#21 – Mika Hakkinen

Surely the closest rival to Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, the first ‘Flying Finn’, was exceptionally fast with some famous great moments such as his brilliant pass on Schumacher at Spa in 2000, and outqualifying Ayrton Senna on his McLaren debut in Estoril 1993. Martin Brundle, teammate to both, even said he was faster than Schumacher and over a single lap he possibly was. However, Hakkinen was not as complete a driver as his rival, as he wasn’t as quick over a race distance, while both were a little error-prone. He also drove, in my opinion, a clearly faster car in 1998, while he only just edged out Eddie Irvine in 1999 due to a messy season, and sometimes struggled for pace when his car was less competitive. Hakkinen was a particularly exciting driver, due to his preference for an oversteering car.

Hakkinen had his first battle with Michael Schumacher in Macau 1990. Hakkinen went to pass Schumacher on the straight, Schumacher moved late and Hakkinen crashed. He then got a seat at Lotus in 1991, and had an average first season in Formula 1, scoring just two points for fifth in Imola but often failing to finish, although he was faster than teammates Julian Bailey and Michael Bartels, although his record against Johnny Herbert was more even.

Hakkinen continued to race for Lotus alongside Herbert in 1992 but struggled at the start of the season, as Herbert was faster than him. Hakkinen finished sixth in Mexico, and over the second half of the season became more competitive with fourth in Magny-Cours and sixth in Silverstone. Hakkinen scored further points for fourth in Hungary, sixth in Belgium and fifth in Portugal to finish eighth in the championship on 11 points, well ahead of Herbert although in reality they had been very evenly-matched. After failing to secure contracts at Williams and Ligier, Hakkinen joined McLaren as reserve driver in 1993.

After Michael Andretti had a poor season at McLaren, Hakkinen was promoted to a race seat alongside Ayrton Senna from Estoril onwards, and in his first qualifying session, Hakkinen outqualified Senna to go third on the grid, shocking and angering the triple champion, although in the race Hakkinen crashed out. In Suzuka he qualified third again, this time behind Senna and finished there in the wet race as Senna won. At the final race of the season in Adelaide, Senna again won from pole as Hakkinen qualified fifth and retired with brake failure.

In 1994, Hakkinen became the lead driver at McLaren, joined by Martin Brundle, as Senna left to join Williams. In Aida, Hakkinen made contact with both Senna and Damon Hill and ran second before retiring. He then took a podium for third in Imola. Over the following races, Hakkinen was clearly fast but couldn’t get the results to match, colliding with Hill in Monaco and retiring with engine failure in Spain while in contention for victory. Hakkinen took his second podium of the season in Silverstone with third, after forcing his way past Barrichello on the final corner.

Then in Hockenheim, Hakkinen caused an incident on lap one and, in a season of harsh penalties, was banned from Hungary as a result. Hakkinen returned in Spa-Francorchamps, and finished second to Hill after Schumacher was disqualified. Hakkinen then finished third in Monza, Estoril and Jerez as he found some consistency at last, although the car was never competitive enough for him to challenge for victory. Hakkinen therefore finished an impressive fourth in the championship, having outperformed Martin Brundle.

In 1995, Hakkinen continued to drive for McLaren as Mark Blundell was his teammate after Nigel Mansell gave up after two races, disliking the car. Hakkinen claimed points for fourth in Interlagos and fifth in Imola, but the car was uncompetitive and unreliable and he failed to score points again until Monza, although he was on course for third in Hockenheim before an engine failure. In Monza, Hakkinen finished second thanks tot a Schumacher-Hill incident, while he repeated the result with a strong driver in Suzuka. Hakkinen crashed heavily in practice in Adelaide due to a tyre failure and was hospitalised for two months, his life briefly looking in the balance in what was one of the most serious accidents in Formula 1 post-Imola 1994, but from which he made a full recovery. He finished seventh in the championship.

After beating Brundle and Blundell, Hakkinen was joined at McLaren by David Coulthard in 1996, a partnership that would be one of the longest-lasting in F1 history. It was a more even battle, although Hakkinen still held the edge. He scored points in Melbourne and Interlagos, but the McLaren didn’t seem fast enough to fight for wins. He scored his first podium of the season in Silverstone with third, a result he repeated in Spa, Monza and Suzuka, the latter after a close battle with Schumacher. Hakkinen finished fifth in the championship and had outperformed Coulthard in their first season as teammates.

McLaren retained their drivers into 1997 but it was Coulthard who took victory in Albert Park as Hakkinen could only manage third, after both Williams retired. During the season, Hakkinen was quick but error-prone and also unlucky. He took more points finishes in the next three races, but collided with Alesi in Monaco and Irvine in Canada. Then in Silverstone, he started third but took the lead due to his one-stop strategy and held off Villeneuve until his engine failed. He took third in Hockenheim and was disqualified from the same position in Spa.

Hakkinen’s victory chance in Monza was ruined by a puncture, while he dropped out of the lead with engine failure on the first lap in Austria. Engine failure again eliminated Hakkinen while leading on the Nurburgring, but finally took his deserved first victory in Jerez as Villeneuve let him through on the final lap due to an agreement between the teams. It was an unsatisfactory way to win his first Grand Prix, but after a strong but unlucky season, Hakkinen had deserved for it to come much sooner.

In 1998, McLaren finally had the best car on the grid, and indeed a dominant one for parts of the season, although some bad luck, as well as strong drives from Schumacher, kept the title battle close. Hakkinen took pole position in Albert Park and the two McLaren drivers lapped the rest of the field, although Hakkinen was accidentally called into the pits and needed to be let back ahead of Coulthard. He won his second consecutive race in Interlagos after a dominant pole position as Coulthard shadowed him all the way as McLaren once again utterly dominated. But in Buenos Aires, it became apparent that he would not have it all his own way and Schumacher beat Hakkinen to victory after contact with Coulthard. Then in Imola, Hakkinen started second and ran there behind Coulthard until his gearbox failed.

Hakkinen was back on form in Spain with a victory from a dominant pole ahead of Coulthard, and he was showing himself to be a match for Schumacher on outright speed. Problems for both Schumacher and Coulthard in Monaco, as Hakkinen recorded a grand slam, opened up his championship lead. He then retired with gearbox failure on the first lap in Montreal, and finished third in Magny-Cours after being beaten by the Ferraris at turn one and later spinning after passing Irvine. In Silverstone, Hakkinen led dominantly for much of the race until spinning as the track became wet and losing the lead to Schumacher, who would then controversially take victory in the pits as Ferrari exploited a loophole that allowed him to take it after the race had finished in the pits due to the late confirmation of the penalty. On this occasion, Hakkinen had been robbed of victory.

In Austria, Hakkinen was able to stretch his championship lead again with a fine victory after passing Fisichella’s Benetton on the first lap. He then took another win in Hockenheim ahead of Coulthard, but struggled to sixth in Hungary due to handling problems after leading the first stint. In Spa, Hakkinen retired after contact on lap one, and in Monza he led for some time but slipped back to fourth due to brake problems at the end of the race in a very impressive drive. But Schumacher’s win brought the two title contenders level on points going into the final two races of the season.

On the Nurburgring, Hakkinen started only third behind the Ferraris, but in a fine drive he was able to pass Irvine for second and then overcut Schumacher for the lead to take victory and lead by four points going into the final race of the season. Schumacher beat Hakkinen to pole in Suzuka but threw away his chance of the championship by stalling his Ferrari on the grid, while Hakkinen took a comfortable race victory and with it won the championship. His car may have been faster than the Ferrari, but Hakkinen also had more bad luck in the races than Schumacher and deserved his first championship after an impressive season.

However, 1999 was the championship that nobody wanted to win, with Hakkinen the fastest driver over the season but prevailing only narrowly due to a scrappy season with key mistakes, helped by Schumacher’s injury, a poor season from Coulthard and Irvine not being as strong. Hakkinen took pole in Australia and led the first stint before dropping out and gifting the win to Irvine. Then in Interlagos, he took pole but dropped to third due to gearbox problems, then once these were fixed he jumped Barrichello and Schumacher in the pits to take victory. Imola was Hakkinen’s first major error of the season, as he took another pole and led the first stint but spun out and retired while leading, and in Monaco, Hakkinen was displaced immediately by Schumacher from pole and finished third behind the Ferraris.

From a fifth consecutive pole, Hakkinen took a comfortable win ahead of teammate Coulthard in Catalunya. Then in Montreal, Hakkinen started second and held the position until Schumacher crashed into the ‘Wall of Champions’, the year that the corner was named as such as Hill and Villeneuve had earlier made the same mistake. Hakkinen was back in the championship lead. Hakkinen fought his way through to lead in Magny-Cours from 14th on the grid despite a spin in wet conditions but was then beaten by a one-stopping (to Hakkinen’s two) Frentzen. Then came Silverstone, where Schumacher crashed on lap one and broke his leg, thus putting Hakkinen in a great position to take the championship despite a wheel coming off in the pits and costing him victory.

But in Austria, a new contender emerged, as Hakkinen was hit by Coulthard on lap one and allowed Eddie Irvine to take victory with an excellent drive, closing him to just two points behind Hakkinen who recovered to finish third. More pitstop problems eliminated Hakkinen from the lead of the race in Hockenheim and gifted Irvine another win and the championship lead, but in Hungary he took pole, led every lap and won comfortably as Coulthard beat Irvine to finish second. He started on pole in Spa but was beaten by Coulthard at the start and McLaren chose not to swap the positions around; Hakkinen thus finishing second.

Next came Monza, where Hakkinen took another dominant pole but crashed out of the lead with a silly mistake while comfortably in the lead, prompting the famous image below. Then on the Nurburgring, Hakkinen’s race was ruined by an early strategic blunder and he thereafter drove a lacklustre race, lucking into fifth to regain the championship lead from Irvine who was on similarly poor form. But in Sepang, Michael Schumacher returned and drove a brilliant race, holding off Hakkinen and helping Irvine to victory, leaving Hakkinen with a four point deficit going into the final race of the season, although briefly he was declared champion in Malaysia as the Ferraris were disqualified and then reinstated.

The final race of the season came in Suzuka. Hakkinen could win the championship by winning the race, and he duly passed Schumacher for the lead at the first corner and held him off throughout to win, the two leaving Irvine behind by almost a lap. This gave Hakkinen his second championship and although it was far less convincing than his first, due to a messy season in which he threw away two victories due to unforced errors, it is hard to argue that any other driver had put in a more convincing championship-worthy season in 1999.

The Ferrari and McLaren were very evenly-matched cars in 2000, and Hakkinen and Schumacher had a season-long battle for the championship. It may have ended in favour of the Ferrari driver, but given that he is one of the greatest ever, it was also an excellent season from Hakkinen to run him so close. Hakkinen took pole in Melbourne but retired from the lead due to engine problems, which also cost him a potential victory in Interlagos from another pole. Hakkinen led most of the race in Imola from a third pole but was beaten to victory by Schumacher who overcut him in the final pitstop phase. Hakkinen was well behind Schumacher in the championship at this stage but closed him down over the following races.

In Silverstone, Hakkinen finished second to Coulthard after Barrichello retired, and won in Catalunya thanks to a late puncture for Schumacher when it was still close. Hakkinen made a great start in the Nurburgring to take the lead but was passed by Schumacher and finished second. He then took sixth in Monaco after car problems, and fourth in Montreal due to a disappointing race. Hakkinen then finished second to the faster Coulthard in Magny-Cours, while Schumacher retired, but took victory in Austria from pole as Schumacher crashed out on the first corner.

In Hockenheim, Hakkinen made another strong start to lead the race from Coulthard, but they were caught by Barrichello due to a safety car caused by a protestor, and Barrichello’s strategic gamble to stay on slicks in wet conditions won him the race, Hakkinen second. Hakkinen won again in Hungary after beating Schumacher on the first lap and never again being challenged. Then came Spa-Francorchamps, where Hakkinen took a dominant pole position but lost the lead to Schumacher after a mistake. With four laps to go, he passed Schumacher at Les Combes in a famous, brilliant overtake as he went to the inside of backmarker Ricardo Zonta, Schumacher went to the outside, and Hakkinen was through.

At this time, Hakkinen led the championship by six point, but it was cut by four as he finished second to Schumacher in Monza. Then Hakkinen’s engine failed in Indianapolis and Schumacher won, putting the Ferrari in position to win the title and he delivered with another victory in Suzuka as, like 1999, Schumacher and Hakkinen finished over a minute ahead of the rest, but Hakkinen was beaten this time despite leading the first stint, as Schumacher was able to overcut him and take the title. Hakkinen jumped the start and was penalised in Sepang, finishing fourth, but he had taken second in the championship, beaten in a close battle with his rival.

After some strong seasons, Hakkinen struggled in 2001, having a disappointing season that was also plagued with bad luck. Suspension failure cost him a likely podium in Melbourne, while in Interlagos he stalled on the grid and he also finished in the latter end of the points in Sepang and Imola. Hakkinen started second and jumped Schumacher in the pits to take a dominant lead in Spain before retiring on the final lap with clutch failure, his most unlucky defeat of the season. Hakkinen retired again in Monaco while in contention for victory and took his first podium of the season in Canada, but only for third.

After a poor race in the Nurburgring and a gearbox failure in Magny-Cours, Hakkinen finally took his first win of the year in Silverstone after passing Schumacher for the lead and then pulling away easily. Engine failure cost Hakkinen in Hockenheim while he was slow in Hungary and Belgium, but in Indianapolis Hakkinen took a second win after going long before pitting and then overcutting the rest. He was fourth in Suzuka to finish fifth in the championship before departing Formula 1 for his sabbatical, from which he never returned although there was talk of Hakkinen driving for McLaren again in 2007. He had won two championships and was arguably the only driver who could really take Schumacher on at his peak.

Wins: 20

Podiums: 51

Pole Positions: 26

Race Starts: 161

Points: 1382

*World Champion of 1998 and 1999*

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