Hakkinen is better than DC, says Watson.

Former McLaren and F1 driver John Watson has admitted that Eddie Irvine is right - DC is no match for an on form Mika Hakkinen.

Watson told British tabloid newspaper The Sunday Mirror: "Silverstone showed that Mika (Hakkinen) is simply the quicker McLaren driver. It put David (Coulthard) into perspective. I'm reluctant to agree with Eddie Irvine - but what he says about Coulthard is right. Although David has improved, his position in the championship is more to do with the fact that Mika has under-performed."

"I could not have imagined David doing what Mika did at Silverstone. It was a blinding perfoprmance by Mika, a reminder of him at his peak. When he performs like that he is clearly McLaren's better bet to take on Michael (Schumacher). But Ron (Dennis) needs Mika to do it all the time, not once in a blue moon. The problem for Ron is he still can't be sure about David."

Watson added: "It's not good enough for Ron if Mika is going to rise to the occasion only when circumstances suit him, such as last Sunday and in his previous win, in Belgium last year. Sometimes Mika is stuck in fifth or sixth place and looks lacklustre. But at Silverstone he decided to turn it on. And I'm not convinced Mika would have let David have the win, even though David seems to think he would have. I reckon Mika would have got so far ahead of David there would have been no way he was going to give up his win. The other point is that McLaren have no one coming through their own ranks to replace Mika or David."
"It might be different if the team truly do get behind David in the way they have done for Mika over these past few years. But somehow I don't think it will ever be the same with David. It's purely a business arrangement with him - I don't think there's much humanity or warmth there."