The motorsport community in Finland is a small world. It’s a huge country, covering 130,000 square miles but has a population of only 5.5 million, the majority live in the south of the country, where the climate is harsh – as opposed to the north where it is brutal.
Mika Hakkinen grew up in the suburbs of Helsinki. When he was six his father bought him a kart, acquired from a 21-year-old called Henri Toivonen, who was about to switch from circuit racing to rallying. Henri would soon become the youngest driver ever to win a World Championship Rally.
When Mika was old enough to start racing, he found that his primary rival was a youngster who lived on the same street as he did: Mika Salo. Hakkinen attended the Linnanmäen Sirkuskoulu, a circus school in Helsinki, while also honing his driving skills by driving a VW Beetle on a frozen lake with another pal, Mika Sohlberg, who went on to be a World Rally Championship driver.
When Hakkinen graduated to Formula Ford he bought his first car from a youngster called JJ Lehto and then one day went to a sauna and bumped into Keke Rosberg, who agreed to be his manager.
Hakkinen and Salo both ended up in British F3 in 199o, the pair dominating the series: Hakkinen won nine of the 17 races and Salo won six. As they say in Disneyland, It’s a small world…
joeblogsf1 
Wow, cool facts Joe! Thx for sharing!
My favourite of your ‘facts’ so far Joe. After Senna, Mika’s my favourite and it was a privilege to follow him in British F3 during that great season with Salo in 1990. Like Rosberg, he seemed to know when to call it a day on his F1 career. As for Toivonen, well, one of Motorsport’s lost greats, along with the likes of Sefan Bellof that left you wondering what might have been………
Lot of Mikas…
I read once of some F3 car builder who nicknamed the latest aero tweaks on their machine “Mikas” because they were “a couple of useless fins”.
I seem to recall seeing a picture of Hakkinen on a unicycle in the paddock somewhere years ago… so that’s where he learnt to ride one!
Indeed a cool fact, this one. Looking forward to the next one, thanks Joe!
That circus school is actually a very interesting fact. Maybe that was the reason he was better than Salo. Sebastien Loeb has a gymnast backround and i have read that kind of bodycontrol and balance gives you advantage in motorsports. Need to find that article..
Interesting facts Joe!
There was video of Nico Rosberg riding a unicycle while juggling 3 tennis balls. Very impressive.
You will hear the term ‘spatial awareness’ bandied about.
Brilliant. Wasn’t there a story about Henri Toivonen lapping Estoril in the fearsome Lancia Delta S4 rally car, and setting a time that would have put him on something like the third row of the grid for that year’s Grand Prix? I think it was the year when the GP weekend was wet (and Senna got his first win???), but still…
It is an old legend, but there are a lot of questions over the validity of the claim. It supposedly happened in 1986, but at the time the Estoril circuit was not used as a special stage for the Portuguese Rally until 1987, a year after his death.
Red Bull reportedly spoke to Ninni Russo, who worked for Lancia at the time, and he indicated that Lancia ran a private test in 1986 where Toivonen supposedly set a time that would have got him into the top 10 when compared to a test session that had been run for some F1 cars about two or three weeks earlier.
However, nobody has been able to find any evidence for what the time actually was, and similarly Russo couldn’t provide direct evidence of the test (he stated that it was based on a discussion he had with some former colleagues in Portugal) – it’s also not clear what conditions the F1 test took place in, nor which teams were actually present either.
Furthermore, Cesare Fiorio, who was responsible for coordinating Fiat’s motorsport activities (including those of Lancia), has said that he had never heard of such a test happening and has no record that it ever took place.
At best, all you can say is that the story is unproven and not as impressive as it might first sound, whilst there is a good chance that it may be a complete fabrication altogether.
Sort of…
Do a search for ‘toivonen estoril red bull’ and you’ll get an interesting article. I haven’t linked it due to the blog rules, but it’s a good story – hopefully a roundabout link is ok.
Cmonmun….is that invernesian by any chance?
This reminds me of a memorable day back in 1982 when I was F1 truckie for John Macdonald’s Ram Racing, our sponsor Rothmans had set up a day at Silverstone for World Speedway Champion American Bruce Penhall to drive our F1 car.
The rep from Rothmans introduced himself as David Richards (a very charming man, my initial thought was this guy will go far…..) and along with Bruce he was accompanied by Rothmans sponsored World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen and Henri Toivonen.
Bruce drove the F1 car and like most people driving a single seater for the first time let alone an F1 car he was slow and never got the DFV on cam, he spluttered round for a few laps but he enjoyed the experience and the attendant press loved it.
Ari was too tall so didn’t even try to get in the car.
Then Henri got in.
I had seen many up and coming drivers take their first laps in an F1 car, F2 drivers, F3 drivers, Formula Atlantic drivers over from North America etc but that day was different. Henri was hard on it from the moment he left the pits. As we had the track to ourselves you could hear the car all the way around the old GP circuit; Henri was late off the power, late on the brakes, confident heal and toe followed by crisp down changes, then early hard throttle revving the DFV to the max and quick, precise upward changes. For a few laps we watched the car enter the old pit straight from Woodcote, the car stressed and engine screaming, the slick gear changes, hammering into Copse; it was a memorable sight that remains fresh in my mind today, the most confident first F1 drive I have witnessed and I feel privileged to have been there.
And he never missed a gear.
And a crying shame he passed a few years later far too young.
A great memory; the guy was pure talent and a huge loss to motorsport. I’m convinced he would have gone on to be World Rally Champion.
Thanks for sharing!
Yeah Henri was a MONSTER!!!! One of the absolute fastest men to ever get into a WRC car….just amazing, and still a Legend 30 years on….such a shame, and had to be a Champion sooner or later….his brother Harri was a decent pedaller too…
Their dad Pauli was a bit handy too; “won” the Monte in a Citröen DS the year the works Minis and Lotus-Cortinas were disqualified for an alleged lighting infringement. He refused to attend the prize-giving.
Brilliant! Thanks Joe
And then there was the All-Finnish Toyota WRC team!
Love it. Best one yet. Roll on no. 8
Great posts thanks Joe!
To finish first, first you have to be Finnish.
I always understood JJ Lehto was a kind-of pseudonym and his real name was Jerki Jarvelehto or something of that ilk…..
Jyrki Järvilehto
Joe, interested to know your thoughts on Monaco 1994. JJ appeared to have some talent, yet he was 4 seconds (!) slower than Schumacher in qualifying. He was recovering from injury, but…more to this than meets the eye?
JJ was never four seconds a lap slower than anyone in equal machinery.
Indeed Joe.
The man said it himself at the time.
It is not possible for a decent driver (regardless of fitness levels) to be on the pace at Imola and Catalunya but so far off at Monaco or Montreal unless something was not right with the equipment.
JJ admitted he had to go his own way on set ups because he could not drive the B194 as it was for Schumi. But I don’t think anyone could!
Because of the testing injury he did not get the mileage required to deliver the results he was capable of pre season or during the season.
Plus Flavio only ever liked a lead car and a supporting car so it is unlikely he would have been able to challenge Schu even if he was settled as Herbert discovered.
Traction out of corners is of benefit at Monaco and Montreal….maybe JJs engineers didn’t know to scroll down that far 🙂
Nice 😉
Didn’t Senna rate Lehto pretty strongly?
I agree. This comment, brief as it is, says so much. The truth will, hopefully be told one day. In the meantime, I think I’ll watch the start of the French GP in 1994 – it reminds me of those ‘Superman’ movies – ‘you’ll believe a man can fly’…………
Johnny Herbert also had some strange ” speed ” issues when Flav didn’t want Schumi threatened……but we all know Benetton was a 1 driver team while Michael was there, as was Ferrari….not complaining myself, if that is how a team wants to run, but they should be honest, as Senna & Lotus were. If you want a No1 & No2 say so outright, nobody really minds. Regga did a fantastic job twice at Ferrari as No2……although I think he expected that on the second visit he would be No1! Having said that i have read that he asked Ferrari to take Lauda on.
To your final sentence. That is how it is portrayed in the film Rush.
Yes, but the idea of only equipping one car seems odd to me.
I believe Jos Verstappen also made similiar comments, but was largely condemned for them.
A secret is best kept by the smallest number of people.
And I always thought “DNF” meant Driver Not Finnish! And thus a recipient of a handicap?…….
I wonder why no one is suggesting S/Perez as an option for Mercedes?
To my way of thinking Force India is a team that can more easily be persuaded by the offer of Merc money/engines than Williams. Also, I doubt that E/Ocon, who doesn’t have leverage like Stroll, could command a contract that is as demanding on Force India as Stroll’s is upon Williams.
Would there be that much difference between Bottas and Perez in the right car?
Because he and the money that follows him are integral to the future of the team.
Would Checo and his money not prefer to be in the Merc though, and whilst tough on FI, that’s there problem? Thinking about it, long term there could be a title sponsorship opportunity going for one of his companies at Merc.
I don’t think Checo will move, but I’ve an image of if it does, Rio Harayanto and Maldonado (and yes I know there’s no money in Venezuela, but still) at Force India.
Many thanks for your awesome writing, Joe!
Thanks once again Joe. I’m gaining so much ammo to fire at a favourite F1 obsessed uncle on Xmas day!
It is a requirement of the Finnish driving licence that drivers demonstrate the ability to control their car in slippery conditions. Top Gear would have us believe that this is why the country turns out a disproportionately large number of racing drivers.
It is also the case that Finland turns out a disproportionately large number of conductors – the people who stand in front of orchestras and wave their arms, not the people who stand at the back of the bus or train.
There are lots more unlikely things about Finland and the Finns …
My dad, being of Finnish descent, would always say: “The Finns are the only country to repay their war debt.”….I have no idea whether or not this is true, but I am proud of my Finnish heritage, my last name being “Juntinnen”. Guess whom our dog, Kimi, is named after?
“and then one day went to a sauna”… of course, typical Finland.
Maybe I’m after the fact again, but I recently read in magazine X that there was a strong mutual interest between Stirling Moss and Honda in 1962/63 (for him to enter their planned F1 program). Did you know anything about that?
To extend the “small world” theme, one of the two other drivers to win in Brit F3 that year was Steve Robertson, who then went on to become Raikkonen’s manager..
This fun fact is made even cooler for the fact that it has to do with Finns! Something about them Finns appeals to people.
Someone I know once asked Graham Hill what it was like to drive a Grand Prix car. His reply was that it was like driving a road car on wet ice with bald tyres pumped up to 60psi. So I suppose all that driving on ice gives them a head start.
Joe, Matt Sommerfield has stated that a source close to the Manor team have told him that it has been sold, can you confirm?
I don’t know Matt Sommerfield. Is he a Formula 1 reporter? It is quite possible that Manor has been sold, but I have not heard the latest. I wrote in my JSBM newsletter from Abu Dhabi that it was going to be sold, probably to Tavo Hellmund. I believe there was a bit of a wobble after that, but I have not asked any questions since then. I am waiting for an announcement. If the deal is done, there is no reason to hide it. There is nothing in Companies House that indicate a change, so we must wait until they either announce it, or documentation appears which indicates that there has been a change of control.
The usual story, somebody told Sommers that he seen a horse pushing a cart, Sommers promptly came out saying that somebody told him that he seen a curt being pushed by a horse.
He’s a blogger who focuses on the technical aspects of F1. He was taken on by Motorsport Network to work alongside Giorgio Piola. Its unusual for him to talk about the commercial side of F1. While he doesn’t rule out Hellmund being involved, he’s claiming the purchase is being led by a consortium with ties to the Asian market and several GP2 drivers. He’s also claiming the deal was concluded yesterday at Banbury. Its a strange article for him to have written as it would diminish his credibility were it not true..
I don’t know him at all
Someone with that name used to be an engineer at Toyota in Cologne.
He’s been pointed out to you in the past (twice on this blog) but no matter.
Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Pony trekking or camping or just watch TV
Finland, Finland, Finland
It’s the country for me…
Etc.
Acknowledgments to Palin M.
And on the Finnish theme, another fun fact is that in both 1998 and 1999 Finnish drivers won both world drivers championships (F1 and Rally).
What is it with Hakkinen and spa places and F1 drivers. A bath with Johnny Herbert and a Sauna with Keke.
Thank you Joe for these great fun facts. This one was especially nice as I learned a few facts about one of my favorite drivers.
Thanks for engaging with F1 fans over the winter break.
and sometimes both salo and hakkinen got beaten in karting by Taru Rinne, a girl who would end up in the world motorcycling championship, 125cmc.
True