Hakkinen – look deeper before slamming ‘boring’ F1

Formula one is not a sport of pure spectacle, according to its back-to-back world champion of 1998 and 1999, Mika Hakkinen.

In the wake of accusations that new rules have made the races even more boring than before, the 41-year-old Finn said it is wrong to judge F1 based purely on its appeal as a television event.

“People have to have a deeper and better understanding of F1 and understand what the driver is going through and what the teams are doing,” said Hakkinen, who won 20 grands prix with McLaren and retired in 2001.

When the pure spectacle of the Bahrain season opener was slammed, fellow double world champion Fernando Alonso also defended his chosen sport.

“This (F1) is about technology, about how precise everything is in terms of driver, mechanics, engineering, everything.

“So people that want extra show, maybe they should reconsider whether they want to watch formula one,” said the Ferrari driver.

Similarly, Hakkinen urges critics to look deeper before dismissing the pinnacle of motor sport.

“They should study it.  If you just turn on your television and watch the grand prix and watch people go around and around, it’s boring and you change the channel.

“The more knowledge you have, the more interesting it is,” he told the New Zealand newspaper Weekend Herald.

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