Hakkinen sees growth McLaren: 'Norris and Piastri more confident in car'

It's Friday, and that means the first practice sessions for the Dutch Grand Prix are today. In his column for Unibet, Mika Hakkinen discusses this weekend's race weekend in Zandvoort.

Max Verstappen is the dominant man this season. Whereas his teammate Perez still leaves points at times, the Dutchman is actually not doing so. Since the rule change in 2022, Red Bull have now taken 30 wins. "A really incredible performance, and so far, no one else looks like challenging them," Hakkinen stated.

McLaren made a remarkable comeback: before the British Grand Prix, three races back, the Woking-based team were still behind Alpine. Since then, Lando Norris grabbed two podiums at Silverstone and in Hungary, and Oscar Piastri finished second in the sprint race in Belgium.

Hakkinen also sees the progress of McLaren, and he expects them to be competitive at Zandvoort: "In Belgium, they did not have enough straight-line speed, much less important in Zandvoort. Both Lando and teammate Oscar Piastri are much happier and more confident with their cars, so I expect they will also push for top-five finishes and even a podium if the weekend goes their way."