Top 5 Finnish F1 Drivers of all time

#1 - Mika Hakkinen

Mika Hakkinen is the only Finn to have won more than one F1 driver's title.

The Finns have a word in their language "Sisu", which roughly translates as stoic determination and grit, a never say "die" attitude. Out of all the Finnish Formula 1 drivers, Mika Hakkinen is the man that probably personifies this term the most. The man was absolutely fearless, the great Michael Schumacher has said that Hakkinen was the only driver that he feared, and this isn't shown any better than the Finn's famous overtake on the German at Spa in the year 2000.

Hakkinen drove for the original Lotus team between 1991 and '92 and would regularly out-perform a struggling car to score points (back in the days when only the top 6 scored). Hakkinen made a move to McLaren for 1993, but he had to wait until late in the season for his racing debut. Mika made an immediate impact, out-qualifying Ayrton Senna on McLaren debut and finishing on the podium in Japan. McLaren would struggle in the coming years, but regulation changes for 1998 gave Adrian Newey the ideal opportunity to design a monster of a car. The MP4-13 was the class of the field and gave Mika the ideal opportunity to win his first title.

Hakkinen had just 1 win before '98, but he'd rack up 19 during his last four seasons in the sport as he won back-to-back titles in 1998 and 99. He's the only Finn to have won two driver's world titles, and one of those came from his direct competition against M Schumacher. Many say that Hakkinen retired too early, and I agree with that, although it's hard to see how he'd have won a third title during Ferrari's most dominant period.

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Who do you think is the fastest flying Finn ever? Is it Hakkinen or someone else? Let us know in the comments below!