Last Updated on November 26 2025, 10:30 am
Mika Häkkinen didn’t just win world championships with McLaren, he practically wrote the instruction manual on how to do so in his calm, Finnish monotone. So, when he offers his thoughts on the ongoing drama between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, people tend to listen. With only two Grands Prix left this season and the championship table so tight it may as well be written on elastic, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
On paper, Norris is in the lead with a 24-point cushion over Piastri and Verstappen, who are tied behind him. However, numbers rarely tell the whole story in Formula 1, especially when rumour, nostalgia and Bernie Ecclestone are involved.
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Bernie’s Big Theory: McLaren loves Lando?
In an interview with Germany’s RTL TV channel, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone lobbed a grenade straight into the McLaren hospitality unit. According to him, the team would ‘prefer’ to rely on Lando Norris in the decisive phase of the championship.
“McLaren prefers the English driver Norris,” Ecclestone declared,
“He has more star power and marketing appeal, more camera presence and public exposure. That’s why it’s probably better for McLaren.”
In other words, Norris sells merchandise. But what exactly does Piastri sell? Polite interviews? A steady supply of awkward Australian humour? According to Bernie, the answer is simple: follow the cameras and you’ll find the team’s favourite.
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Enter Häkkinen, the voice of chilly Finnish reason
But Mika Häkkinen, the man whose calmness once made Kimi Räikkönen look animated, is having none of it.
“I don’t believe that,” he told Sport Bild with the confidence of someone who has seen a few things.
“A Formula 1 team can’t afford something like that. There’s too much at stake.”
Indeed, there is too much at stake. Modern F1 teams are so ruthlessly efficient that they would happily sell their own grandmothers if the simulator data told them to.
In Häkkinen’s view, however, the real explanation is rather more human: Lando Norris simply couldn’t stand the idea that Oscar Piastri, the new kid on the block in 2023, might become McLaren’s next world champion ahead of him.
The Finn drew the comparison with a nostalgic wince: “That’s how it was for me, too.”
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When Häkkinen joined McLaren in 1993, the team wasn’t exactly overflowing with trophies following a golden era of dominance with drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. But by 1996, when David Coulthard joined him, Mika had already invested years of hard work, designer guru Adrian Newey was joining the team.
Then came a young, ambitious David Coulthard, breezing in with a fresh face and a ready-made seat.
“I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if the rookie had beaten me,” Häkkinen admitted. “That motivated me to the core.”
In other words, there was no way that David was going to stroll in and take all the glory. Much like Norris today, Häkkinen had spent years nurturing relationships with engineers, mechanics, and those in the know.
The parallel practically writes itself.
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Ambition, ego and the myth of ‘better car handling’
‘These days, there’s a lot of talk about one driver being better at handling the car than another,” Häkkinen continued. “That may be true, but ambition and ego play a bigger role.”
This is Formula 1, where ego isn’t just part of the job, it’s practically a listed sponsor. Drivers don’t dream of finishing second. Nor do they dream of helping a teammate, no matter how politely the PR department phrases it.
For Norris, the prospect of Piastri, the bright, polite and terrifyingly consistent Australian, overtaking him in the championship would be unthinkable.
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The hidden advantage: knowing the family
Häkkinen revealed one final factor that could be working in Norris’ favour: knowing the family.
“I knew the team better,” he said. “When you work with the engineers and mechanics for five or six years, you understand each other perfectly. Certain things don’t need to be discussed anymore because they’re simply routine.”
That familiarity, that shorthand, that intuitive nod across the garage, it counts. A lot. According to Häkkinen, it was his “ace in the hole” during his championship years. The same may apply to Norris, who is now a long-established part of the McLaren team.
Add to that his motivation to win a world title not just for himself, but for his ‘Formula 1 family’, and you get a driver who is absolutely unwilling to let the new guy steal the limelight.
Preferential treatment? Häkkinen thinks not. Old-fashioned pride and a very human fear of being outshone?
That, he suggests, is far more likely.
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With Toto Wolff withdrawing from his very public courtship of Max Verstappen, the future of the current world champion is set for at least another year. With the biggest technical regulation changes coming in 2026, it was pointless for Max to jump from the Milton Keynes ship until he had some idea of the future pecking order.
There may easily be six top teams in 2026, with Audi entering the sport with decades of top flight motor racing experience in other categories. Aston Martin have completed their mega complex in Silverstone and have Adrian Newey calling the shots.
Yet who will emerge on top is anyone’s guess presently, although based on their dominance at the last major change of power unit regulations, Mercedes are most people’s favourite choice to come out top of the pile.
Marko high praise for academy driver
With Verstappen’s services safely secured for at least another year, Red Bull now face the perennial dilemma over who should partner him in the all new RB22. Yuki Tsuoda has had a terrible time since being promoted alongside the world champion and as Verstappen’s team mate has scored fewer points than all before him.
The Japanese driver’s F1 career looked to be over in the autumn of this season despite breaking his seven race streak of no points in Zandvoort. At the time Dr. Helmut Marko was talking up his academy driver Arvid Landblad who was in contention for the F2 championship.
Given any opportunity, Dr. Helmut Marko was up for talking about his rising star Lindblad, who despite being under age was granted special permission by the FIA to gain his super license. This gave him the opportunity at the British Grand Prix to take the RB21 for a run in FP1 where he completed twenty two laps and was fourthteenth in the time sheets, just 4/10ths slower than Max Verstappen.
In his Speedweek column the following week, Marko heaped praise on the young driver. “His speed was right, his statements were profound, and the technicians are very happy with his performance,” wrote the Austrian. The Red Bull advisor went on to praise his Lindblad for his performance in a TPC (testing in previous cars) outing where he completed more than a 100 laps at Silverstone “showing excellent physical condition and competitive lap times,” READ MORE
A senior writer at TJ13, C.J. Alderson serves as Senior Editor and newsroom coordinator, with a background in online sports reporting and motorsport magazine editing. Alderson’s professional training in media studies and experience managing content teams ensures TJ13 maintains consistency of voice and credibility. During race weekends, Alderson acts as desk lead, directing contributors and smoothing breaking stories for publication.
