Mercedes is presently 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship, and their racer George Russell is 2nd in the Drivers’ rankings, thus Mika Hakkinen believes the Silver Arrows can still compete for the championships this season.

Senior World Champion Mika Hakkinen believes Mercedes might challenge Ferrari and Red Bull in a three-way contest for the 2022 Formula One World Title.

The emergence of a new range of technical rules has seen Mercedes slip back in 2022 after eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships, with the W13 particularly battling with porpoising.

However, absences of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and both Red Bulls in the opening three races have lifted the Silver Arrows to 2nd spot in the Constructors’ rankings after the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

After a good 3rd spot in Melbourne, George Russell has reaped the benefits of opponents’ mishap to position second fastest in the Drivers’ Championship, and Hakkinen praised Russell’s early-season form, despite the fact that his colleague Lewis Hamilton is three places behind him in fifth.

Russell’s results impressed Hakkinen

“George drove a really strong race and that third place was very important,” Hakkinen wrote in his column Unibet.

“It’s really surprising to see him second in the World Championship, but his consistency and the car’s reliability has been impressive – fourth in Bahrain, fifth in Saudi Arabia and now a podium in Australia.

“It’s also noticeable that he is ahead of Hamilton, although the Safety Car had a big influence in Melbourne so I don’t think that is any reflection of relative performance.

“Lewis and George are both doing a fantastic job for Mercedes while the team sorts out its performance problems, and that is another reason Red Bull need to fix their reliability issues.

“This championship could easily develop into a three-way fight between these teams and Ferrari.”

McLaren is “beginning to unlock power”

After struggling with brake troubles throughout the first two of race weekends, Hakkinen praised McLaren’s performance in Melbourne.

“The men and women at McLaren have really started to unlock performance from the car and it’s clear to see a big step was made this weekend,” said Hakkinen, who won his two World Championship titles with McLaren in 1998 and 1999.

“With a major regulation change it takes time to understand how to get a car working, but McLaren is clearly on the right path.”

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