Hakkinen: Title race is not yet over

Despite Lewis Hamilton's 53-point advantage in the Championship, Mika Hakkinen is adamant there's still a lot of racing left to be done before the title is decided.

Hamilton's seventh race win of this season, achieved in Italy last Sunday, coincided with his team-mate Nico Rosberg's first non-points finish.

That meant Hamilton swept to a 53-point lead over his Mercedes team-mate.

This led to some suggestions that the title race is all but over. Hakkinen, however, insists it could still swing in Rosberg's favour.

"There are still a lot of races and all sorts can happen," he wrote in his Hermes column.

"This fight is not yet decided.

"Lewis had a new specification engine, with which he has done well in the race at Monza.

"The reason for Nico Rosberg's technical problems has been clarified. Mercedes took a risk which meant that Nico used an old engine in the race."

The double World Champion also weighed in on the controversy that awaited Mercedes for running tyres below the prescribed minimum pressure at the start of the Monza event.

"That was interesting. In Monza this was put on the table because the tyres had exploded at the previous race in Spa.

"I know from my own Formula 1 career that we sometimes made radical decisions regarding tyre pressure.

"The team wanted to improve performance so we also took risks, even though the tyre company vehemently argued that one cannot drive.

"Safety should always be above everything else."