David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen talk McLaren favouritism and furious pit-lane FIGHTS with Michael Schumacher

Hakkinen and Coulthard stood together in 2001 McLaren race suits — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Stories

F1 legends talk McLaren favouritism and furious pit-lane FIGHTS with world champion

Two of McLaren's former stars discuss their F1 legacy and the 2025 title

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 3 October 2025 13:29

Today, the world of Formula 1 is wrapped up in the title battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. But before the days of papaya machinery, McLaren had to handle Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Having been rivals on the grid during the 1994 and 1995 campaigns, Hakkinen and Coulthard were brought together as team-mates in 1996 under the leadership of Ron Dennis.

Their intra-team rivalry became infamous, with Coulthard often having to make way for Hakkinen (and not always justifiably) as the flying Finn battled legend Michael Schumacher.

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Now, as the 2025 battle heats up, the team-mates turned friends have taken their rivalry on tour, with GPFans bringing you all the highlights from the closing night of the UK run at London's Dominion Theatre.

Coulthard always maintained he suffered from unfair treatment at McLaren, constantly questioning team boss Dennis over why he favoured Hakkinen.

Naturally, this theme featured heavily across the pair's final tour date, where they shared inside stories reflecting on chaotic crashes and controversial moments, recalling what it was like to compete during such a dangerous era of the sport.

Hakkinen and Coulthard conclude UK tour in London. Image Credit: David Rattenbury

An Evening with Racing Icons Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard

The evening was hosted by Channel 4 F1 presenter Steve Jones who set the audience up well for a night of captivating storytelling, with clips shown throughout the show of some of the most iconic moments from Hakkinen and Coulthard's time as team-mates.

The highlights included Hakkinen reflecting on what it felt like to out-qualify Ayrton Senna on his McLaren debut, and how he managed to keep his advantage a secret from the Brazilian, resulting in a frosty reception from the three-time champion.

Hakkinen and Coulthard unpacked their rivalries and detailed what it was like to race against Schumacher, who Coulthard described as ‘so good he didn’t need to be controversial’ (not that it stopped him).

After watching some of the most famous clips from the hectic 1998 Belgian Grand Prix with the audience, Coulthard recalled how he felt seeing the German storm through the paddock after that incident.

Sharing his thoughts after getting on the wrong side of Schumacher, Coulthard said: "I’m looking at him and of course, I’ve still got my helmet on, so I’m like, bring it on... I knew he wasn’t about to invite me to dinner, that’s for sure!”.

Amusingly, that very helmet was displayed centre stage beside the former McLaren duo, who sat back on the sofa as Jones interviewed them - Graham Norton style - and fielded questions from the audience.

Coulthard's 1998 Belgian GP helmet. Image Credit: David Rattenbury

Did McLaren favour Hakkinen over Coulthard?

When broached during the live show, this was evidently still a question that divided the two racers.

Turning to Hakkinen, Jones asked the Finn if he could see Coulthard’s point of view now that nearly 30 years have passed, but he simply replied: “No, I disagree.”

The Scotsman refused to back down, pointing to a picture of McLaren boss Dennis embracing his ‘favoured’ driver and joking: “Look at the joy on his face!”

During the height of their rivalry, McLaren took these claims seriously, even going as far as to have the team’s mechanics pick engine numbers out of a bag to avoid feelings of favoritism.

Yet during their final show, Coulthard told the story of how he finally got Dennis to admit he had a soft spot for Hakkinen. The McLaren boss cited a ‘fatherly moment’ he experienced beside the Finn’s hospital bed after his 1995 high-speed crash in Adelaide, which put him into an induced coma.

Coulthard recalled Dennis saying: “It’s very difficult for me not to have that affinity with Mika.” Having eventually found closure, the Scotsman admitted: “If he’d told me that at the beginning, it would have never been an issue.”

Hakkinen won two drivers' titles with McLaren in 1998 and 1999

Have McLaren backed the wrong driver?

It wouldn’t have been a night of F1 debates had the racing stars not touched on McLaren’s current championship predicament.

When asked which of the team’s drivers would steal the title this year, both Hakkinen and Coulthard surprisingly leaned towards Norris, and not for the reason you might think.

Having experienced what he described as unfair favouritism in his own racing days, Coulthard contradicted himself, claiming the Brit would be the better champion for McLaren.

Reflecting on Piastri’s recent wobble at the Azerbaijan GP, Coulthard said: “Oscar has led the championship for so long that it just feels like he’s going to get the title, but I think that Lando would be the better champion for McLaren because Zak has been his manager for several years, he’s been with the team longer…” Jones then interrupted to point out the elephant in the room: “It sounds like you’re insinuating that McLaren favour a driver,” he joked. “Not as much as Ron did,” Coulthard concluded.

Hakkinen rounded off the evening by also backing Norris for the title, pointing to fatigue as a potential explanation for Piastri’s drastic drop in form last time out.

“I experienced when I drove in Formula 1, the first two, three years, middle of the season, you start losing a little bit of your energy, you start making mistakes,” he said.

“Lando has more experience… I believe he has learned from his mistakes. Oscar is still developing.”

Only time will tell which of Zak Brown’s drivers will join Hakkinen on the list of champions, that is of course unless reigning champion Max Verstappen manages to pip them both to the title across the final seven rounds.

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 McLaren Lando Norris Michael Schumacher David Coulthard Mika Hakkinen