Mika Häkkinen

This Finn from Vantaa near Helsinki, came into contact with motorsport at an early age. He was already in a kart at the age of five and went on to win the Finnish championship title five times. in 1987, he first entered the Swedish Formula Ford Junior, won the series and, in the same season, also competed in Formula Ford 1600, in which he won the Finnish and Nordic championships at the first attempt and finished seventh in the European competition.

In 1988, participation in the Formula Opel Euroseries and the related British Formula Vauxhall followed. He became champion in the former and runner-up in the latter. In 1989 and 1990, the exceptional Finnish talent contested the British Formula 3 Championship. After finishing seventh in his debut year, he won the title in 1990. He also competed in the last round of the German Formula 3 Championship and promptly won it.

Häkkinen's sensational breakthrough, which also earned him the nickname "Flying Finn", led to an offer from the Lotus Formula 1 team for the 1991 Grand Prix season. The traditional British racing team was only a shadow of its former self, but the Finn still scored two championship points and finishes his first Formula 1 year in 16th place. In 1992, things were going better for the team and its young talent. Häkkinen still scored 11 points and improved to 8th place in the final table.

For the following season, the Finn succeeded in making the jump to McLaren, one of the top teams in Formula 1. In addition to his role as a test and reserve driver, he also got three Grand Prix starts when the US American Michael Andretti returned home unnerved a few weeks before the end of the season. As Ayrton Senna's team-mate, he achieved his first podium finish at the Japanese Grand Prix with third place. in 1994, a second place at the Spa-Francorchamps race followed for the first time in the McLaren-Peugeot, in addition to four other third places.

From 1995, under the leadership of Ron Dennis, the racing team was supplied with V10 racing engines from Mercedes-Benz and henceforth called Team McLaren-Mercedes. The Finn overcame a serious accident this season and, given the balance of power in Formula 1, had no chance of competing for the title up to and including 1997. In the drivers' standings, he occupied seventh, fifth and sixth place, respectively. A highlight and sheer motivation, however, is his first Grand Prix victory at the last race of the 1997 season, the European Grand Prix held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

1998 finally becomes the year of Mika Häkkinen. The Finn dominated his opponents in the MP4-13 almost at will and finished on the top step of the podium in eight of the 16 WC races. He secured the Drivers' World Championship title and – together with his stablemate David Coulthard – the Constructors' World Championship for McLaren-Mercedes. In 1999, he defended his drivers' title, with his great rival Michael Schumacher once again left behind. With these successes, Häkkinen followed in the footsteps of Juan Manuel Fangio: He was the first Mercedes-Benz champion in the highest motorsport class after the Argentinian and, like the latter did in 1954 and 1955, was able to win the title twice in succession.

In the 2000 season, Häkkinen had to give way to the German again and at the end of 2001, after finishing fifth overall in the drivers' championship behind his team-mate David Coulthard for the first time, he announced his retirement from Grand Prix racing.

After a three-year racing absence, the Finn was once again motivated to return from early retirement in 2005 and compete in the DTM for Mercedes-Benz. Right from the start, he moved on the unfamiliar terrain like a proven touring car expert and was already able to confidently win the third round of his comeback season in the AMG-Mercedes C-Class DTM. Up to and including 2007, Häkkinen remained in the DTM, completed a total of 31 races and achieved three victories, just as many pole positions, six podium finishes and 77 championship points. After the end of the 2007 season, Mika Häkkinen announced his final retirement from active racing.