The career of Mika Häkkinen

Mika Häkkinen was born on the 28 September 1968 in Finland. He began karting from the age of 5 when his parents Harri and Alia rented a go-kart for him to use at a local track. He won his first karting race at the age of 7 and began to compete in regional championships across Finland and eventually all over Scandinavia. He got a job repairing bicycles as he began to compete all across Europe, even going to Parma to compete in the 1985 World Kart Championship where he sadly retired due to a mechanical issue. (Fun fact - he lived in the same street growing up as another future F1 driver Mika Salo!)

He made the transition to single seater car racing in 1987 when he purchased a Formula Ford 1600 car from fellow Finn JJ Lehto (who would also go on to race in F1!). He entered the Swedish, Nordic and Finnish Formula Ford Championships and won all 3. He also entered the British Formula 3 and Euroseries across 1988 and 1989, winning the Euroseries. His big break then came in 1990 when he applied to become a member of the Marlboro World Championship Team, which essentially acted as the McLaren driver academy. He was tested by a judging panel which included Formula 3000 bosses, former F1 world champion James Hunt and McLaren boss Ron Dennis. Häkkinen performed strongly in the test and recieved the Marlboro sponsorship. This allowed him to move to the West Surrey Racing team and he won the British Formula 3 series in 1990, taking 9 victories. He also entered the Macau Grand Prix where Häkkinen won the first leg from pole, but was controversially taken out deliberately during the second leg by Michael Schumacher and as a result lost the overall win. That would be the start of Häkkinen's main rivalry, and one that would become era-defining in late 90s F1.

Häkkinen's first test in Formula One machinery came with the Benetton team in 1990, where he drove 90 laps around Silverstone and was quicker than regular driver Alessandro Nannini. He didn't expect to be offered the seat and as a result decided to sign with the Lotus team for 1991. Lotus were in a very tricky situation: the once great marque that had hosted the likes of Senna, Piquet and Mansell had just lost title sponsor Camel and were heavy in debt. They had slipped to an all time low finish of 8th in the WCC the season prior with just 3 points scored. The Lotus 102B was pretty terrible - the steering wheel came off Häkkinen's car during his first race! However he did manage to score his first points in F1 at that year's San Marino race and also regularly outqualified his various teammates throughout the season. 2 points and P16 in the WDC to start his F1 career wasn't that good, but in that machinery it's not bad actually!

He remained at Lotus for 1992 and the team introduced a new car, the Lotus 107, and they also had acquired new Ford V8 engines to replace the Judd's they were using. This improved performance greatly, but the car remained very unreliable. Still, it put Häkkinen in a position to regularly show his talent, and despite the team's mounting debts, they were able to become more consistent points scorers. Häkkinen scored 11 of the team's 13 points, comfortably beating teammate Johnny Herbert and finished an impressive P8 in the WDC, as Lotus shot up to 5th in the WCC standings. He had a standout drive at Hungary, where he battled Berger's McLaren for the last podium spot before finishing P4. He also ran in the podium places in Portugal before having to pit late on and was also running in the podium places in Japan before his engine died. This was the season where he announced himself to the F1 world.

Häkkinen became involved in a contract dispute heading into 1993. He had a contract drawn up to drive alongside Alain Prost at Williams for 1993, but Williams was late in registering the team's 1993 entry, and as a result needed special consent from all the other teams if they wanted to compete. The Lotus boss at the time refused to give his consent if Williams continued to pursue Häkkinen, so as a result they cancelled the contract to ensure they could race in 1993 (this is a very shady move BTW). Häkkinen then was just a signature away from signing with the Ligier team for 1993, but the contract was changed last minute and included a clause that his manager Keke Rosberg disagreed with, so that too was cancelled (probably right move tbf). The season was now just a few months away and Mika still didn't have a drive. McLaren presented an opportunity, as at this stage it was unclear as if Senna would resign with the team or not. They met with Ron Dennis at an airport and got a contract signed, but the Lotus boss once again challenged the contract's legality. The Swiss High Court eventually ruled in Mika's favour, and he would have a contract with McLaren for 1993. This would be the most important decision in his career.

Mika was due to be partnered alongside American Michael Andretti for 1993, but eventually it turned into a testing role as Senna agreed to come back on a race by race contract (apparently something like 1.5 million a race! And they had no idea if he would even turn up for the next race or not!) McLaren used Ford V8 engines for this year after Honda abruptly pulled out at the end of 1992 and a planned Renault V10 engine deal collapsed. The MP4/8 was nimble but just didn't have the power or technology of that year's Williams. (Should have taken the Lamborghini deal!!!!) He performed his regular testing duties and entered support races before Andretti was fired after the Italian race that year for his disappointing performances and Hakkinen got his chance at a race seat. He outqualified Senna on his McLaren debut but sadly crashed out during the race. He claimed his first podium that year in Japan and his relative closeness to Senna during the final part of the season meant that he earned a long term contract from 1994 onwards. He finished P15 in the WDC with 4 points, but obviously only took part in a small number of races.

Mika was partnered by Martin Brundle for 1994 after Senna left for Williams. The team also switched engine providers again to a works deal with French manufacturer Peugeot. The MP4/9 car was a huge disappointment - McLaren endured their first winless season since 1980. The Peugeot engine specifically was a major problem - incredibly unreliable and also slow. Despite this, Hakkinen enjoyed his best season in F1 yet, beating teammate Brundle and scoring 6 podiums throughout the season, at San Marino, Silverstone, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Jerez. 7 retirements for Mika highlights the reliability issues, and McLaren slipped to P4 in the WCC. Hakkinen scored 26 of the team's 42 points and also finished P4 in the WDC standings. All in all a pretty impressive season for Mika despite all the team's problems.

There were great expectations for 1995 as McLaren ditched Peugeot in favour of a full factory works deal with Mercedes-Benz. There was also another teammate change for Hakkinen as former world champion Nigel Mansell was lured out of retirement to race for the team. The MP4/10 featured a radical change in design philosophy, but brought about problems as both Hakkinen and famously Mansell struggled to fit in the car during preseason testing. Hakkinen could start the season while a special monocoque had to be made to fit Mansell. The car's performance barely improved from the season prior - if anything it regressed. Mansell cancelled his comeback after 2 races back because of how disgusted he was with the poor performance, and so Hakkinen's main teammate because Mark Blundell for the season. Mika's car was quite unreliable once again and he endured 9 retirements throughout the season. He scored 2 podiums at Italy and Japan but even his ability couldn't save the terrible season. He finished P7 in the WCC with 17 points which was a step back, and McLaren only scored 30 points all season. All the hype from the Mercedes deal had faded.

At the season finale in Australia, Mika suffered a tyre failure during Friday qualifying, which made his car airborne and he crashed sideways into the crash barrier at an estimated speed of 120 mph. Hakkinen was critically injured - he fractured his skull, had serious internal bleeding and his airway was blocked. His life was saved by the efforts of the trackside medical team as his heart had to be restarted twice and an emergency tracheotomy had to be performed at the crash site to allow him to breathe. He remained in critical care for over two months in the Royal Adelaide Hospital but eventually made a miraculous recovery thanks to the elite medical care he was able to recieve.

Mika was still in recovery by the time 1996 preseason rolled around, so former champion Alain Prost was recruited to drive the new MP4/11 during the testing period. Hakkinen began training in secret and eventually by February he had performed a test at Paul Ricard to confirm his fitness and his readiness for a return to racing. He also had another new teammate in David Coulthard, who had been signed from Williams. This would be the first time in Mika's career that he would be the more experienced driver in a teammate pairing, and the goal was to win races in 1996. The new car was an improvement over the 1995 disaster, but still well off race winning form. There was major upgrades in both reliability and performance however, and the team finished P4 once again in the WCC, but this time with 49 points. Hakkinen got 31 of these points, beating teammate Coulthard, and had some standout podium finishes once again at Silverstone, Belgium, Italy and Japan. He finished P5 in the WDC with 31 points, a marked improvement from the previous year. Despite interest from Benetton and Williams, he resigned with McLaren this year.

1997 rolled around and McLaren had a striking new black and silver livery after signing a new deal with West, replacing long term sponsors Marlboro who had been with the team since 1974. It was seen as a new livery for a new era of McLaren, and this was confirmed when Coulthard won the first race of the season with Hakkinen coming home in 3rd place. The MP4/12 was a very promising car and had the pace to win races, but sadly the Mercedes engine proved unreliable throughout the season. Hakkinen especially had bad luck with this - retiring from the lead of 3 races that season. Mika's next podium only came in Germany and he finished 9th in Italy while his teammate went on to win the race. At the season finale in Jerez Hakkinen finally won in Formula One - leading home teammate Coulthard for a McLaren 1-2. It was a very popular victory throughout the paddock, despite the circumstances (it was basically given to them by Williams but still a win is a win!). However the season as a whole had been disappointing personally for Mika. He was outperformed by Coulthard and finished P6 in the WCC with 27 points, while McLaren still finished P4 again in the WCC with 63 points, but were much closer to the other teams than they had been before. Things were looking up heading into 1998.

1998 saw new regulations in F1, with the introduction of grooved tyres and narrower cars. McLaren had made a big coup in signing renowned designer Adrian Newey in 1997, and the new MP4/13 was the first car he would be directly designing. The McLaren was the car to beat, shown in Australia as Hakkinen won from Coulthard, with both finishing a whole lap ahead of the rest of the field (!!!! I thought this was a lie but no!!!). However the win proved controversial as Coulthard had let Hakkinen past a few laps before the end of the race, as both drivers had made a pre-race agreement that whoever led at the first corner would be allowed to win the race. Hakkinen had recieved wrong instructions from the team to pit and as a result Coulthard let him past as per the agreement. (I honestly don't think this is that bad and actually quite sporting from David, not like Austria 2002 for example!). The move was widely criticised however. Hakkinen took another victory in Brazil and a P2 in Argentina to continue a remarkable start to the season. Ferrari began to close the gap to McLaren, and an epic battle for the WDC between Hakkinen and Schumacher ensued. Wins at Spain, Monaco, Austria and Germany meant that Hakkinen had a 16 point lead with 5 rounds left, but with just 2 rounds to go the two were tied on 80 points each. Hakkinen then took a fantastic win at the Nurburgring by just 2 seconds from Schumacher to take the lead heading into the final race in Japan. He then took another superb win in Japan while Michael stalled on the grid to win the Formula One World Championship with 100 points. McLaren also won the WCC with 156 points. A fantastic championship winning season from Hakkinen!

Heading into 1999 the team's momentum was stalled by a difficult preseason with a lot of issues surrounding the new MP4/14. The new 1999 car proved to be more unreliable than the previous year's and Hakkinen retired from the opening round in Australia before winning in Brazil. He won in Spain and Canada and got podiums in Monaco and France to lead the driver's championship by 8 points heading into Silverstone. It looked to be another close year between the two rivals, but sadly Schumacher broke his leg during a crash caused by brake failure. Hakkinen also retired from the race, and a collision with teammate Coulthard probably stole a win from him in Austria. A tyre failure in Germany meant that he lost the lead of the WDC to Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine, who had taken on the championship challenger status after Schumacher's injury. He won in Hungary and came second in Belgium to lead Irvine by one point heading into the final four rounds. A big mistake in Italy (Monza 1999 great race to rewatch BTW) meant that he was tied 60 apiece with Irvine with 3 races to go. He lead by 2 points after Europe before Schumacher came back for the inagural Malaysian GP and gifted Irvine the win while Hakkinen came third to ensure that he took a 4 point lead over Hakkinen heading into the final race in Japan. Intitally it looked like McLaren had won the title here, as both Ferraris were DSQ'd over illegal bargeboards. The courtroom battle ensued for days before the result was reinstated and both championships would go down to the wire. Hakkinen won in Japan at one of his best circuits while Irvine could only finish third to seal his second world championship in a nail-biter, beating Irvine by just 2 points. McLaren regressed to finish P2 in the WCC behind Ferrari by 4 points, but Hakkinen had done enough throughout the season to deservedly win the title, although it would have been awesome to see what would have happened if Michael didn't break his leg!

Hakkinen entered 2000 ready to defend his title, but the new MP4/15 started slowly with 2 mechanical failures in the first two races. A run of 3 second places and a win in Spain reignited Mika's season, and another run of 3 second places and 3 more wins in Austria, Hungary and Belgium allowed Hakkinen to hold a 2 point lead over Schumacher with 3 rounds to go. An engine failure in the United States sadly killed his championship hopes as Schumacher won that race and the next one in Japan to confirm the world title. He eventually finished runner up to Michael with 89 points and McLaren once again finished P2 in the WCC to Ferrari. Hakkinen had still comfortably outperformed Coulthard this season however, but Schumacher's transformation of Ferrari into a dominant championship winning outfit was complete.

2001 hoped to bring about another championship challenge for McLaren, but the new MP4-16 suffered from a few problems. Their Mercedes engines were not as reliable as Ferrari's nor as powerful as the BMW engines Williams used. It had both chassis and aero issues and also failed to correctly uitilize the reintroduction of electronic driver aids. Hakkinen suffered a pretty terrible season - a loss of form combined with some terrible luck along the way. He suffered a now infamous last lap retirement from the lead at the Spanish GP, and Australia, Brazil, Monaco, France and Italy also saw lost points due to unreliability. He had to wait until round 8 at Canada to get his first podium of the season, but managed to take his last two wins in Formula One at Silverstone and Indianapolis. He was handily beaten by teammate Coulthard however, who came P2 in the WDC to Michael Schumacher and got 10 podiums compared to Mika's 3. Mika finished a disappointing P5 in the WDC with only 37 points.

Hakkinen announced he would be taking a sabbatical for the 2002 season, as he wanted to spend more time with his family. He then announced his full time retirement from F1 9 months into the sabbatical. There were a few rumors that he was going to make a return with BAR or Williams in 2005 and he even had talks with them, but eventually decided against it. Hakkinen has sealed his place however as one of the greatest drivers in Formula One history. He got 20 wins and 51 podiums, winning 2 Driver's Championships in 1998 and 1999. His rivalry in particular with Michael Schumacher was one of the best in the sport's history, with Michael himself saying that Hakkinen was the driver that he gained the most satisfaction from racing against. His harsh but always fair style of driving gained him plaudits from fans and other racers, and he was one of the most popular drivers in the paddock. An absolute legend that left while he was still at the top!