“He will know that if Lewis secures it, beating him and retaining the World Championship lead will be much harder, while a victory for Valtteri would be ideal prior to his British team mate heading home to Silverstone for the next two events.
“Last year Max Verstappen claimed pole position in Hungary and was able to lead the race until lap 66, but Lewis had been able to take a fresh set of tyres and overtake him. There is some hope, therefore, that Red Bull can again give Mercedes a fight. Let us hope so.”
Red Bull look set to be Mercedes’ strongest rivals this year, with a disappointing Ferrari outfit drifting down into the midfield.
Hakkinen is eager to see Mattia Binotto’s team bounce back from their woes in Austria, where they endured a double-DNF last Sunday.
“Behind these teams we will again see very good battles for the other championship points, and we will all wait to see whether Ferrari can bring some performance to their car,” Hakkinen said. “Formula 1 needs to see the red machines back in contention as soon as possible.”
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