Mika Häkkinen

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Mika Häkkinen
Image:MH 31-10-4b.jpg Mika Häkkinen celebrating winning the Drivers' Championship after winning the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix
Formula One Career
Nationality	Image:Flag of Finland (bordered).svg Finnish
Active years	1991 - 2001
Team(s)	Lotus, McLaren
Grands Prix	165
Championships	2
Wins	20
Podium finishes	51
Pole positions	26
Fastest laps	25
First Grand Prix	1991 United States Grand Prix
First win	1997 European Grand Prix
Last win	2001 United States Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	2001 Japanese Grand Prix

Mika Pauli Häkkinen (born September 28, 1968 in Vantaa) is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One champion. He is considered by many to have been Michael Schumacher's greatest rival in Formula One. The German has said that Häkkinen is the rival he respects the most in his Formula One career.

1 Personal and early life
2 Racing career
3 Possible Return to F1
4 Complete Formula One Results
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Personal and early life

Mika Häkkinen was born in Vantaa, Finland on September 28, 1968 to Harri, a short wave radio operator and part time taxi driver, and Aila Häkkinen, who worked as a secretary. Mika grew up with one sister, Nina, who ran a fan site for her brother until it's closure in 1998. Häkkinen is married to Erja and has one son, Hugo (born December 11, 2000) and one daughter, Aina (born May 12, 2005). Since 1991, Häkkinen has taken residency in Monte Carlo.

[edit] Racing career

[edit] Pre-Formula One

When Häkkinen was five years old, his parents hired a go-kart for him to take to a track near their home. On his first lap, Häkkinen was involved in an accident, escaping unhurt. Despite this crash, Häkkinen wished to continue racing and after persistently annoying his parents, the young Finn got his wish. His father bought Häkkinen his first own go-kart, one that Henri Toivonen had previously competed with.<ref>Gagnon, Marie-Julie. Le fil de Mika (French). Radio Canada. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.</ref>

By 1986, Häkkinen had won five karting championships. 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg helped Häkkinen by arranging him sponsorship that aided the Finn through the junior categories of open wheel racing. The "New Flying Finn" won three Scandinavian championships, then the Opel Lotus Euroseries championship before winning the British Formula Three championship and coming close to winning the 1990 Macau Grand Prix, which resulted in his promotion to Formula One with the Lotus team.

[edit] Formula One

[edit] 1991-1992: Lotus

Main article: Lotus
1991

Häkkinen joined Lotus in 1991. The Finn qualified 13th for his Grand Prix debut in Phoenix, and would finish the race in his grid position after his car experienced an engine failure on lap 60. Häkkinen score his first Grand Prix points two rounds later in Imola, where he finished fifth from 25th on the grid, three laps behind the race winner, Ayrton Senna. Häkkinen finished the season in equal 15th alongside Satoru Nakajima and Martin Brundle.

1992

Johnny Herbert joined Häkkinen for 1992. The Finn continued his form from 1991, with points scoring finishes in six Grand Prix, his best finishes were fourth places in France and Hungary. Häkkinen finished the season in eighth place in the Drivers' Championship, with almost six times as many points as the previous season.

[edit] 1993-2001: McLaren

Main article: McLaren
1993

In 1993, Häkkinen joined McLaren as test driver with a view to being promoted to the race team. At Monaco he returned to racing with a guest drive in the Porsche Supercup race, an event he dominated. His hopes of stepping up to the race team were realised after Monza, when Michael Andretti left the sport. Häkkinen's McLaren race debut at Estoril was impressive. In his first outing for he outqualified star driver Ayrton Senna, much to the Brazilian legend's annoyance. He was unable to beat Senna come Sunday, a spin ending his chances, but a message of intent had been delivered; he was clearly a talent worth watching.

1994

Image:Hakkinen Silverstone1994.jpg With Senna departing to Williams for 1994, Häkkinen became McLaren team leader alongside Philippe Alliot and Brundle. McLaren switched from the Ford to the Peugeot engines as well. Häkkinen put six more podium finishes on his one the previous year, including a second place in Belgium. The Finn finished the year fourth in the Drivers' Championship in fourth position with a tally of 26 points.

1995

1995 would be the start of a long relasionship between Häkkinen's McLaren team and Germany car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. A further two second places in Italy and Japan put the Finn's tally of podiums up to nine. Then, at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, Häkkinen had a tyre failure during free practice, which resulted in him crashing heavily into the wall. He was saved only due to an emergency tracheotomy that was performed by the side of the track. This incident forged a strong bond between Häkkinen and Ron Dennis, and also sent forth a new movement for extra safety in the sport. Luckily, Häkkinen recovered almost fully and was fit to race again in 1996.

1996

The 1996 season saw McLaren improve; Mercedes-Benz were in their second season of engine supply to the team and Häkkinen managed to return to the podium, although his first win still eluded him. That season saw David Coulthard join the team from Williams. Häkkinen finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring a total of 31 points.

1997

McLaren were confident of success in 1997. With the distinctive red and white colours of Marlboro replaced by the silver and black colurs of West, the team returned to their winning ways. Coulthard took the first win for McLaren in over three seasons at the Australian Grand Prix. Through the year the McLarens began to regularly challenge the frontrunners, but it was Coulthard who finished higher in the championship. Häkkinen came close to an elusive breakthrough victory a number of times in 1997, not least at Silverstone, A1-Ring and Nürburgring. At Jerez he finally managed to cross the line first, although Villeneuve had allegedly been asked to consider whether it was necessary to keep the Finn behind him at all costs in the closing stages of the race.

Mika Häkkinen at the 2000 United States Grand Prix.

1998

A winner at last, Häkkinen was confident of further success in 1998. With Adrian Newey, the renowned former Williams-Renault designer, now on board at McLaren, Häkkinen found himself in the fastest car for early 1998 season. He did not waste the opportunity, going on to win eight races and a maiden World Championship. His speed when under pressure was highly impressive, particularly at the final race in Japan, where he held his nerves and won the race. His title rival Michael Schumacher on the other hand, stalled on the grid, leaving himself too much to do to beat Häkkinen.

1999

His title defence in 1999 was tougher. With the McLaren not as reliable as the previous year, he lost out on a number of points early in the season, but by the time of Schumacher's leg-breaking crash at Silverstone, he had overtaken the German in the standings. Eddie Irvine now took on the mantle of Ferrari team leader and through reliability problems with the McLaren, and mistakes from Häkkinen, took the title battle down to the last race, again in Japan. Häkkinen had made several major errors at Imola and Monza, both times crashing out whilst in a strong lead, and some questioned whether he could handle the pressure of a title decider once more. Come Japan however, he was back on top form and romped to a victory that secured him a second world championship.

2000

Image:Mika Häkkinen No. 1 Once More at Spa.JPG As a double World Champion, he had joined an elite group of drivers. For 2000, he was eager to score a hat-trick of crowns, but an improved Ferrari, combined with some inspired driving from Michael Schumacher, saw him finish runner-up to the German. At Spa however, he had taken his greatest victory, with a sensational pass on Michael Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta, both in the Kemmel straight. This was the last point in his career when he was both the reigning world champion and also leading the world championship of the current year, as in the next Grand Prix Schumacher took over the Championship lead, which he was to ascertain in an epic duel with Mika at the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix. Schumacher went on to describe his championship fight with Mika as the most satisfying one in his career, an indication of the great respect between the two multiple champions.

2001

In 2001, he took part in what would prove to be his last season of Formula One. The McLaren was not as competitive and it was Coulthard who carried the threat to Schumacher for much of the season. There were days however when Häkkinen reminded people of his skills. At Silverstone he dominated the race to take his first victory of the year, whilst at Indianapolis he put in a stirring drive to take his last Grand Prix win. At the end of the season he left racing, initially for a sabbatical, but by mid-2002 this had become full-time retirement.

[edit] 2005-Present: DTM

Main article: Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Image:Mika Haekkinen 2006.jpg Image:DTM car mercedes2006 Haekkinen racing.jpg During 2004 Häkkinen announced plans for a Grand Prix comeback and held talks with Williams for 2005. A deal was not reached and he instead made a race comeback in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), with Mercedes-Benz. It was a successful season, including one win at Spa.

For 2006 he again competed in the DTM championships with Mercedes, although it was a more difficult season, with a couple of second places his best results. Autosport magazine has speculated that Mika's style of driving is not especially suited to a DTM car.

At the 2006 Goodwood Festival Of Speed, Häkkinen drove the 2005 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20. Many said that it was great once again to see Häkkinen in a McLaren, as he was the last driver to win the World Championship in a McLaren.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Possible Return to F1

After Häkkinen's sabbatical year and subsequent retirement, rumours of his return have been reported on several occasions. Häkkinen was linked to Williams during the 2004 season, because of Montoya going to McLaren-Mercedes following year. [1]

At the end of the 2006 season there were further rumours regarding Häkkinen returning to the wheel of a McLaren-Mercedes for the 2007 season. Autosport magazine reported that Häkkinen had tested a McLaren simulator twice during November and discussed a possible comeback with the team. On November 24 McLaren announced that Lewis Hamilton would take the team's second seat in 2007, ending the speculation of a possible return to a Formula One drivers seat. However, Mika may still participate in an advisory role with Ron Dennis stating that "Mika can evaluate some of the things we are developing and bringing to the car."<ref>Mika set for McLaren return</ref> On Thursday, November 30, Häkkinen tested the 2006 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-21 for a full day at the Circuit de Catalunya, in Barcelona, Spain. Mika completed 79 laps of the circuit, but his fastest lap was three seconds off the pace of regular race drivers. McLaren are using his expertise to see how Formula One has evolved over the years since his retirement from Formula One at the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix for possible developments which may come out of this testing. Ron Dennis has stated that this might be Häkkinen's only Formula One test for the Woking team.

Mika has also been named as the Responsible Drinking Ambassador for McLaren sponsor Johnnie Walker<ref>Hakkinen Lands Drink-Drive Role</ref>.

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Team	WDC	Points
1991	Lotus	USA 13	BRA 9	SMR 5	MON Ret	CAN Ret	MEX 9	FRA DNQ	GBR 12	GER Ret	HUN 14	BEL Ret	ITA 14	POR 14	ESP Ret	JPN Ret	AUS 19		Lotus	16th	2
1992	Lotus	RSA 9	MEX 6	BRA 10	ESP Ret	SMR DNQ	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 4	GBR 6	GER Ret	HUN 4	BEL 6	ITA Ret	POR 5	JPN Ret	AUS 7		Lotus	8th	11
1993	McLaren	RSA	BRA	EUR	SMR	ESP	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR Ret	JPN 3	AUS Ret		McLaren	15th	4
1994	McLaren	BRA Ret	PFC Ret	SMR 3	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 3	GER Ret	HUN	BEL 2	ITA 3	POR 3	EUR 3	JPN 7	AUS 12		McLaren	4th	26
1995	McLaren	BRA 4	ARG Ret	SMR 5	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 7	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 2	POR Ret	EUR 8	PFC Inj	JPN 2	AUS DNS	McLaren	7th	17
1996	McLaren	AUS 5	BRA 4	EUR Ret	ARG 8	SMR 8	MON 6	ESP 5	CAN 5	FRA 5	GBR 3	GER Ret	HUN 4	BEL 3	ITA 3	POR Ret	JPN 3		McLaren	5th	31
1997	McLaren	AUS 3	BRA 4	ARG 5	SMR 6	MON Ret	ESP 7	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 3	HUN Ret	BEL DSQ	ITA 9	AUT Ret	LUX Ret	JPN 4	EUR 1	McLaren	6th	27
1998	McLaren	AUS 1	BRA 1	ARG 2	SMR Ret	ESP 1	MON 1	CAN Ret	FRA 3	GBR 2	AUT 1	GER 1	HUN 6	BEL Ret	ITA 4	LUX 1	JPN 1		McLaren	1st	100
1999	McLaren	AUS Ret	BRA 1	SMR Ret	MON 3	ESP 1	CAN 1	FRA 2	GBR Ret	AUT 3	GER Ret	HUN 1	BEL 2	ITA Ret	EUR 5	MYS 3	JPN 1		McLaren	1st	76
2000	McLaren	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR 2	GBR 2	ESP 1	EUR 2	MON 6	CAN 4	FRA 2	AUT 1	GER 2	HUN 1	BEL 1	ITA 2	USA Ret	JPN 2	MYS 4	McLaren	2nd	89
2001	McLaren	AUS Ret	MYS 6	BRA Ret	SMR 4	ESP 9	AUT Ret	MON Ret	CAN 3	EUR 6	FRA DNS	GBR 1	GER Ret	HUN 5	BEL 4	ITA Ret	USA 1	JPN 4	McLaren	5th	37