Mika Hakkinen started out his racing career in the same way as all the great drivers, in karting. He started karting in 1973 at the age of 5 and won his first race 2 years later. From the age of 11 Mika won championship after championship, as detailed in the table below.
| Year | Position | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 1st | Keimola Regional Karting Championship |
| 1979 | 1st | Regional Karting Championship |
| 1980 | 4th | Lapland Karting Championship |
| 1981 | 1st | Finnish Karting Championship (F Miniseries) |
| 1982 | 1st 2nd | Ronnie Peterson Memorial Championship Finnish Karting Championship (F-miniseries) |
| 1983 | 1st | Finnish Karting Championship (FN series) |
| 1984 | 1st | Finnish Karting Championship (FA series) |
| 1985 | 1st | Finnish Karting Championship (FA series) |
| 1986 | 1st | Finnish Karting Championship (FA series) |
His move into single seater racing was equally successful, he held three Formula Ford 1600 championship titles at the end of his first season, in 1987.
Mika racing in British Formula 3 for Dragon Motorsport in 1989
After a move into British Formula 3 in 1989, Hakkinen won the championship in just his second season, with West Surrey Racing.
| Year | Position | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 1st 1st 1st | Finnish Formula Ford 1600 Championship Swedish Formula Ford 1600 Championship Nordic Formula Ford 1600 Championship |
| 1988 | 1st 2nd | Opel Lotus Euroseries Championship British GM Euroseries |
| 1989 | 7th | British Formula 3 Championship |
| 1990 | 1st | British Formula 3 Championship |
Formula 1
The US Grand Prix of 1991, in Pheonix, Arizona was Mika’s debut in the world’s top racing series. He retired from this race with engine failure, after spinning several times. His team was the now defunct Lotus-Judd.
Mika Hakkinen driving a Lotus-Judd in 1991
His move to McLaren was in 1993, when they were using Ford power. He was employed as a test driver, Ayrton Senna and Michael Andretti being the race drivers. When Andretti opted to return to CART racing, Mika was promoted to race driver and sensationally out qualified Senna in his first race with the team.
It was with McLaren that Mika gained his first podium finish, 3rd in the Japanese GP. In 1995 a serious accident during practice at the Australian Grand Prix brought him within inches of death. A tyre had deflated at high speed with the result of a hard impact into a tyre wall, severe head injuries and a coma. However, he recovered and returned to racing, and won his first GP in 1997, which was the European Grand Prix of that year.
He went on to become back to back world champion in 1998 and 1999. After taking a sabbatical in 2001, he announced his retirement in 2002.
Mika celebrating winning his second world championship in Japan, 1999
| Year | Position | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 15th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1992 | 8th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1993 | 15th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1994 | 4th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1995 | 7th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1996 | 6th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1997 | 6th | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1998 | 1st | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 1999 | 1st | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 2000 | 2nd | Formula 1 World Championship |
| 2001 | 5th | Formula 1 World Championship |
