Mika Häkkinen: The Motor Sport Interview 2/2
It’s good that you didn’t stop because you won back to back-to-back titles in 1998 and ’99 – beating Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher fair and square in ’98. That must have been so rewarding?
MH: “Yes, it was incredible. It was incredible because Michael and I had so much history, racing each other in karts and in Formula 3. Then he came to Formula 1, immediately with a good car, and I was a test driver. I was thinking everything went right for him and not so right for me. He was coming from Germany, with powerful marketing and financial partners, very different to a guy coming from Finland – but then, finally I got a good car in ’98, and I knew I could win."
“To be honest, I was not so worried about Michael because the MP4/13 was just so damn quick. I was more worried about my team-mate David Coulthard. He wasn’t a very nice guy, not very nice to me. He had this massive will to win and wanted to kick my arse. We saw in the first race that we were so much quicker than anyone else. It was ridiculous. We weren’t even maximising our performance. Luckily David had quite a few mechanical failures while I was scoring points, and Ferrari started to get their act together. Then I had some mechanical problems and Ferrari became more reliable, scoring points when we did not. Their reliability was incredible. I asked Stefano Domenicali about it recently. He told me they were testing at Fiorano seven days a week. Every nut and bolt they were testing for hours, days, weeks on end. Stefano reckoned they’d done about 35 grands prix before the first race of the season. Meanwhile we would run at Silverstone for a few hours a day, and it was nearly snowing early in the year. It was impossible to compete with them on the pre-season testing kilometres."
“Anyway, Ferrari kept improving, and we had to reduce some of our ‘technical advantages’ like the two brake pedals, remember? That was worth about four-tenths per lap. It looked like I could lose the championship and I thought, ‘If I don’t win it this year I’m never going to do it.’ Michael fought until the end. We were level on points after Monza, but I won the last two races. So, it was beautiful, winning that championship title against Michael.”
You made hard work of your second title the following year. What was making life difficult for you?
MH: “Yes, you’re right. It was a very difficult year. Everything had seemed, ‘OK, I feel good,’ but we had changed our tactics to beat Ferrari. After Michael’s accident Irvine was winning races for them. My team-mate was also winning. The championship was tight even though I’d won four races coming to Monza. Our tactic was to race flat out, every lap like a qualifying lap, which was no problem except that in Italy I was on antibiotics because I had a hell of a sinus infection. it was affecting my performance."
“I was not 100% on race day. So, coming down to the first chicane, in the lead after 30 laps, I accidentally selected first gear instead of second and spun off. At Monza the RPM difference between second and first is huge, so you need a very high throttle blip from the computer – or the rears will lock up. The team had not put the numbers in the computer for this so the rear tyres locked and I was off."
“It was my mistake selecting the wrong gear, but the throttle setting was not high enough, so I knew immediately the game was over. I was so bitterly disappointed with myself, although the rear wheels should not have locked. I was so upset, I didn’t feel well, and I wanted to win that race in front of the Ferrari fans at Monza. Emotionally I just collapsed, totally lost it, but we beat Ferrari in Japan and I won the championship by just two points.”
When you look back on your career in your old age what will be the highlights? One might be the sensational overtake at Spa in 2000 I guess?
MH: “Wow, good question. Hopefully I will reach my old age and look back, maybe with a glass of good wine, whatever. No, it won’t be the overtaking manoeuvre at Spa. It will be understanding how precious life is after my accident, how important people are in your life, the people who are there for you. Life is fragile, so you must take care of yourself, your friends, your fans. I appreciate all this after what happened in Adelaide. When you are in the Formula 1 world you have to remember they are not all there just for racing, for winning. There are people who care about you. When I joined McLaren I was only 24. Jo Ramirez was taking care of me. He was fantastic. He made me feel so comfortable in the team, and that was really good for me."
“So, if I look back, it’s not about great overtaking, how fast Mika was, it’s about all those people in my life, in my career.”
At the end of 2001 you took a sabbatical from Formula 1. People thought you might come back, but you retired. Why did you decide to stop?
MH: “Hmm… I just felt burnt out. Completely finito. Even after having time off and a possibility to come back, I knew that my mind and my body were not capable of performing at the level Formula 1 requires. That was the biggest influence. I was just burnt out, you know. That’s what it was. Simple as that.”
What do you make of Formula 1 today? Does it still interest and excite you?
MH: “On the technical side, the new technologies, there’s always something wrong. It’s never totally right. What’s important for the fans is that the cars have to look spectacular, look beautiful, and Formula 1 needs innovations that people can see and understand. In general I think it has developed in a good way to be where it is today. We have two teams racing so hard for victory. Red Bull doing a great job, and Mercedes catching up, even if they don’t always know why. So, for me, the racing aspect is good."
“The atmosphere in the paddock is really cool. It’s much more open, more fun out there, and I don’t see too many negatives. It’s a very complicated business and people are working so hard, working like crazy. I’m not going to sit here on my sofa in Monaco and criticise these people who work so hard, committing their lives to the sport. So yeah, I think Formula 1 is doing a fantastic job right now.”
Your two youngest children are karting now so might we see another Häkkinen at the front of the grid in the not-too-distant future?
MH: “Aha, well, maybe. Ella and Daniel are karting, and they like it, but getting as far as Formula 1, for instance, is the same old story, just like it has always been. You need the talent, you need a passion, and the will to fulfil your goals – and you need a hell of a lot of money – millions of euros. So far my kids love what they’re doing, that’s great, but it’s also about a commitment from me and my wife, what we decide to do. To reach the top levels of motor racing is a big commitment, an unbelievable journey. You cannot go half way. It’s maximum or nothing.
“Daniel is eight years old, Ella is 11, so maybe if you ask me in five or six years’ time I’ll give you the answer. Then we will have seen how they develop, how well they have learnt. If they succeed. I will call you to help find some sponsors!”
What about you. Are you karting for fun, keeping your eye in?
MH: “I’ve been thinking about it because karting is such an excellent exercise for your body. It is beautiful exercise because it requires every muscle in your body to perform in a kart. So yeah, I’m considering it, not indoors but out on a track where you have some power."
“But I’ll tell you something, I am not racing in the rain, no way. I’ve lived in the Monaco sunshine for too long. Not all Finns like the rain you know.”
1/2. Source: X