"Kimi has to come back next year" - Aki Hintsa
Ilta-Sanomat 9.10.2010 (paper edition)


F1-doctor Aki Hintsa knows what F1-drivers are like.

You went to McLaren in 2003. Why?

- I was invited. I had already made co-work with Mika Häkkinen since 1988. I was Mika's personal doctor and we took care of things related to his performance level.

What is your title and job description in McLaren?

- The title is Head of Human High Performance, in other words I take care of the human top performance of the drivers and the team.

How has F1-world changed during your F1-years?

- After 10 years of experience I can say that if possible the F1-world has become even more commercial. You see it from how they choose races based upon financial matters. The old F1-culture is starting to vanish. A new commercial F1-culture is taking it's place. It's a shame for the sport.

- The focus from the sport doesn't disappear but the angle changes. Earlier perfomance was the most important thing. Now the situation is so finance driven. You really have to go digging if you want to find even an ounce of humanity.

What do they require from the drivers today?

- More and more. A F1-driver has to be physically in top form and he must be mentally extremely prepared for top perfoming. Family and friends are important. If you succeed then your group of pals grows bigger. If there's nothing then nobody cares. The difficulty is how to master the wholeness. The wholeness consists of physical training, mental resources, social frame and the work environment. Inside the team you have to master the psychodynamics so that you get the best out of yourself as a driver.

- Everybody also constantly wants a piece of the driver and that's why it's easy to lose your identity. My job is to get the boys to keep their feet on the ground aswell as hang on to their identity with teeth and nails so that they maintain their human dignity.

What has it required from you?

- I'm sitting in the same boat.

You had to move to Switzerland because of your work. What do you miss from Finland?

- The kids are the first thing that comes to my mind because they study in Finland. I also miss the silence, sauna and jumping into the lake from the sauna. When we warm up the sauna with my son Niklas we can easily talk all night.

You have earlier been in Africa making operations for free. Why?

- I was in Ethiopia for 3 years working for a developmental aid organisation. One year was right after the civil war and it was more...

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