Mika Häkkinen

Early life and career

Häkkinen was born in Helsingin maalaiskunta, Finland, on 28 September 1968 to Harri, a shortwave radio operator and a part-time taxi driver, and Aila Häkkinen, who worked as a secretary. He has one sister, Nina, who ran a fan site for him until its closure in 1998. Häkkinen lived in the same street as Mika Salo with the two later becoming friends. As a child, Häkkinen played ice hockey and football.

When Häkkinen was five years old, his parents rented a go-kart for him to take to a track near their home. Despite an early crash, Häkkinen wished to continue racing, and his father bought him his first go-kart, one that Henri Toivonen had previously competed with. He later won his first karting race in 1975 at the Keimola Motor Stadium where he raced in the regional karting championships in 1978 and 1979, winning the Keimola Club Championship in both years. Häkkinen found further success in 1980 when he won the Swedish Lapland Cup and finished fourth in the 85cc class of the Lapland Karting Championship. Around this time, Häkkinen also drove a Volkswagen Beetle on the frozen lakes of Finland with friend Mika Sohlberg.

In 1981, Häkkinen won his first major karting title, the 85cc class of the Finnish Karting Championship. The following year, he finished runner-up in the 85cc class of the Formula Mini series and later won the Ronnie Peterson Memorial event and the Salpauselka Cup in Lahti. Häkkinen moved to the Formula Nordic 100cc class for 1983, where he became the champion on his first attempt and also participated in the A Junior Team Races for Finland alongside Taru Rinne, Jaana Nyman and Marko Mankonen, with the line-up taking the championship.

In 1984, Häkkinen won the 100cc Formula Nordic title and later participated in the World Kart Championship race held in Liedolsheim. He took his second consecutive 100cc Formula Nordic Championship in 1985 ahead of Jukka Savolainen. He took part in the Nordic Championship A-Class in the same year, finishing runner-up to Tom Kristensen. Häkkinen went to Parma to participate in the World Kart Championship where he retired before the event's final heat due to a mechanical problem. In 1986, he reached his third consecutive Formula Nordic 100cc title and also took part in karting events across Europe. To further fund his career, Häkkinen got a job with a friend repairing bicycles.

In 1987, Häkkinen made the transition from karting to car racing when he purchased a 1986 Reynard Formula Ford 1600 from fellow Finn JJ Lehto. In that year, he entered the Finnish, Swedish and Nordic Formula Ford Championships, winning each title on his first attempt and won nine races combined. Häkkinen also entered two races of the EDFA 1600 Championship and raced in the Formula Ford Festival held at Brands Hatch, where he finished in seventh position. In 1988, Häkkinen entered the GM Vauxhall-Lotus Challenge with the Dragon team, where he secured three victories and finished the runner-up in the championship, behind Allan McNish. He later entered the Opel-Lotus EDFA Euroseries in the same year, taking four victories and became Champion with 126 points, ahead of nearest rival Henrik Larsen.

Formula One career

Team Lotus (1991–1992)

Häkkinen made his first test in a Formula One car with the Benetton team driving 90 laps around the Silverstone Circuit and set quicker lap times than regular driver Alessandro Nannini. He found it difficult to fit into the Benetton but liked the steering and throttle response. Häkkinen expected not to be offered a seat at Benetton and he decided to sign with the Lotus team for the 1991 season. Making his debut in the United States Grand Prix alongside teammate Julian Bailey, Häkkinen qualified thirteenth on the grid and suffered an engine failure on the sixtieth lap and was classified thirteenth. The next race in Brazil saw him finish ninth, and scored his first Formula One points by reaching fifth place in San Marino. Häkkinen suffered from a dip in race form as he encountered consecutive retirements in the next two races—his car suffered from an oil leak in Monaco and spun out in Canada. Before Canada, Bailey lost his seat at Lotus due to a lack of funding, so Häkkinen was partnered by Johnny Herbert and Michael Bartels throughout the remainder of the season.

Although Häkkinen secured a ninth-place finish in Mexico, he did not qualify for the French Grand Prix. Over the remainder of the season, he did not finish four of the nine races he entered. Häkkinen finished his debut season sixteenth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring two points.

Häkkinen remained at Lotus for 1992 and was partnered by Herbert. At the opening round of the season in South Africa, Häkkinen finished in ninth position, which he followed up with his first points of the season in Mexico. He took a further finish in Brazil, although he did not qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix and suffered consecutive retirements in the following two races. At Monaco, Lotus introduced their new car, the Lotus 107. Häkkinen later gathered further consecutive points in the following two races, before he was forced into retirement at the German Grand Prix due to an engine failure. A similar pattern followed in the next three races, which was broken when he finished fifth in Portugal and suffered a retirement at the penultimate round of the year in Japan. Häkkinen concluded the season with a seventh-place finish in Australia.

During the season, Häkkinen became embroiled in a contract dispute. Häkkinen, who was under contract to Lotus, opted to join Williams. However, Williams had not submitted their entry for the 1993 season, and Häkkinen was unable to join the team when he learnt that Lotus team principal Peter Collins would veto the Williams team entry if they had signed Häkkinen. Häkkinen later approached Ligier although his contract contained a clause of which his manager Keke Rosberg disagreed. He later approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis for a contract with the team, which was drafted at Courchevel Airport. The dispute eventually went to the Formula One Contract Recognition Board, who ruled in favour of McLaren after two days of deliberation.

McLaren (1993–2001)

For 1993, Häkkinen joined McLaren, originally as a race driver, although he became the team's official test driver when CART driver Michael Andretti was hired by the team. Apart from regular testing duties, Häkkinen entered two Porsche Supercup races, held as a support race for the Monaco Grand Prix, where he started at pole position and took victory in both races. He was promoted to a Formula One race seat after the Italian Grand Prix, when Andretti left Formula One. Häkkinen entered the Portuguese Grand Prix where he out-qualified regular driver Ayrton Senna. During the race, he retired due to collision with a concrete wall. At the next race held in Japan, Häkkinen claimed the first podium of his career with a third-place finish, and ended the season when his McLaren car suffered a brake pipe failure in Australia. Häkkinen concluded the season with 15th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring four points. In December, McLaren confirmed that Häkkinen would remain with the team on a three-year contract from the 1994 season onwards.

During 1993, Häkkinen, along with Senna, tested the Lamborghini V12 engine in a modified version of the McLaren MP4/8 race car dubbed the "MP4/8B" at both Estoril and Silverstone. Both drivers were impressed with the engine, with Häkkinen reportedly lapping Silverstone some 1.4 seconds faster in the MP4/8B with its V12 engine than he had with the team's race car fitted with the Ford V8.

Häkkinen stayed at McLaren for 1994 and was partnered by experienced driver Martin Brundle. He endured a torrid start: at the first two races of the season, Häkkinen retired as his car developed engine problems in the Brazilian Grand Prix and gearbox issues in the Pacific Grand Prix which included a collision with Senna on the first lap. He later reached his first podium finish of the season at the San Marino Grand Prix, although he suffered a dip in form as he was forced into consecutive retirements in the next four races.

Häkkinen raced to a further podium finish at the British Grand Prix, despite a last-lap collision with Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello for which he received a one-race ban, suspended for three races. The ban was enforced after the German Grand Prix, where Häkkinen collided with Williams driver David Coulthard with the Finn's car sliding into another group of cars. He was replaced by Philippe Alliot for the next race in Hungary.

Häkkinen returned for the Belgian Grand Prix, initially coming third but was later promoted to second after the disqualification of Benetton driver Michael Schumacher. He got consecutive 3rd-place podium finishes in the next three races, before rounding off the season by finishing the final two races in Japan and Australia, albeit outside of the points scoring positions. Häkkinen managed a fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 26 points.

Post-Formula One (2002–2004)

In July 2002, nine months into his sabbatical, Häkkinen announced that he would be retiring from Formula One. It was later revealed that Häkkinen approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis during the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix and agreed a sabbatical, then returned to Monaco the following year to discuss and agree full-time retirement with Dennis. In October, Häkkinen made his first appearance as a commentator for pay-for-view channel Canal Digital at the United States Grand Prix.

In December 2002, it was announced that Häkkinen would be participating in the Finnish Rally Championship driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC2 with his co-driver Arto Kapanen. He also stated that he would not move full-time into rallying and learn about driver control, although he later stated he would enter more rally events if he finished within the top two. Making his debut in the Arctic Rally, Häkkinen was delayed by four minutes as his team changed a tyre and eventually finished 30th. He once again entered the event in 2004 driving a Toyota Corolla with co-driver Risto Pietiläinen and finished seventh.

During 2004, rumors circulated that Häkkinen was making a possible return to Formula One to fill in the vacant Williams seat left by Juan Pablo Montoya. In May, McLaren team principal Ron Dennis dismissed the rumors, stating that Häkkinen was not prepared for a comeback. Häkkinen held talks with BAR and Williams and later decided against returning to Formula One saying in 2005: "It's impossible to think that I would race a Formula One car again because as time passes my reactions become slower and my eyesight gets worse – that's life".

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

2005

On 6 November 2004, it was announced that Häkkinen would make his debut in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series for the HWA Team in the 2005 season. He was partnered by Gary Paffett, Jean Alesi and Bernd Schneider. Häkkinen had previous experience of driving touring cars in July 2001 at the Brno Circuit alongside Schneider. In January, Häkkinen once again participated in the Arctic Rally driving a Toyota Corolla with co-driver Risto Pietiläinen. Häkkinen retired when he slid off the road on the eleventh stage.

Häkkinen's debut DTM season started well: He secured eighth position in his first race at the Hockenheimring; and in the following race at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, held his first podium in his DTM career. Two weeks later at Spa-Francorchamps, Häkkinen qualified on pole position and later took his first DTM win after only three starts. Despite the early success, he did not score points in the next three races which included consecutive retirements at Oschersleben and the Norisring. He later scored a further points position at the race held at the Nürburgring, before further consecutive 12th-place finishes in the next two races. Häkkinen ended the 2005 season by taking a second-place finish at Istanbul Park and finished outside of the points scoring positions with 15th place at Hockenheim. Häkkinen finished the season fifth in the Drivers' Championship, with 30 points.

2006

On 15 November 2005, it was announced that Häkkinen would remain with HWA for the 2006 season, and was partnered by Alesi, Spengler and Jamie Green. For the upcoming season, Häkkinen set his target of winning the championship, although he believed the competition from Audi would make the title challenge difficult. Outside of DTM, Häkkinen participated in his fourth Arctic Rally, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII with co-driver Risto Pietiläinen. He finished 36th overall.

Häkkinen's season got off well: At the opening race held at Hockenheim, he finished in fourth position; and in the following race held at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, he drove to his first podium of the season with third place. Häkkinen did not score points in the next two consecutive races, although he later held another podium position with third place at the Norisring. In the next three races, he was unable to score more points, although he had another podium position at the Bugatti Circuit. Häkkinen concluded his season with a retirement at the Hockenheimring when his car's diffuser became damaged. Häkkinen ended the year sixth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 25 points.

In November, Häkkinen tested a McLaren MP4-21 for one day at the Circuit de Catalunya where he completed 79 laps. To prepare himself, Häkkinen spent time at the McLaren Technology Centre to acquaint himself with Formula One's revised regulations. In a 2017 retrospective interview Häkkinen revealed that he had been in advanced talks with McLaren for a return in the 2007 season. He had however been frustrated by problems with McLaren's car in the test, which had reminded him of the reasons why he had taken the sabbatical in the first place, so the plans had collapsed.

2007

On 28 January 2007, it was announced that Häkkinen would remain in DTM for the 2007 season for HWA, and was partnered by Spengler, Green and Schneidler. Häkkinen stated that during 2006, his team's potential was not realised and aimed during 2007 to improve on his results. He started the season by earning consecutive finishes in the first two races, albeit outside of the points scoring positions. At the third race of the season held at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Häkkinen won his first race of the season although only half points were awarded due to errors made by race organisers, resulting in the official race result remaining provisional. He held pole for the following race at Brands Hatch where he finished in fourth position, and followed the result with a ninth-place finish at the Norisring.

Häkkinen had his second victory of the season at Mugello, after starting from 15th position. He later managed 7th place at Zandvoort and later finished with a tenth-place finish at the Nürburgring. At the race held at the Circuit de Catalunya, Häkkinen was involved in a collision with Audi driver Martin Tomczyk. Häkkinen was penalised with a €20,000 fine, received a ten-place grid penalty for the next round and was disqualified from the race. He finished the season with a 17th-place finish at the Hockenheimring. Häkkinen finished the season seventh place in the Championship, with 22 points.

Retirement (2008–present)

Häkkinen announced his retirement from competitive motorsport in November 2007. He was quoted as saying that the decision "was not an easy one", but added that "racing is still in my blood and this decision does not mean that this will prevent me from racing for pleasure".

In November 2008, it was announced that Häkkinen would start a new career in driver management and would work alongside Didier Coton in his firm Aces Associate Group. Häkkinen contested his fifth Arctic Rally event in January 2009 driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX alongside co-driver Ilkka Kivimäki and finished 19th overall. Häkkinen made his debut in sports cars when Team AMG China entered a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in November 2011 to participate in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at the 6 Hours of Zhuhai race alongside Lance David Arnold and Cheng Congfu. During the event, the team retired after completing two hours. In October 2013, Häkkinen participated in the GT Asia series for the two races held at the Zhuhai International Circuit, driving a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG 300 alongside co-driver Matthew Solomon. Häkkinen drove to victory in the first race after starting from sixth position. The victory resulted in a 15-second handicap during his mandatory pitstop for his second race and finished in fourth position.

On 16 March 2017, McLaren announced that Häkkinen had rejoined the team as partner ambassador. In November 2021, Häkkinen helped McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward prepare for his test of the McLaren MCL35M by familiarizing O'Ward on his championship winning MP4/13 around Laguna Seca.

In August 2019, Häkkinen raced in the 2019 Suzuka 10 Hours, the fourth round of the 2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge driving a McLaren 720S GT3 alongside two-time Super Formula champion Hiroaki Ishiura and Japanese Formula 3 racer Katsuaki Kubota, with Planex Smacam Racing.

Häkkinen and Emma Kimiläinen competed together for Team Finland at the Race of Champions on 5–6 February 2022. He is set to again compete in the race in 2023 alongside Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas, who was originally going to be his partner at the 2022 edition before backing out.

In December 2021, Häkkinen was announced as a Formula One analyst for the sports broadcaster Viaplay. From 2022 onwards, Häkkinen became part of a permanent team of analysts on-site at the Grands Prix. In the team of analysts, Häkkinen is accompanied by David Coulthard and Jos Verstappen.

Driving style and personality

Journalist Peter Windsor analysed Häkkinen's driving style for an article in F1 Racing magazine, writing that Häkkinen was an "oversteering" driver, which made him faster on slippery surfaces and meant that "tail-happy" cars suited him. This allowed him to perform better at circuits that have medium-speed corners. During his karting career, Häkkinen developed the habit of using the brake pedal with his left foot. He reverted to using his right foot when he participated in DTM, but became uncomfortable with this style and switched again to left-foot braking in mid-2006. He became known as a "late season driver"; the second half of a season suited Häkkinen due to experience on these tracks and allowed time for his car to be altered towards his preference.

Häkkinen was criticized for being a poor car developer, though this may have been exaggerated due to his initial struggles with the English language early in his career. Adrian Newey, the designer of Häkkinen's championship-winning McLarens, described an instance of Häkkinen's approach to input on car development when Häkkinen kept telling him during the initial testing of the McLaren MP4/13 that the car was understeering. Newey subsequently adjusted the car to correct for understeer, but this only made it slower. After digging deeper into the test data and listening closely to what Häkkinen was describing Newey realized the car was not understeering but had rear end biased instability on corner entry that Häkkinen was compensating for with understeer. This experience proved crucial for Newey's relationship with Häkkinen during their run together at McLaren, as after that Newey no longer had issues understanding Häkkinen's inputs on car development. Newey said that Häkkinen's countryman, protege, and future McLaren driver Kimi Räikkönen had a similar approach to input on car development.

During his Formula One career, Häkkinen was regarded as taciturn, taking lengthy pauses before giving terse responses to questions. Since his retirement, he has often been voted among the greatest Formula One drivers. Michael Schumacher has stated that Häkkinen was the driver whom he gained the most satisfaction of racing against.

Personal life

Häkkinen has lived in Monaco since 1991. He also owns properties in France and Finland. On 18 May 2008, his newly completed mansion in France was burned down after a light in one of his trophy cabinets short circuited. No injuries were reported, although Häkkinen's collection of Formula One trophies was destroyed.

Häkkinen married Erja Honkanen, a former TV journalist, in 1998. The couple have one son and one daughter. They divorced in 2008. Häkkinen also has two daughters and a son with his Czech second wife Markéta Remešová. One of his daughters, Ella, is a kart racer who competes in the Champions of the Future Academy Program. In November 2025, Ella was signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme.

Häkkinen joined Johnnie Walker as Global Responsible Drinking Ambassador for Diageo in September 2006, campaigning for the message of responsible drinking. He also led the organisation's Join the Pact campaign to spread consumer commitments for the prevention of drunk driving. He is also brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and UBS. In 2016, he became an official brand ambassador for Nokian Tyres.

Karting record

Racing record

Complete British Formula Three Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete DTM results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

‡ Half points were awarded in the race due to several errors made by the race officials.