Biography of Mika Häkkinen, “the flying Finnish driver”
Because it has won 8 constructors and 12 driver’s titles, McLaren is widely regarded as one of the most successful teams in the annals of Formula One racing.
However, the Woking team has not tasted success since 2008, both as a team and by supporting one of its official drivers in a race.
This includes the team’s efforts to win races.
Mika Hakkinen is one of those who became a legend thanks to the excellent work done by the British structure.
Hakkinen won the Formula One world championship twice at the tail end of the 20th century before Michael Schumacher began to dominate the tournament with an iron fist in his speedy Ferrari.
Hakkinen was one of those who became a legend thanks to the excellent work done by the British structure.
Even though he may not be remembered as frequently or passionately as others, his track record undoubtedly deserves a few lines of discussion.
Mika Hakkinen: A Biography, Beginning in 1968 and Continuing to the Present Day
After the pertinent introduction has been given, it is time to move on to everything Mika Hakkinen has contributed to motorsport, which is a lot, as well as some other curiosities that are not very well-known about his person.
Let’s proceed with the mission with the flying Finn.
1. Beginnings
Mika Pauli Hakkinen was born on September 28, 1968, in the city of Vantaa, located in Finland, close to Helsinki, the country’s capital.
Since his father, Harri, made his living as a cab operator and part-time cab driver, and his mother, Aila, did the same as a secretary, he did not have much of a connection to the world of motorsports growing up in a family where neither parent worked in the industry.
Despite this, when he was only five years old, he began competing in karting thanks to the kart that his parents rented for him so that they could keep him entertained at a track that was close to their house.
At a very young age, he demonstrated exceptional talent and ability behind the wheel, as evidenced by winning his first race at seven.
This victory marked the beginning of a string of regional and national championships he would go on to win.
He did not stop winning the competitions he entered until the year 1986, and this began when he was ten years old.
The Keimola Club Championship was won twice, the Swedish Lapland Cup was won, the Finnish 85 cubic centimeter karting championship was won, the Ronnie Peterson Memorial was won, the Salpauselka Cup was won, and the Nordic Formula 100 cubic centimeter was won.
The only thing that could stop him was the karting world championship.
When he traveled to Parma in Italy to compete in the final part of the competition, he was forced to withdraw due to mechanical problems before the last event.
This was the only thing that was able to stop him. In 1986, he broadened his horizons by competing in circumstances held in the Old Continent, which required him to assume a more significant financial burden than he had previously.
He found employment with a colleague who recruited him to work in his workshop to repair bicycles so that he could continue his athletic career while also paying for it.
2. The transition to single-seat vehicles
In 1987, when he was 19 years old, he made the transition to single-seaters and began competing in Formula Ford 1600 in his home country of Finland, as well as in Norway and Sweden.
He started the change in an unbeatable fashion by winning competitions in all three countries.
This victory paved the way for him to take another significant step by winning the Opel Lotus Euroseries Championship.
Because he had four victories and a total of 126 points in his locker, he could win this continental championship and become champion in its 1988 edition while competing for the Dragon team.
The most important stepping stone on his path to the top was his participation in the British Formula 3 racing series during the 1989 and 1990 seasons.
In the year that he made his debut, he finished seventh in the final standings, but the year after that, he was declared the winner of the entire competition.
Because of his outstanding performance, he was allowed to try out a Formula 1 car for the first time.
He climbed into one of the Benetton cars competing in the Grand Circus, and with that car, he completed a total of 90 laps on the Silverstone track.
Some of his lap times were faster than those of the driver Alessandro Nannini, who was an official for the team at the time.
However, as we will see in the following paragraphs, even though he had a good feeling about the throttle and steering of the car, it would not be his first team when he came to the championship.
3. Introduction to the Formula One Championship
In Formula One, the year 1991 will be remembered not only for the capsicum but also for Mikka Hakkinen’s debut in the world championship behind the wheel of a racing car entered by the Lotus team.
Hakkinen did so while driving a vehicle entered by Lotus. This took place at the Phoenix circuit, the host venue for the United States Grand Prix at the time.
After qualifying in thirteenth place on the starting grid, he was forced to pull out of the race on lap sixty due to a mechanical issue with the Judd engine.
Therefore, it was not an easy season for the team, to which he arrived with the reasonable opinion of his manager at the time, none other than Keke Rosberg, the first Finnish champion in Grand Circus, who shared the box with him at the beginning of the season along with Julian Bailey, then with Michael Bartels, and finally with his friend Johny Herbert at the end of the season.
However, already in his third Grand Prix, he scored points with his fifth-place finish in San Marino on the Imola track.
It was an epic way to score points because he started from the 25th position on the starting grid.
Despite this, he did not record any more points for the remainder of the season, ultimately finishing in sixteenth place in the drivers’ championship.
In 1992, he continued to race for Lotus and appeared to make improvements to both his results and his performance.
Hakkinen’s strong performance was likely due, on the one hand, to the switch to a different engine and, on the other hand, to the fact that he was sharing a box with a teammate as talented as Herbert.
Judd stepped down as the team’s engine supplier, and Ford took its place, both of which contributed to him finishing in eighth place overall with eleven points and achieving his best race results, which were two fourth-place finishes in France and Hungary, respectively.
However, the truth is that their future was resolved in a somewhat disorderly manner, even though they did not escape their outstanding performances in the year of confirmation, as is customarily the case.
He wanted to go to Williams, the most successful team then, but he ran into Lotus and had a contractual confrontation with them.
As a result, the director of Lotus, Peter Collins, vetoed his signing.
Later, he made an effort to go to Ligier, but he could not because another clause in his contract required him, and Keke Rosberg disagreed with this provision.
At long last, Ron Dennis decided to employ him as a test driver for the McLaren team he owned.
A priori, it seemed like a step backward seeing his progression, but the reality is that the sky would end up the opening with his decision to join the English team.
4. McLaren and the realization of a dream
The unfortunate truth is that at the beginning of his time in Woking, the good Mikka faced the difficult challenge of cohabitating with a legendary figure, which was also the case for the Brazilian Ayrton Senna.
The other driver was the American Michael Andretti, who quit the team after the Italian Grand Prix with three races remaining in the 1993 season.
His departure came after the race in Italy.
Because of this, he made his debut with that red and white car, which gave him one joy and two disappointments in that short period.
He was forced to pull out of the races in Portugal and Austria, but he took third place in the Japanese Grand Prix held at Suzuka and earned his first podium finish among the top three drivers.
After moving to Williams, Senna was given a much more prominent role in the team.
In 1994, he continued his success on the podium with Peugeot as his engine supplier. Specifically, he finished on the podium six times: at Imola, Silverstone, Spa Francorchamps, Monza, Estoril, and the Nürburgring.
Even though he was involved in several retirements, he placed an impressive fourth overall in the qualifying standings.
The following season, Mercedes began supplying the cars’ engines, but their efforts were initially met with limited success.
As a result, the driver experienced an increased number of retirements.
A wheel blew out on his single-seater, which resulted in him crashing head-on into a wall during practice for the Australian Grand Prix, which was held at the time in Adelaide.
As if that weren’t bad enough, he was involved in a spectacular accident during the practice session.
He fell into a coma, from which, thankfully, he emerged after the emergency service doctors performed a tracheotomy to remove the obstruction in his windpipe.
Because of this, he became more robust, and the year after that, in 1996, he was solid again with his car.
The following year, he celebrated his first victory at the Jerez circuit in the final round of that 1997 championship.
This served as a warning to navigators of what his competitors and fans would see in the times to come because, in 1998, he won the championship in the final race at Suzuka against Michael Schumacher, who had come from the back of the grid to third place before seeing a blown tire that tipped the balance in favor of the Finn.
In 1998, he won the title against Michael Schumacher.
He was successful again in 1999, but it was against Eddie Irvine, who had taken Ferrari on his back after Michael Schumacher was forced out of the championship by a severe accident at Silverstone.
He repeated his success from 1998. Because he could only steal two points from the Irishman, he had no choice but to put in a lot of effort.
Ferrari forewarned him of what was to come, and even though he drove for McLaren and did not win any more championships, he will always be remembered for his double pass at Spa in 2000 on Ricardo Zonta and Schumi, who had been lapped.
Even though he continued to win some races and finish on the podium, he decided to leave the Grand Circus at the end of the 2001 season, even though his battle partner was becoming less and less competitive.
5. Life after F1
Between 2005 and 2007, he competed in the German touring car championship driving a Mercedes C-Class.
Although he was successful in a few of the races he entered, he was never able to get within striking distance of the championship.
Because he has such a strong relationship with the members of the Mclaren team and because of his role as an ambassador for the whisky brand Johnny Walker, which sponsored the team for several years, it is not uncommon for him to be spotted in the pit box of the Mclaren car during races.
This relationship has been strengthened over time.
It is important to note that he serves as the manager for Valtteri Bottas, which means he is still very active in the championship.
Finally, his son Hugo is also a driver, so it remains to be seen whether or not we will see him in the Formula One championship at some point in the future.
¿Did you like the content?
