MCL FTW

Front wing was changed under pit stop(s), it was even too much for free air later, IMO. And the car ate the LF tyre with that front wing angle.

As much as i liked kova.. he just wasnt up to the job. Im so glad we have 2 solid drivers, if not the most solid paring of the grid.

WDC/WCC oh yeah!...

lewis often ran a different line aswell didnt he? that helps alot...

McLaren 2010 is the living tale of the turtle and the rabbit racing.

Ongoing development:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83148

Cheers Owen.

BTW Thanks for bringing the MP4-25 thread to page 1 of the Racing Comments Forum. The Forum just doesn't feel right with this thread out of sight. I made it rhyme as will

You're welcome. It's all been very quiet recently on the McLaren front. Hopefully the team is back at base now after the ash cloud shenanigans and grafting at the usual ridiculous rate!

Good to see they are working hard back home.

From the Autosport interview with MW:


What about general improvements to the suspension or the like? I thought that was due soon...

Anyway, was nice to get a bit more clarification of what happened with the ride height stuff...

Those are very much related things there.

I want 36 races, 8 weeks of testing and rest for the cars presentations. Go Bernie!

Dear God, and 3 tracks in Croatia, two of them in Split. Željac, grab a hold of yourself.
Sorry mods

"So it was shame we could not introduce it, it would have given us a little bit of an advantage but we couldn't do it, so we move on. That is the nature of it. The FIA has to make difficult decisions. It can always do things better, but it would have been nice if we had had a clear no at the outset but we didn't."


Looks like McLare shot themselves in the foot with MW opening his trap too soon, should have kept his trap shut and did what he had to do, worse case scenario if they were ever found out they would be told to remove it - just like other teams in the past i.e Renault and Ferrari but they would still have had the points in the bag .MW got shafted for running his mouth, the FIA would never side with McLaren

Yeah.. just think of the points they would have got in China...

oh... hang on a moment....

Yeah they were on pole in china and did not rely on luck of the inclement weather, this is going to happen every race

They had the pace in China to make 1-2 even from 5th and 6th positions of the grid. And let's not forget that their poor quali performance was due to setup compromise.

This sort of post always surprises me.

Its their JOB what do you expect them to be doing ?

If my company just sat about treading water it wouldnt survive very long - why would an F1 team be any different.

But its mainly Lewis. Its really his expertise at maximizing slow-corner stuff; the kinda stuff where its all about 'feeling the grip' and judging everything just right. He's got a great feel for the limit under braking, which apart from letting him stick passes, also allows him to make ground when he's still just catching up. Once he's close under braking, the downforce penalty of being behind another car is made almost irrelevant, so as long as he can time it right, he can use his good feel under acceleration to get a run on the guy in front.

Granted, I dont think he'd look quite as good at overtaking in a car without Mercedes power(likely the most driveable engine out there, with good grunt) and Mclaren's notoriously good mechanical grip, but I still think he'd stand out from the crowd. Right now, he's in the perfect seat to maximize his strengths. I think its why he was so damn good right from the start in F1. I think he'd have looked good in a lower car, but not '9 podiums in a row and leading the championship for almost all season' good.

I agree with your post, except for mechanical grip. MP4-25 is probably the worst McLaren in years, in terms of mech. grip.

Wow, really, you think it was partially because he had a top car? No way!

I hope mcl can improve it's quali pace, otherwise we're screwed in monaco.

Not any more. They seem to done something to the front end that makes it a lot more drivable for China. A more technically minded person will have to explain further.

If Mclaren was that bad on mech grip, they wouldn't have been the fastest team on the wet. And when the track had no grip after the first brief shower, Hamilton was leaving all the cars standing still (including the Red Bulls) with enormous traction out of the slow corners.

What must be solved is absolute pace over a single lap on a set-up that doesn't compromise race performance, although track position can play a part on that.

Yeah in China especially Lewis' front end could really turn a lot tighter than the cars he was running with. Even when he was right behind them. The ~25 must have the best front end out there, it's like it has last year's tyres on it while everyone else is running the new rounded narrow ones. Just what Lewis was asking Tim Goss for, I expect .

Interesting that Jenson (who is an understeery guy) is able to drive around that problem and is delivering a good performance.

I wonder if part of the Mercedes problems is due to that. Button has always preferred understeer against oversteer so it might be that the W01 (aka BGP002) has that tendency which is severely handicapping MS, although Rosberg is being able to driver around it.

yea the wet performance is a good sign that we shouldnt be far off in Monaco. The absolute pace in qualifying...and the sensitivity is what there are still question marks about.

More mech grip and aero efficiency will be good too...so we dont have to trade off so much of our F-duct advantage for downforce... cos imagine when RedBull and Ferrari get their F-ducts to work.




It seems teams are finding that stuff pretty difficult to implement eh.... to think some fans of other teams were pointing and laughing "Mclaren built a dog ", while some of ours were worried sick when they saw all those sensors on the car during testing.

What I think is, the car is a balanced neutral car, like Tim Goss stated earlier...hence Lewis can go apesht to a degree on the front end the way he likes... while Jenson can do his understeer business the same.

I do think with the front tires being so small, drivers like Lewis and Schumi cant really capitalize as much as they'll want with their front end dependent driving styles... the tyre regs favor the Jensons and Rosbergs (understeer guys)

I suspect the luxury limo length gives Mac more scope for a wide range of setups. Though I've tended to see Jense as a fairly neutral-handling guy.

On Merc I remember at Suzuka last year Ross Brawn said the esses were just not in the setup window for the car, and indeed it looked horrible through there, no agility at all. I suspected they might carry that culture forward, and I think they did.

The car did appear to have much better traction. I'd imagine that's a function of a better understanding of the set-up. Moving on from this, for me the ultimate latent performance of the MP4-25 is still pretty much unknown (as Andy has kind of alluded to). I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that when it all gets finally dialled in, the MP4-25 will be the class of the field. Lets hope it's sooner rather than later....

There was talk that the MP4-25 has the scope to reduce its wheelbase (a similar system was tested at Valencia last year).

Yep, when you compare the amount of traction available in China to the one we saw in bahrain, it seems a whole lot of unlocked performance in the short space of 3 races.

Autosport's print version says that Hamilton is giving a lot of credit to the MP4/25's braking stability: "It does make it easier to successfully pull off a good move."

Yeah I remember, it wasn't very successful though. And according to Scarbs the downside of a long wheel base is mainly building a light tub longer but still stiff enough, rather than any tiny change in steering reponse, so once they've done it they may as well stay with it. And then if they move the front wheels relative to the front wing, floor and sidepods, the aero must change an awful lot.

Agreed,plus it will be way longer than last year

After Silverstone 08 I would caution use of LH's performance in a particular car in the wet as the basis for comparing the relative performance of cars in the wet. I suspect that LH would have caught JB on the last stint if he was in the Redbull.

[OT] LH said befor Australia, the Redbull drivers are being flattered by their car at the moment (especially in quali) even if they are suffering more bad luck than any other team. I cant see a reason why the car with the most efficient downforce should not also be best in the wet.[/OT]

On the front end thing. Someone on F1technical claims to have spotted a different front end wishbone configuration for China. I think the team also mentioned that they were working on the suspension for China.

I'd just like a nice series of dry races to see what's what.

I don't think we saw the same thing, though I agree the situation seems to have improved. Hamilton had a lot of problems on the wet at several occasions. He was so slow, in one occasion, that Vettel caught him and nearly passed him (they nearly touched at the tight corner before the long straight). Furthermore, he had troubles following cars out of slow corners, except for Schumacher, who was god awful throughout the race so it doesn't count.

Hmm.. are you talking about china? The car seems to be very neutral as said before. Hamilton seemed to cut corners with the car. It was looking very RedBull like in that race.

when vettel caught up with lewis wasnt it becaus it started to rain and they where on slick tyres
yes it seems the car doesnt like tight corners
cant wait for barca

There was obviously more to it, and I covered that, but if you want to oversimplify things in order to make somebody else look stupid then by all means.

Hopefully this is the right thread

I've been fascinated by the way McLaren operates, how they look after both the mental and the physical condition of not only their drivers but also of every team member. Some new and old articles from Turun Sanomat that some of you might find interesting, sorry, it's long and goes back to 2005 :

HINTSA'S PROGRAM ROOTS OUT THE WEAK LINKS FROM McLAREN

Turun Sanomat 24.3 2010 22:24:30

Aki Hintsa is in charge of McLaren's wellfare. He is responsible for especially Lewis Hamilton's and Jenson Button's mental condition.

What kind of requirements do these new regulations bring to the driver's training program?

– As a matter of fact the new regulations make our work a bit easier. We don't have to be so specific about the driver weights as last season. Basically it helps us to prepare for the weekend, Hintsa says.

– What's more difficult again is that there is now 19 races meaning two more than last season. The beginning with the changes of rhythms is really hard when you go from Bahrain to Australia, right after that to Malaysia and even to China.

The whole team on the paddock, lead by Hintsa, is making an effort so that the team is in the best stitch this season.

– This is team work. The weakest link decides. It's not just physical, it's also mental readiness. They walk hand in hand. If you aren't in the best condition then you make mistakes easier. The most important thing is to concentrate on your own doing and that way you get the whole team's input. If someone isn't in condition it can result as a catastrophical end result in the race when the competition is so hard.

– This also requires disciplin in your everyday life. The boys have a hard competition of who gets into a racing team. It helps when they all have their own training programs and when everyone is aware of the fact that if they aren't okay then they can stay home.

Then what about WDC Jenson Button's condition?

– Jenson was in good condition already when he joined the team. When it comes to endurance he is one of the toughest. Jenson did an Olympic triathlon last summer with a respectable time. Many other would have had a lot of do to match his time.

– We have now been with Jenson for a few weeks. A lot of things have come up where he could improve, Hintsa reveals.

– Lewis has trained more than ever before. He and Jenson are both tough, Hintsa assures.

Turun Sanomat, Melbourne
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HINTSA BALANCES BETWEEN TWO CHAMPIONS

Turun Sanomat 8.12.2009

Aki Hintsa will continue as the manager of McLaren's formula 1 -team's medical treatment and wellbeing. He gets a completely new challenge now when the physical and mental striking force of the latest two champions is on his responsibility.

Hintsa will have to balance like a trapeze artist in order to keep both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button satisfied.

Hintsa has worked with Hamilton ever since his GP2-times. His co-operation with Button again has only started.

– What makes this challenge interesting is that I have to be able to equally help both drivers reach even better results and get into an even better shape. It's not just a challenge for me, it's a challenge for the whole team, Hintsa emphasises.

– I'll just have to be myself and work from the bottom of my heart.

– My own goal is that a McLaren-driver will win the WDC. When we have two champions who want to renew their title with 100% you have to be extremely equal in everything you do, Hintsa said.

Both Hamilton and Button have their own working programs. Hintsa's job is to make sure that both get the best know-how and help to improve. A more specific survey is made during the joint training camps in Kuortane, Finland or Switzerland.

– The situation is like someone would both give and take - both ways. You have to keep your senses alert while you follow the situation and utilize the interaction. It's clear that Lewis and Jenson are different kinds of types and in this sport two drivers don't have completely similar programs. I'm going to concentrate first and most on supporting the athlete so that he achieves an impressive performance ability, Hintsa said.

McLaren will continue working with Kuortane Sporting Academy and also with Britain's Olympic committee.

– Of course I feel some kind of national pride when Finnish know-how is this highly valued on the top of F1, Hintsa says.
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25.2.2009

This is without doubt the most challenging stage with Lewis. It hasn't been easy this far either but we have managed to build up a script and follow it. After the WDC it's going to be different, Hintsa assures.

Based on statistics, 70% of different champions from different sports flops after their success because they aren't mentally prepared for what happens. This happens because the athlete didn't know what the championship means and isn't therefore able to be on his guard.

We have spent a fantastic time with Lewis during the winter. I'm assured that we can avoid and pass the trap that winning the championship has created. Lewis is now even more stronger both mentally and physically than he was last season, Hintsa says.

I'm extremely proud of both my boys. Now we will se what kind of men they are. Personally I have more to do when things go well. Now we keep the spirit high. It's the whole team's job to create a positive atmosphere and when watching what this team does I'm really proud that I'm part of it.

When you are up you know that you come down someday. When you are on the bottom like we are now, we know that we will come up from here someday. In this situation Brawn has everything to lose and we have everything to win, Hintsa said.
----------------------
07.05.2009 12.24

Aki Hintsa also helps other team's drivers Sport Bild -magazine told. According to the paper Hintsa also gives advice to Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.

- Aki and I are friends, Vettel informed.

- I always thought that I demand a lot from the sportsmen but Sebastian is incredible. He wants to develop more and more: he often calls me when he is finishing some exercise and asks what he could do next. You have to put brakes on him rather than encourage him to go forward, Hintsa told.

Turun Sanomat
Heikki Kulta
----------------
3.11.2008

Aki Hintsa was moved by his protegé's WDC.

This is the most rewarding moment in my life. When you are in this thing with balls and everything, winning the WDC feels completely fantastic. My role isn't to be a fan, I have to keep my feet on the ground and always try and be one step ahead of where we are going emotionally.

During our three years this talented boy grew into a determined and very skillful race driver. It isn't easy to grow. A good day can help you grow but a bad day does it for sure. You need both successes and failures and now we have had our share of both of them, Hintsa said.

I told Lewis before the race that no matter what happens, don't give up. I assured him that justice will finally win and it happened. This is an unbelievably tough serie. First we drive 18 races and then the championship is decided in the last corner, 800 metres before the finish line.
--------------------
20.10.2008 Shanghai

A year ago Lewis won in Japan and had such a big lead that he felt he had won the championship in practice. It didn't help even though I kept telling him that nothing has been decided, this is racing and anything can happen.

We are all humans and Lewis suffered from a so called podium-syndrom. No matter how much he tried to avoid that feeling he felt subsconsiously that he was on fire and had won the title.

In a situation like that it's difficult to tell yourself that everything is still open. You just think subconsiously that it's mine, I have won the championship. You start floating and no matter how you try to bring yourself back on the ground it doesn't help.

This year everything is completely different. It has been an extremely difficult season for both Lewis and the team. Even if you find it hard to believe, Lewis is now much stronger than he was last year this time.

Everything didn't go as it was supposed to go. It's only a good thing when you fail and have other unpleasant things happening, they keep you on the ground in this situation when we are going to Brazil.

It's 100% sure that Lewis doesn't have any feelings that he would have already won. Anything can happen again.

Brazilian Grand Prix is like the Olympic final. You can't make one single mistake. Now you can't patch up things like you can during the season if something goes wrong.

Now it feels like we are dealing with real top-sport. The whole team feels like an Olympic team going to the Olympics.

You are wrong if you say that Lewis can't handle pressure but you might be right if you say that he has difficulties with his attitude towards winning.

The more the press beats him the more sure it is that he wins in the next race.

After Fuji we did like we always do, we opened up the whole weekend both technically and mentally. It wasn't easy but after that you could see that Lewis was very strong when he came to China. He took that half a step towards the championship as he was supposed to take. Now he has to take the other half a step in Brazil, Hintsa said.
------------------------
6.6.2008 Montreal

Heikki Kovalainen has experienced bad luck during the season.

Aki Hintsa throws Lady Fortuna into the trash can.

- We really don't want to talk about luck and fortune. It doesn't go that way in motorsport. You have to get so many elements in their right places in order to succeed. F1 is a world of it's own.

- If a top sprinter has to weld 10 things together in order to wind, in F1 there are 100 elements that need to be put in the right place.

- When you know that you are ready you can go for the victory everytime. Winning isn't anything you wish for. Of course you can wish but you can't build any victory upon it. The victories need to be taken. It's a long way to get to the level where you drive for the victory everytime.

Kovalainen has been following the same program Lewis Hamilton followed a year before.

- There are six different areas in the program and they all need to be in order. Of course nobody is never completely ready. We check our program during every training camp and always lift the level.

- When Heikki came to the team we started from scratch and created goals. The endurance has to be on a certain level as well as the biomechanic. We made completely new nutrition system for him, the recovery-level needed to be improved and he also needs to be mentally filled with energy.

- A driver can't just tell himself that he is tough. All values have to be good. You have to be mentally mature so that you can fight for the victory.

- After Monaco I thanked Heikki and said that after this I'm not padding him on the shoulder after 2nd places.

- It's true that Lewis is tough. I've done things with him so systematically that everything is on a good level. Lewis doesn't have to win every race, there will be bad results every now and then but he is now tougher than he was last year, Hintsa assures.
-----------------------
11.3.2008

Kovalainen is already familiar with Kuortane.

- I know the gang. I went there before christmas to do all the tests the other McLaren drivers also do. You go there to get the final perfomance ability. They are small things they find there but if they find even something small we feel better. This is a superthing from that point of view.

- The whole team has been in Kuortane in tests. They have programs for treating both the physical and the mental side. I believe that our team is in a better shape than many other teams.

Kovalainen has now a completely new training program. His new trainer is Simon Reynolds who has worked in the team for a couple of years.

Reynolds stays in touch with Kuortane's reasearch group.

- I have a pulse meter when I drive and Aki Hintsa takes blood tests quite often. They follow all my values so much that I feel like an athlete, Kovalainen laughs.

- I'm 100 % in a better shape both physically and mentally than I ever was in Renault. Aki made things go in the right direction and on top of that they have in Kuortane a big bunch of different experts.

- They got even the smallest things on the right track. We do more work all the time so that I would be in full stitch in Melbourne.
----------------------------
21.12.2007

Heikki Kovalainen's switch from Renault to McLaren as Hamilton's team mate is an especially pleasant christmas present for Aki Hintsa.
- For me it's like a Dream Team, Hintsa confesses to TS.

Hintsa dreamed about this pairing ever since Fernando Alonso's problems in adjusting to McLaren exceeded everyone's treshold of pain.

Hintsa is happy now that his three favourite boys drive in McLaren - Hamilton, Kovalainen and Pedro de la Rosa.
- All three are guys who bring positive energy to the team.

Hintsa's personal relationship with Alonso was good when he said goodbye to him.
- If the drivers' chemistry just doesn't match, what happened last season will happen. Even though Fernando is as a driver a complete top driver without any doubt, if the spiritual world goes on the wrong track, it just goes, and there's nothing that can twist it back on the right track, Hintsa summed up McLaren's tough experiences.

Hintsa will make Kovalainen's training programs completely new.
- We started working with Heikki the moment the contract papers were signed last week.
-----------------
6.10.2007 Shanghai

- Lewis is a Top-athlete with a big T. He has all the qualities a top-athlete needs. He is a talent. The best athletes get 90 % from talent and 10 % from work. On top of that Lewis is extremely determined and ambitious. And on top of that he has genuine Finnish sisu. (fighting spirit)

- Lewis is the same type as Kimi is. Maybe that's the reason why they respect each other so much. Neither one of them never give up and both have eyes in their back and that's how they can always anticipate situations and do what's required, Hintsa said.
----------------------
12.6.2007

Would Hintsa already place a bet for Hamilton's championship?
- If I would place a bet then Lewis wouldn't win for sure.

How much did Lewis grow now that he won for the first time?

- On Monday morning he will look at himself in the mirror and say - Lewis Hamilton, nothing has been won yet, Hintsa revealed how the process goes on.

- On Sunday we cheered for his first victory but on Monday we started to prepare for Indianapolis according to the normal schedule and forgot all about Canada.

- New boots but same old project. We sat down with Lewis right after his victory and talked things through. Our project proceeds the same way as before. No matter what happens, good or bad, we learn from the bad and don't get excited over the good. That's that! Hintsa says to Turun Sanomat.

Canada GP was one of the most chaotic of all times and it was shadowed by the horrible accident Robert Kubica had.

- I saw immediately that Kubica had passed out. Fortunately he made it so that we could be happy for Hamilton's victory, Hintsa said.
--------------------
24.5.2007 Monte Carlo

Hintsa joined McLaren two years ago and started his thorough training with Hamilton right away.

Results speak for themselves. The Finnish expert is used to working with Olympic- and WC-heroes.

- Now we make athletes - in every sense. It hasn't been done in F1 ever before, Hintsa says. Lewis is my first diciple. I started this work with him and I would say that he already starts to show some results.

Hamilton leads the serie in his rookie-season.
- Of course it is a really big thing for me too, Hintsa sighs.

Everybody can determine what his affect on the 22 year old Lewis has been.

- The starting point is that we build up a human performance - wholeness, in other words we improve the performance ability both mentally and physically.

- Lewis is an ideal guy for a co-operation like this. Now everything is already easy. During his GP2-season some things came up that glued us even more together. That's when he saw how the system works and we haven't had any problems after that.

- Kuortane is a center where we run certain things from our program. Kuortane is one of the most diversified training center for athletes in the world. Several Olympic winners from Valeri Borzov to Steve Backley have been trained there. F1 is a different kind of sport but you can find similarities.

- A healthy soul in a healthy body - you are what you do. It is all built upon selfconfidence. Selfconfidence is based upon healthy realism. Lewis has it both mentally and physically and he knows it himself. He isn't a dreamer.

- That's why we have Kuortane as our help. There we have Olympic winners and world champions who have gone through the same themselves. They can advice about what might be ahead of you and also how to prepare for it. It's like being in hospital care where everything is taken care of beforehand.

- I will have to see what happens after a year, a month, a week, a day or tomorrow. I have to know it and tell how things need to be done.

- If F1-drivers train seriously then the risk to get injured is as big as it is in every top sport. As a matter of fact this is an extremely delicate genre where you have to take into consideration all jetlags, driving strains and the stress from both the media and the publicity. In that sense F1 fills easily the criterias of one of the most tough top-sport, Hintsa says.

The mental training has hit home with Hamilton.

- Ever since the beginning I have been telling him that you are Lewis Hamilton. I asked if he had any idols and when he told me that he admired Ayrton Senna I said to him that you can have an ideal but you are now building up yourself. We are now building up Lewis Hamilton, Hintsa sums up his methods.

- You can't reflect upon yourself even for a moment so that you look up at someone else. The minute you look up to someone else you are immediately second. No matter if it's Schumacher or Senna, you can't copy anyone. That's how you build up yourself.

- Lewis is already there. Without any compromises. That's super. Now we are making athletes, not just putting them running.

- And he doesn't have to do anything that I wouldn't do myself, Hintsa laughs and refers to Hamilton's swim in the ice cold Päijänne in the beginning of April.

Due to Hamilton's experiences McLaren has already made an indenture with the 14-year old Oliver Rowland.

- Oliver has now joined our group. Now we start to build him up, Hintsa said.
--------------------
10.4.2007 Kuala Lumpur

Health guru Aki Hintsa put especially Lewis Hamilton into a sufficient stitch under extremely hard conditions.

- The heat created a bigger problem for Lewis than it did for any other driver I've worked with before, Hintsa confessed to Turun Sanomat.

- On Friday Lewis hardly made it through the 2nd practice. He was completely beaten. I told him to learn his lesson because he didn't believe what I said to him earlier.

- I did some special things just for Lewis. We made up a specific schedule that we followed hour by hour before the race. It was about how he should prepare himself and how he had to drink especially the way his sweating requires, Hintsa told.

- We measured everything on Friday and Saturday. We get all kinds of data more and more.

The winner Fernando Alonso did not require as big efforts from Hintsa as Hamilton did.

- Metabolically Fernando and Lewis are completely different. Fernando lost 800 grams during the GP while Lewis lost 2,8 kg, Hintsa said.

- It was good for Lewis to go through this. I told him that he will feel bad if he doesn't do as I say. When he broke on Friday I told him to do what he is supposed to do. He did and noticed that he got strenght to go on again. It's important for an athlete to notice that a specifically made program works.

- I showed Lewis what physical strenght and mental energy depend upon. He saw that his system started working again. After that it was quite easy to work with him.

- It feels great when you can start from scratch with a talent like Lewis. It's so much easier for me than working with some experienced F1-drivers who think they already know everything.

- This is a great job for me because for once we have the resources. I don't have to think if I can do this or that. All I need to do is a plan and work accordingly.

Everybody in McLaren drank according to the plan. Hintsa asks Pedro de la Rosa to show the finnish reporter how he has adviced everybody to do.
- Bottoms up, Pedro says and shows it by emptying a water bottle at once.

Hamilton admitted that the Malaysian GP was the most difficult race in his life.
- The weather conditions were unbelieavable. I sweated and sweated more and more. I wanted to drink but emptied my bottle quickly.

Alonso drank with more patience.
- The fluid in the bottle heated quickly up to 60 degree, it was like tee. It wasn't nice to drink it but you had to moisten your mouth once in a while, the winner smiled.
------------------------
RÄIKKÖNEN HAS EYES IN HIS BACK

Turun Sanomat 18.6.2005

They say that some top sportsmen have eyes in their back.

The Senior Physician of Finland's Olympic Committee Aki Hintsa can scientifically prove that Kimi Räikkönen belongs to this elite group.

- During our neurological examinations we found out that Kimi has an exceptionally well developed ability to give a form to time, place and shape.

- It's a neuropsychological feature and it gives a guy like Kimi who works in a speed of 360 km/h an enormous advantage.

As a neurosurgeon Hintsa knows that he himself has a very good ability to give form too.

- But Kimi's ability can be considered as exceptional. It's an inbuilt ability that is almost as fast as a lightning. A thing like this, to say it out loud, is really special, Hintsa emphasises.

- We all have it. It might be poorly developed, well developed or extremely well developed. You need it in everyday life but it gives you a substantial advantage especially in sport.

- A person who can give form very well reacts automatically fast and exactly like the situation requires whereas a slower has to think about different things, Hintsa describes.

- It's like having an excellent game-eye in ball games but there's more to it. In tests you can see who has a natural talent and who hasn't.

- Kimi's ability to act in racing situations comes straight from his backbone. He doesn't need time to think, he just makes the right decisions naturally. He can give form to an upcoming situation practically automatically and can because of that make just the right decision, Hintsa praises.

When you may face the most unbelieavable situations in GP's, the ability to draw the 3-dimensional line into the right spaces helps to direct the car in a top speed exactly the right way. Eyesight has nothing to do with this ability.

- Let's take X-Y-Z -space in which a bullet draws a certain line. When asked how the bullet moved, 99 % of the people start to think and draw the movement of the bullet.

- But then someone like Kimi can just show you exactly how the movement was born including the impression of depth. He doesn't have to think. It just is there, Räikkönen's doctor praised.

- When you follow Mika's interviews and when he is asked about a certain racing incident, Mika usually draws the answer in the air. That expresses this special feature, how Mika saw what happened and remembers it so vividly.

- When the skill comes from the genes and is natural you can enforce and improve it by being in the situation all the time. That way you can learn to keep up the ability for as long as you need it, Hintsa said.

Neurological tests are done to race drivers just in case.

If some serious accident happens we know the basic level the sportsman had before the accident.

Häkkinen was in a tragic accident in Adelaide qualification in 1995. The serious skull injury almost killed him.

- God has built human being's brains in a magnificent way. There's a great capacity that isn't even used. When damaged nervecells don't renew themself again new routes are born to replace them. Hintsa says that Häkkinen became an even more whole person after the accident.

Räikkönen himself doesn't care at all about Hintsa's flattering research results about a race driver's exceptional game-eye.

- Doctors know about those things, I don't. I haven't noticed anything special. I have been in some examinations. I guess it's somekind of a technology. And I most certainly don't see any better than anybody else who has a normal eyesight, Räikkönen thinks.

Official Spanish GP preview

He, he. They seem to be more upbeat about the new paint job for the garage than the upgrade to the car.

The car was pretty close to the front at the end of the Barcelona winter tests, so with any luck they'll be on the front two rows after qually. If that's the case, I'd put Hamilton and Button up against any of the other driver pairings with no worries.

Thanks Wolfie, interesting.

yeah thanks man ;)

Wanna see the garage now...

Lady.

Thank you very much, Wolfie! I was searching recently exactly for these articles, and couldn't find them through search engines.

Well, after the first four races, in engineering terms McLaren have at least produced the most technically reliable package. Can they now add the qualy 'velocity'!

LH did catch him though. Do you mean (a) he would have caught him even if Jenson hadn't gone off the track or (b) he would have still caught him if he'd been in the RB instead? Or maybe something else...?

Either way, I find the comment rather curious - something was "wrong" with the RB6 in the race in China. At the 2nd safety car, Lewis was just behind MW and just ahead of SV - but ended the race 32s ahead of SV and 51s ahead of MW.

After the final round of pit-stops, Lewis was 14s ahead of SV and 24s ahead of MW. Even though Jenson slid off near the end, he still extended his lead over SV and MW (by similar amounts to Lewis) and was still faster than the RBs (by about a second a lap) even after his off when he was struggling massively with cold tires.

Maybe the FIA RH rule clarification. That was the first race after the clarification. Other than that, I don't see what could have affected both cars by such a margin unless the Mclaren made a significant performance jump. The RBs are the declared favourite for the Barca race, a race that will refute or buttress my suspicion.