1945: McLaren's Lewis Hamilton asks his team: "Where can I find some time? His engineer replies: "OK, Lewis, at the moment you are purple (fastest of all) in every sector, by about 0.1secs. No one sector standing out." 1942: Sebastian Vettel has inched up the leaderboard. The reigning world champion is 0.272 seconds off the pace set by Lewis Hamilton. Kamui Kobayashi is third ahead of Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa.
[size=14pt]Formula 1's greatest drivers. Number 14: Mika Hakkinen[/size] By Andrew Benson
Mika Hakkinen wins the Japanese GP in 1999 to clinch a second successive title at Suzuka
Chief F1 writer This year, BBC Sport is profiling 20 of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. The BBC F1 team were asked to provide their own personal top 20s, which were combined to produce a BBC list. Veteran commentator Murray Walker provides his own reflections in a video of their career highlights, and chief F1 writer Andrew Benson profiles the driver. This week, number 14 - Mika Hakkinen
Michael Schumacher says his toughest rival in his first career was Mika Hakkinen, which is quite a compliment from a man who also raced against Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and lost his final world championship battle to Fernando Alonso.
Schumacher's respect for the famously monosyllabic, but searingly quick, Finn was never better illustrated than after the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix.
Hakkinen won the race thanks to one of the most brilliant overtaking manoeuvres ever seen in Formula 1, passing Schumacher's Ferrari in a stunning display of bravery and audaciousness as they speared either side of a backmarker.
Just as revealing and important, though, was what happened a lap before at the same place.
This time the two men were on their own. Hakkinen was closing fast, and went for the inside, whereupon Schumacher did one of his notorious 'leans' - driving across at the McLaren and keeping going until his rival was left with the choice of backing off, or taking to the grass at 200mph.
Hakkinen backed off, but even so his front wing touched the rear wheel of Schumacher's Ferrari. He was not amused.
As the two men pulled up in parc ferme at the end of the race, Hakkinen got out of his car and walked straight over to Schumacher.
A different character would have ranted at the German, perhaps even tried to assault him, as Schumacher himself did to David Coulthard after they collided at the same race two years previously.
Instead, Hakkinen calmly went over the incident with Schumacher, using hand gestures. He has never revealed what he said, but the message was clear - that was out of order; don't ever try it with me again. Schumacher, stony-faced and chastened, merely nodded.
I was in the press conference after that race and was one of several people who tried to get Hakkinen to criticise Schumacher's behaviour. He wouldn't bite.
Which might explain why Schumacher said this to BBC Sport about Hakkinen last year: "Mika Hakkinen was the best opponent in terms of his quality, but the biggest admiration I had for him was we had 100% fight on track but a totally disciplined life off track. We respected each other highly and let each other live quietly."
The intensity of that incident at Spa was heightened by the fact that the two men were locked in a battle for the world championship.
Schumacher ultimately claimed the crown after another titanic battle with Hakkinen - this time at the Japanese Grand Prix at that other great drivers' circuit, Suzuka.
Flat out for the entire race, the two were on a totally different level from anyone else - as Senna and Prost had been in their own battles at the same track a decade before, and Schumacher and Alonso would be six years later.
The careers of both Hakkinen and Schumacher began as the Senna/Prost era was coming to a close. Both made their debuts in 1991, but whereas Schumacher was quickly parachuted into a front-running car at Benetton, Hakkinen spent two years at faltering Lotus, before joining McLaren as test driver in 1993.
Sacrificing a race drive for a test seat seemed an odd move at the time, but McLaren boss Ron Dennis had promised Hakkinen a race at some point in 1993 and he was true to his word.
After a disappointing season, their second driver Michael Andretti was sacked with three races to go, and Hakkinen was given his McLaren debut at the Portuguese Grand Prix as team-mate to Senna. He shocked the sport - not to mention Senna himself - by out-qualifying the great Brazilian.
The race did not go quite as well, nor the final two races of the season, but Hakkinen's potential was plain to see. It took a while to come to fruition, though.
McLaren were entering a difficult period, with uncompetitive cars. The nadir was 1995, in the final race of which Hakkinen's F1 career came close to ending.
A deflating tyre pitched him off the track during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, the car was launched over the kerbs and Hakkinen was critically injured in the impact with the wall.
He suffered a fractured skull, internal bleeding and swallowed his tongue, and only an emergency tracheotomy at the side of the track saved his life.
Hakkinen recovered in time for the start of the 1996 season, and the incident solidified the already strong bond between Hakkinen and Dennis.
By the end of 1997, McLaren had a competitive car, and Dennis already knew that an even better one was in the pipeline for the following year.
Dennis did not want his best driver to go into the new season still without a win, so when Coulthard was leading Hakkinen in the closing stages of the final race of 1997, Dennis ordered the Scot to hand victory to his team-mate.
Coulthard was furious, although he kept his counsel, as he did when it happened again in the opening race of 1998, which McLaren did indeed start with a massive car advantage.
The victory set Hakkinen up for his first title, which he won despite a determined fightback from Schumacher and Ferrari.
Hakkinen won again in 1999, although both he and McLaren made hard work of it, a series of team and driver errors giving Schumacher's team-mate Eddie Irvine a chance of the title after Ferrari's number one broke his leg in a crash at the British Grand Prix.
Hakkinen very nearly made it three in a row in 2000, but losing that championship to Schumacher was the beginning of the end.
His wife Erja had given birth to a son and, although only 32, Hakkinen was beginning to weigh the risks of F1 more carefully.
A heavy crash following suspension failure in the opening race of 2001 convinced him the time was right to stop. At Dennis's insistence, Hakkinen's retirement at the end of the season was announced as a sabbatical, but there was to be no going back.
Hakkinen was a famously taciturn character out of the car, giving virtually nothing away to the media.
He would take a lengthy pause before questions, and then say virtually nothing of consequence, giving the impression of being a bit dim.
In fact, it was a construct devised by a man who was much more intelligent than he let on to ensure he had the minimum of distractions behind the wheel.
In the end, it didn't matter how little he said, Hakkinen was the ultimate exponent of letting your driving do the talking.
When he finally got into a competitive car, he took 20 wins and 26 pole positions from his final 67 grands prix. He was, it is clear, one of the fastest drivers F1 has ever seen.
Mika Hakkinen profile Make's his F1 debut in Phoenix for Lotus in 1991 , but suffered engine failure on lap 60. He scored his first grand prix points at Imola, where he finished fifth from 25th on the grid, three laps behind the race winner Ayrton Senna. Hakkinen finished his first season in equal 15th alongside Satoru Nakajima and Martin Brundle.
In 1993 , Hakkinen made his McLaren race debut at Estoril and in his first outing for the team outqualified Ayrton Senna.
At the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, Hakkinen suffered a tyre failure at the early part of the first qualifying session, which resulted in him crashing heavily into the wall. He was critically injured in the crash and was saved only due to an emergency tracheotomy that was performed by the side of the track
He made a full recovery and finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship in 1996. Two season's later in 1998 , Hakkinen finished ahead of Michael Schumacher to clinch his first world title.
In 1999, he retained his title by finishing ahead of Eddie Irvine, who was Ferrari's main threat after Schumacher's broken leg sustained at Silverstone.
At the end of the 2001 season, Hakkinen decided to take a break from racing and was replaced by by his young compatriot Kimi Raikkonen. In 2002 , he announced his full retirement.
Hakkinen made a comeback in 2005, in German touring cars (DTM) with Mercedes-Benz. It was a successful season, including one win at Spa.
Hakkinen announced his retirement from competitive motorsport on Sunday, 4 November 2007 .
Vettel on pole, Lewis p2, Alonso p3 and Webber p4. All the WDC contenders lumped together. Should be an interestin race tomorrow. But worryingly for the others, it looks like Vettel is rediscovering his mojo and Ferrari are prancing back to where they should be.
montelik: Vettel on pole, Lewis p2, Alonso p3 and Webber p4. All the WDC contenders lumped together. Should be an interestin race tomorrow. But worryingly for the others, it looks like Vettel is rediscovering his mojo and Ferrari are prancing back to where they should be.
Good one for Vettel! He gambled by carrying very little wing, so he's done for if it rains or even drizzles; if it doesn't then it'll have been a brilliant gamble. The others (including his team mate, Webber) are carrying far more wing.
1 L Hamilton McLaren 88 2 F Alonso Ferrari 86 3 S Vettel Red Bull 85 4 M Webber Red Bull 79 5 N Rosberg Mercedes 67 6 K Raikkonen Lotus 55 7 R Grosjean Lotus 53 8 J Button McLaren 45 9 S Perez Sauber 37 10 P Maldonado Williams 29 11 P Di Resta Force India 21 12 K Kobayashi Sauber 21 13 B Senna Williams 15 14 F Massa Ferrari 11 15 N Hulkenberg Force India 7 16 J Vergne Toro Rosso 4 17 D Ricciardo Toro Rosso 2 18 M Schumacher Mercedes 2 19 H Kovalainen Caterham 0 20 T Glock Marussia 0 21 C Pic Marussia 0 22 N Karthikeyan HRT 0 23 V Petrov Caterham 0 24 P de la Rosa HRT 0
I wonder if Button will still be with McLaren next season. His driving this year is just atrocious! To make matters worse, he complains on the about everything under the sun, even his own faults. Imagine complaining that he was locking his front right into corners, as if he wasn't the one putting his foot on the damn break pedal!
Dude is rapidly overtaking Massa as the most annoying driver.
On another note, it was nice to see Ron Dennis in the McLaren garrage through the weekend.
I'm not the only one casting a leery glance at Jenson who sounding truly pathetic at the after race interviews. The "evil" British press has its beady eye on him too! They have already begun chewing his exposed entrails. Expect a macabre show of blood and gore if button replicates his non-performance in Valencia; then the press would truly be gnawing at his very soul.
[size=14pt]'Confused and very lost': Disappointed Jenson Button searches for answers[/size] While his team-mate powered to victory, Button could only come home in 16th place - and he doesn't know where it's going wrong
Confused: Jenson Button cannot understand why his McLaren is without the competitive pace Hamilton has Getty
Jenson Button cut a disconsolate figure as he headed home from Montreal admitting "I am leaving here confused and very lost".
A year ago he roared to a dramatic last lap triumph in lashing rain to celebrate one of the greatest moments of his career.
A year on in brilliant sunshine he could manage no better than 16th in a car that his teammate Lewis Hamilton wrestled to a remarkable victory.
After seven rounds and seven different winners in a season that started with his victory in Melbourne he now trails Hamilton by the massive margin of 43 points.
He has just 45 points after picking up just two points in the last four Grands Prix.
Afterwards he admitted he was at a loss to explain why he cannot get the performance out of the car.
"It is not the tyres. I cannot be the only person who can't drive the tyres. It's impossible," said Button.
"Every time you jump in the car you are confident it is going to go well and every time you make changes you think you are going to improve it.
"But I have never had a race like it. I am pushing the car to its limits. That felt like the limit of the car."
Button had a miserable Friday in which his car spent most of the day on the blocks as the gearbox was removed twice.
Then on Saturday he could manage no better than 10th and barely made it into the top 10 shoot out as he ran out of tyres.
And the Friday from hell turned into a nightmare Sunday.
He briefly improved his position, despite starting on the harder tyres, only to fall through the field unable to make his rubber last..
He pitted twice and fell back each time but as he viewed the wreckage of his weekend he added: "Congratulations to Lewis and the team, they could find some speed in the car today.
"Lewis did a good job and the strategy worked out well for them in the end. There was no speed at all.
"I couldn't look after the tyres, I didn't have any pace. There was nothing there.
"I was the only person on the primes at the beginning who couldn't look after them.
"It has been the same at the last couple of races. I don't know why that is. That is normally something that I am pretty good at."
Another myth busted! I'm enjoying this Jenson saga in a macabre sotta way!
Button confirmed that the start point for this effort will be to work from Lewis Hamilton’s set up and then evolve from there, “The fist thing you do is set the car up like the other one and that’s how we’ll do it initially,” he said. “I won’t be as quick as him on those settings but then we can work from there and find a set up that works for me.”
The F1 press claimed Lewis couldn't set up a car and McLaren found it easier to work with Jenson; it became a myth that caught fire across the F1 firmament. This was even though McLaren emgineers maintained that while Jenson has a slow softly-softly approach, Lewis would go out, immediately find the limits of the car within a few laps and report areas for progress to the engineers.
Jensons problems most likely stem from the fact that McLaren took the extraordinary step (favouritism?) of providing him with a special suspension and he had no one to copy set up from.
Blah blah! And the usual excuses and tosh for the "real" British driver! More blah and wonderful blah! Then the bomb!...
With the standard set-ups for Button and Hamilton apparently having deviated away from each other, the support between the two garages is very limited - so McLaren now appears to be looking to steer a more collaborative direction.
By pooling resources between the two garages in Valencia this weekend, they hope to get a more converged car set-up that performs well for both drivers.
This could provide significant benefit — as it effectively doubles the amount of time the team has to work towards set-up on the Friday — but it needs both sides of the garage to be happy to take a steer from each other's findings.
It's generally recognised that McLaren has the best car on the grid — but with only one driver on form, they risk throwing away the potential of a strong constructors' crown.
If Hamilton and his engineers can be convinced to help Button recover for the good of the team, then McLaren could rise to the top as the season heads towards a crucial point.
What this means in English: 1. Prior to this, Lewis engineers had already been handed over to Jenson, now Lewis brain is about to be handed to Jenson too. The innocent sounding phrase "pooling resources" simply means Lewis feedback would be used to set up Jensons car. 2. Despite Jensons boast that this years car was designed to suit him, Lewis has done a better job with it. 3. Jenson might begin copying Lewis's driving style.
