Top 5 comebacks in F1 history

Mika Hakkinen

Mika Hakkinen's called the Flying Finn for a reason

Mika Hakkinen is respected as the original ‘Flying Finn’ of the sport. He’s loved for having demonstrated firmness in the face of adversity during the 1990s and that adversity was standing up to none other than the ‘king’ himself: Michael Schumacher.

And when the talk concerns Hakkinen, it is impossible to not touch upon the famous Spa-Francorchamps move that was executed at the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix.

This was an effort at the very top echelons of Grand Prix racing that earned the Finn not only legions of fans but also further respect from Michael himself.

But there’s more to Hakkinen than his unflappable nature.

It’s been that mental edge that allowed him to bounce back from what had been a terrible accident, one that chose the 1995 Australian Grand Prix qualifying as its centre stage.

As Mika was heading into the Turn 8 flick at the Adelaide track, a rear-end tire trouble caused his McLaren MP4/10 to deviate from the main track resulting in the car colliding with the concrete wall.

As a result, the crash, a massive one for the lack of a better word saw Mika dangle between life and death. But this battle was fought in the same manner in which the Finnish Sisu in Mika had battled the demons unleashed by the German Kaiser for years together.

But had it not been for the trackside tracheotomy performed by the workers, one may not have seen him test drive the McLaren MP4/11 the next year, as arranged privately by his team at Circuit Paul Ricard, albeit after an agonising winter break.

And we may not have had that epic move at Spa, hundreds and thousands celebrating his 20th Grand Prix win and so many joys that only a driver like Mika would’ve fetched the sport.