"A lesson in overtaking" by Mika Häkkinen

Já comentei hoje pela manhã, neste post (para quem não leu), o que penso sobre a opinião de Mika com relação à corrida de Kimi na Alemanha. Agora compartilho a coluna por inteiro, que minha amiga Nicole gentilmente traduziu.

Mika Häkkinen's column: A lesson in overtaking 

It was a pleasure to watch Kimi Räikkönen's driving in Hockenheim. He drove intelligently and made spectacular and professional overtakings. Räikkönen's way of overtaking is just as it should be when you are a top driver. The overtakings were bold but at the same time also gentleman-like. Kimi understands that it's good to leave some space for the other driver. That's why he isn't involved in any stupid crashes. 

Qualification was once again a sad stumbling block for Kimi. You can rarely win from the 10th grid. However I believe that Kimi will get a starting grid in the front row in the endseason. It can come very soon. 

The man isn't satisfied with 2nd and 3rd positions and I understand him very well. It's completely natural that only victories are good enough for a driver, who has won the WDC and 18 races. 

It was a challenging weather in Hockenheim. For a driver it offers interesting possibilities, although the car wouldn't be in the best possible stitch. You just have to raise your level of concentration, but of course everyone can't succeed in doing that. Fernando Alonso has been in quite some incredible strenght, but the summer and the season hasn't yet ended. I wouldn't yet put Alonso as a clear WDC-candidate in my own evaluations. There are many other drivers in the WC-battle who are in it with all they have. 

During my own F1-career Ferrari was often the toughest competitor. Even back then Ferrari could usually develop a very good car for the driver who had best chances of winning the championship. This year's Ferrari is completely tailor-made for Alonso's driving style. His teammate Felipe Massa still seems to be completely unarmed. 

The 20-second time penalty for Sebastian Vettel was the right decision. Rules are rules and everybody should drive according to them. I think that in the overtaking-situation, which led to Vettel's penalty, Jenson Button's intelligence surfaced. Lewis Hamilton again acted earlier in the race in a very unusual manner when trying to overtake Vettel, who was one lap ahead of him. Hamilton was already in a position where he didn't have to prove his speed in a way like that. He was thinking very strangely in that situation. 

Next weekend will be in Hungary, which has a fantastic circuit. It has an awesome grip in fast corners. 

I have won two F1-races in Hungaroring and will never forget those victories. In those days the audience was completely filled with Finland's flags. It was a great feeling to drive. As if you would have raced in Finland. It was great to beat especially Michael Schumacher, since there was a fierce Finland vs Germany -battle going on in the audience also. 

At this stage I want to thank the readers of my columns. It's great to see how people are interested about my thoughts and opinions. 

Ilta-Sanomat 24.7.2012 (paper edition) 

Fonte: Ilta-Sanomat (edição impressa) / Tradução para o Inglês: Nicole 

Beijinhos, Ludy