that have been there, they know the road how to get there.”
Hakkinen, who also drove for Lotus during a glittering career between 1991 and 2001 that yielded 20 race wins, is unaware of whether McLaren possess the budget to mount an unlikely world title challenge next year.
He went on to express his sympathy for the team’s drivers, who share three world titles between them, two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, but who have toiled in a woefully underperforming car.
“It’s definitely very, very frustrating for them, for sure.”
Before Sunday’s GP at Yas Marina Circuit, Alonso lay 17th out of 21 drivers in the drivers’ championship with only 11 points, five adrift of his 16th-place British teammate.
Their struggles have shown no signs of abating this weekend, either.
Button started in 12th place on the grid for the season finale, with Alonso five positions further back amid suggestions — which have since been quashed — from team boss Ron Dennis that the Spaniard could take a sabbatical in 2016.
“From going to winning a world championship, suddenly you’re fighting to get into a qualification and that’s hard. But I hope they stick with both drivers because, when you’re a team boss, you always have to look at marketing values.”
