- 02 Jul 09, 03:05#130393
An amusing interview with good ol' Mika... who happens to like NASCAR.
http://blogs.motortrend.com/6553854/editorial/a-chat-with-f1-world-champ-mika-h-kkinen-who-loves-nascar/index.html
The door opens, and in walks Mika Häkkinen, twice Formula 1 world driving champion, winner of 20 Grands Prix during his ten-year career (1991-2001), and the racing foe seven-time champion Michael Schumacher says he admired and feared most. I’m in Stuttgart, Germany, to drive the new 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG sedan, and the maker has arranged for its now-retired superstar (Häkkinen won his championships driving Benz-powered McLarens) to sit down for a brief chat.
The Finnish-born Häkkinen, now 40, looks fit, tanned, and relaxed. As we make introductions, he says he’s already driven the E63 (I drive it tomorrow), and after his flat-out laps around the Nurburgring he found it “a brilliant car. Difficult to find the limit. The car was really well balanced.”
I open by asking the Finn what he thinks of the current Max Mosley versus F1 teams feud. “It’s very negative,” he replies. “But they will sort it out. One day. They will find the right solutions. It will take some time. You have to be diplomatic, find compromises. If you are too direct, it’s over. There’s a lot of questions about egos, you have to really play the game to be able to get the right result. I like the idea of a budget cap, but the big teams like Ferrari and McLaren are going to have big problem spending ‘only’ 40 million Euros.”
When I kid him about Formula 1’s stratospheric driver salaries—Grand Prix pilots are among the highest-paid athletes on earth—Häkkinen smiles but tackles the question head-on. “It is a dangerous sport. To be able to race in F1, you have to be very talented. There aren’t many guys—or girls—in the world who can do the job, who can perform in a level of high pressure, who have the physical conditioning, with great talent, good teamwork. There aren’t many. So that’s why the teams say, ‘Here’s the check!’"
Asked about his favorite tracks, Häkkinen mentions Monaco first. “Really hard—if you don’t have a good car. Very bumpy. If your suspension isn’t good, it’s like hell. If you go off, you always hit the barrier. If you have a good car, though, Monaco is fantastic. Gives you a great feeling inside. If the first corner goes well, you know right away it’s going to be a great lap. Definitely one of my favorites. Plus I live there—so it’s a short walk home. I know the streets really well!”
It’s quickly clear, though, that Häkkinen most loves one of F1’s fastest tracks, Spa. Especially Spa’s most famous corner, the uphill right-left flick known as Eau Rouge. “You have to be brave there. Eau Rouge used to be scary. Qualifying was very special. Just flat. Just maximum speed. The g forces were so high, going sideways and also vertically. Everything maximum. You really need big balls in that corner.”
Häkkinen then recounts his famous battle at Spa with Michael Schumacher, in which he pulled off one of the greatest passes in F1 history. “I had a tough race with Michael. I was running second, he was leading. About ten laps to go. Couple of seconds gap. I thought, ‘I’ve got to push now.’ The only place to overtake was the exit of Eau Rouge and the long straight that followed. So I had to go flat through the corner. And it was late in the race. Tires are quite finished, suspension quite knackered, and I thought, ‘Jesus, I’ve got to do it flat.’ So I went through and I thought, ‘I’m going to fly in the air!’ I was going so fast. Then we came upon Ricardo Zonta in the middle of the track ahead. I don’t know what he was doing. Anyway, when I saw him there I thought, ‘That’s it, this is the chance for me. If Michael goes left, I’m going right. Or vice versa.’ But of course I didn’t know which way he was gonna go. And of course I didn’t know what Zonta was gonna do. If Zonta changes his line, I’m going about 190 miles per hour he’s doing about 60, so it’s gonna be a big mess. I wonder if he even saw us coming, because we came so bloody quick. I’m sure he had to change underpants after that race. Vrroooom! I went by on one side, Michael the other, and I got the lead. I think Zonta stopped his career after that!”
In addition to Schumacher, Häkkinen spent one year, 1993, as teammate to Ayrton Senna (he outqualified the Brazilian superstar in his first race). “Senna was completely . . . ” Häkkinen pauses to reflect. “I don’t say he was crazy, but his level of fear was nothing. Didn’t matter what speed he was driving, he was always . . . whoosh. Going for it. I had a couple of challenging moments with him, but we never fought like I fought with Michael.”
The Finn remembers his battles with the German fondly. “Michael was really hard. With him, I always felt it was a better to keep a little bit of distance when you’re racing. Don’t get too close. He never gave up. And if I don’t give up and he doesn’t up, you know what’s gonna happen. We’re gonna shunt together. So I said, ‘Okay, no problem. I’ll do it next corner.’ And I think he knew that. He was a big challenge. We never had fights outside of the track. We exchanged a few words, yes, but never said bad things about each other. It was pointless. On the race track, we did our fighting.”
It might surprise you, though, to learn that this twice F1 world champ, immersed as deeply as you can be in the sport of Grand Prix racing, loves to watch good ol’ American NASCAR. “It’s really very exciting,” Häkkinen says. “I think that is something even F1 people are saying, that in F1 there aren’t that many spectators. You don’t feel the public. But in NASCAR, you have hundreds of thousands of people watching, and it’s beautiful. And the racing itself, it’s tough, and you’ve got so many tactics, and it’s easy to understand. NASCAR is quite a tough program, many races.”
Would he race NASCAR himself? Häkkinen shakes his head. “Too old.” Then he laughs. “Well, really, you never know!”
http://blogs.motortrend.com/6553854/editorial/a-chat-with-f1-world-champ-mika-h-kkinen-who-loves-nascar/index.html
