Mika Häkkinen

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.

Mika Pauli Häkkinen (born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver.

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 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.

In 1988, Häkkinen entered the EFDA Formula GM Lotus Euroseries with the Dragon team, where he secured four victories and finished the runner-up in the championship, behind Allan McNish.

He later entered the Opel-Lotus EDFA Euroseries, taking four victories and became Champion with 126 points, ahead of nearest rival Henrik Larsen.

Going into 1989, Häkkinen moved from the Euroseries into the British Formula 3 Championship driving a Reynard 893 chassis for Dragon.

He finished seventh position in the championship, scoring 18 points.

After success in the series, Häkkinen entered Formula One in 1991 with the Team Lotus where he remained until 1992.

The following year, he moved to McLaren as test driver before he was promoted to the race team following the departure of Michael Andretti.

After four years which yielded minor success, Häkkinen scored his first Formula One victory in 1997.

He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren.

Häkkinen is one of three Formula One drivers from Finland that have won the World Drivers' Championship, and the only one to have done so more than once.

He currently works in driver management and is a brand ambassador for various companies.

Häkkinen began his career in karting at the age of five and achieved success by winning regional and national kart championships.

He progressed to car racing when he entered the Formula Ford and Formula Three series in Italy and the United Kingdom.

He went on to win eight races of the 1998 season, securing the World Drivers' Championship at the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix; his success also helped McLaren secure the World Constructors' Championship.

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 repeated his World Championship success in 1999, taking five victories.

He finished as runner-up in the Drivers' Championship in 2000, behind Michael Schumacher and secured two more victories in 2001 before announcing a sabbatical from the sport, which became full-time retirement in mid-2002.

For 2005, Häkkinen moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series, where he secured his first victory that year.

His form faded during 2006 although he secured two more victories in 2007.

He retired from top-level active motorsport at the end of 2007, and subsequently moved into driver management along with becoming a brand ambassador for Johnnie Walker and Mercedes-Benz AMG.