Mika Hakkinen has spoken out about fellow compatriot Kimi Raikkonen hinting at the possibility of retiring from Formula 1 once he saw out his Ferrari contract, saying it was not “ very smart”.
The Ferrari driver, who rejoined the Scuderia from Lotus after last season, has struggled to get to grips with the Ferrari so far this season and on the run up to the British Grand Prix stated that he will “probably” quit the sport after his contract expires in 2015.
Former double World Champion Hakkinen believes it wasn’t ideal for Raikkonen to speak of retirement as it’ll prompt Ferrari to switch their attention to team-mate Fernando Alonso, whose future at the team has also been in question.
“I don’t think it’s particularly smart of him,” Hakkinen wrote in his latest column for his sponsor Hermes.
“When the mechanics and all the other people in the team know that a driver has plans to retire in a year and a half, their focus will shift more towards the other driver, who in this case is Fernando Alonso.”
Hakkinen also sees the 2007 World Champion’s motivation being affected as a result of having the thought of retiring playing on his mind in such a highly-demanding sport like F1.
“When someone thinks about stopping, it will have a negative effect on their motivation,” Hakkinen went on to add.
“Then that person won’t be able to concentrate anymore on the many things you need to think about in Formula 1.”
Hakkinen also expressed his thoughts on Raikkonen’s first-lap crash at Silverstone last weekend, with the latter receiving some criticism on how he came back onto the track off having run wide at the start before.
Although Hakkinen defended his compatriot and said: “Silverstone is a good track, but why is there such a big bump?
“When a Formula One car loses contact with the ground at speed, no driver can control it anymore.
“The race has just started and the drivers are full of adrenalin, so of course he wants to come back as soon as possible. I wouldn’t blame Kimi,”
