Michael Schumacher is one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1. The Former driver achieved seven world championships under Benetton and Ferrari. However, the German had a great rivalry with Mika Hakkinen between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Schumacher and Hakkinen went wheel-to-wheel against one another on numerous occasions.
Mika Hakkinen recently opened up about his feelings regarding the Ferrari’s private Fiorano track which facilitated the Italian team to develop their cars throughout the year. The Finnish mentioned that he would’ve won ‘ten championships’ if his team, McLaren had their own track and test driver, with the luxury to test the car all day. Additionally, Hakkinen referred to the unbreakable gearbox developed by the team for Michael Schumacher‘s challenger.
If we had our own track and a test driver who drove from seven in the morning to seven in the evening testing and developing a different gearbox that didn't break, I think I would have been ten times world champion! Hakkinen said as reported by formulapassion.it.
However, Hakkinen’s McLaren couldn’t facilitate a special track for training and testing the challenger back then. Hence, the Former driver added that they didn’t have the luxury to do so. Apart from this, the 55-year-old pointed towards the Fiorano track and the test driver available for Maranello during the time.
But, since we didn't have this luxury, we didn't have the opportunity to solve problems so quickly. Ferrari obviously had Fiorano, a test driver, and unlimited time to test on the track
Mika Hakkinen reveals how Michael Schumacher and Ferrari used Fiorano to fix car issues
Hakkinen continued his chain of thoughts by explaining how Ferrari simply turned to Fiorano to fix the car issues. However, McLaren had a test bench for testing the components which wasn’t equivalent to physically testing the car out on track. Additionally, Hakkinen believed that money wasn’t the issue as the team had enough money to carry out testing on a track.
When they had a difficulty, while competing on a track, they had another car that turned in Fiorano and solved the problems. We had the test bench for testing the components, but a test bench is not as precise as a test on the track. I don't think it was a question of money: there was money.
Mika Hakkinen added that there were enough people in the system to solve the problems. However, the elements needed to work well together to ensure a smooth sailing season for McLaren. Regardless, Fiorano for Ferrari helped the team much more than other teams could imagine down the season.
here were enough people in our system to solve the problems. But it is necessary to make these elements work and test them. You have to have a track and Ferrari had a test track in Fiorano.
Despite the issues during the time, Hakkinen overcame them and won the World Championships in 1998 and 1999. Hence, the driver was awarded with the title ‘The Flying Finn’ solely due to his performance in the seasons. As a result, the Finnish boasts a great history in F1 despite the issues faced by him back in the day.
More must-reads: