Hakkinen says much more still to come from McLaren

The world champion led every one of the 65 laps but those in which he made his pit stops and never really looked in danger of losing what was the dullest race of the season so far.

And the result pulls him to second place in the driver's championship, six points behind Michael Schumacher who was third.

The result was McLaren's first 1-2 of 1999 and the ultimate answer to those who were claiming that with a string of retirements the McLaren winning machine was quite literally cracking under the pressure of the competition from Maranello.

But Hakkinen said that the car still needed to make some improvements to exact its full potential.

'The win looked easy but the reality is the car is still very difficult.

'I hope the engineers and designers will be able to find more speed for the car. I hope it is just a question of time before they crack it.

'There is a lot more to come from the car and the engine and we will be working hard to the end of the season to extract that.'

'Sometimes a win looks easy but it never is. I had a big advantage over Michael so I had to work hard time to pay maximum attention all through the race and be careful of the backmarkers.

'But it was a very satisfying victory. The team worked very well and they changed the tyres in a flash every time.

'There were no serious incidents for me except keeping my attention from beginning to end."

'David was catching me at the end - but I did it purposely as I eased back,' he said.