Luca Brands Mclaren 'bad Losers'.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo congratulated Mika Hakkinen on his world championship success, but admitted that victory over McLaren in the constructors' series gave him added pleasure.
"Hakkinen had a great season, and deserved to win the title," he told the press, "and McLaren showed that they had a great car - which is why I am even more pleased at beating them to the constructors' title. Their behaviour in Malaysia was profoundly anti-sporting, [and came] from people who are bad losers.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo congratulated Mika Hakkinen on his world championship success, but admitted that victory over McLaren in the constructors' series gave him added pleasure.
"Hakkinen had a great season, and deserved to win the title," he told the press, "and McLaren showed that they had a great car - which is why I am even more pleased at beating them to the constructors' title. Their behaviour in Malaysia was profoundly anti-sporting, [and came] from people who are bad losers.
"After such a clear victory [for Ferrari], I didn't like the McLaren attitude. First, they went looking for a problem with the tyres, the en the presumed - but fictitious - irregularity of the deflectors. I marvel at the fact that a company such as Mercedes would have lent itself to such a claim.
The president paid tribute to McLaren's engineering excellence, however, and praised Hakkinen's ability to remain cool and concentrated under pressure at the Japanese GP, when a win was necessary to prevent Eddie Irvine from taking the title for Maranello. He also had a good word for his driver, who many believed was not favoured by the team after Michael Schumacher's mid-season accident.
"Eddie had a marvellous season," di Montezemolo said, "and, if we've won the constructors' title, we owe it, above all, to him. He gave everything he had."
