He was one of the greatest natural talents. Maybe not one of the hard-working guys but he replaced it with the natural speed. Ferrari was ahead of McLaren since 1998 but they made many mistakes and also Schumacher had his injury in 1999. Even Eddie Irvine was able to fight for the title.
James Lewis When Mika get slightly of the track they say something like "Oh now it's over, there's nothing he can do now. The competition really is that hard." When he crosses the line Keke Rosberg (former F1 champ) screams "Perkele!". I don't think I need to translate that part. But it really is a classic moment.
and as Mika fishtails out of the final chicane you can hear that howling V10 slam straight into the redline as if it's being launched from a standstill.
well tbh fishtailing out of the final chicane was OK. Alonso said that if the finish line is near the exit of the final corner then you only need to go through the corner quick and no need for good traction at the exit. However, if Mika was to start a flying lap the he would need to get good traction and avoid fishtailing.
2:15 mad engine power! :D Mika floors the pedal and u can hear the engine going crazy revs and back end drifting in the acceleration even though the legendary commentator shouts on it!
Back in 1994 Schumacher was interviewed and he told what he thought about his competitors. When he talked about Hakkinen he said:"When it comes to speed, Hakkinen is seriously fast. Unfortunately he hasn't driven a good car yet." Well that changed in 1998... David Coulthard moved from Williams to McLaren in 1996 and when he drove the 1995 McLaren he said it was practically undrivable and had a terrible chassis which was very twitchy and unpredictable.
i remember this qualfying like its yesterday. i recorded the gp+ qual. on vhs and was absolute spechless because of this performance. It is the best i have ever seen in the history of F1. The fail just after the second sector and then the magic corner speed and full risk at 2:00. He risks everything for the pole. This was the era where true champions are on the front and managed to ride on those beasts, nowadays every good driver with mechanic background make a good job because of the easy car controls..so sad
I particularly remember this race.. i was a kid 10yrold kid back then and watching this as a whole family... one side of d family mclaren and one side ferrari.. what a great battle.. and dont forget Mika's wife too.... she always follow wherever mika goes... Go Finn !
These have to be the best generation of F1 cars: 3.0L V10. More torque than god, greatest sound ever, naturally aspirated, no shitty potato-powered KERS, and large wings providing tons of downforce. Hopefully we'll see this kind of car again...
soberek Maybe when redbull eventually buys F1 circus, they bring the fun and awesomeness back to it. Fat tires, huge downforce /w DRS, pretty free electronics, V8, V10 or V12 free rules, proper fast tracks, aka. spa, monza, imola, suzuka...
i dont know if he owned him but Hakkinens driving was always impeccable. he was so awesome to watch. The end of the lap as he's fish tailing and still pulls pole. that was so very cool!!!!!!!
Mika was the one driver who had the measure of Schumi and Schumi had mutual respect to Mika for that! those 2 were at their peak of their powers and was a great time for F1 back in 2000!!!
Man, this brings back lots of memories and emotions, i still remember when i was in Finland as a little kid watching this at my Grandmother's house with my father and my uncle's. Oh man did we all scream out of enjoyment, Mika Häkkinen, a living Legend, and so is Schumacher.
They had the exhaust inside the rear diffuser back then, which distorted the sound. by 2002 they went with the rest of the teams and put the exhaust on top of the bodywork and then that magic sound was lost. Had the same as you at the 2001 British GP by the way, you could make up laps going by with each time Mika passed by when you were busy going to another place...it was just so different :)
Announcer: "And häkkinen drifts rivage-corner sideways.. there is now change anymore.. schumcher will win... 10 seconds later: OAOOOOJOOJOJOOI MIKA WINS! MIKA! MIKA! MIKA BEATS FERRARIS" I loved that old announcer and free F1 on tv.. and i love both häkkinen and schumi.. great times!
These were the moments why I loved Mikas driving. He was an exceptional leadfoot and, im my opinion, had more raw speed than Schumacher. One can only wonder how good Mika would've been without that life threatening crash @ Australia in '95.
Great lap, but actually not regular. He came to wide at the chicane and left the track with all four tyres. Also in the last chicane, he almost cutted, but this was okay. All in all great performance by Mika
People will say: Oh so it WAS because he NEVER had a really top-class teammate ever, and was damn lucky to just be in the right teams at the right time! That aspect alone makes this season exciting!
That was really special. Sometimes when these guys just get into the proverbial "zone" they can do some truly unbelievable things, and I bet that if you asked him afterwards, he'd be able to tell you about every single moment of that lap, such is their concentration.
No, it was Kimi at Silverstone in 2004. He was 1/2 a second behind pole after the first sector, but he went so fast in the last two sectors that he got pole by almost 1/10th of a second.
The Hakkinen/Schumacher rivalry was one of the greatest in the history of F1. While the FIA seems to have finally settled on a qualifying format that they are happy with, I never understood their dislike for the old 1 hour/4 timed laps format. Some of the most exciting memories of F1 that I have came out of the qualifying sessions with that format. I still have the entire '98 season on VHS. I think I'll watch it again during this off season and relive one of the most exciting seasons ever.
If Hakkinen had one more drop of ketchup on his sandwich that morning, he would've lost that. Mesmerizing spectacle... Pretty sure these are the best memories for both us and the drivers.
This is Matti Kyllönen, legendary Finnish F1 commentator. The other one is Erkki Mustakari. Keke Rosberg was commentating with him every now and then in the 90's and early '00.
It was always amazing to watch the fight b/w the tow :) amazing times.I thought F1 was at it's peak then. One more thing I would like to say that whenever I see Schumacher driving he just fits so well in the car and drives it like the part of his own car :).
the final sector was just mental! You'd think after being slower in the other two sectors and having the back end fly out a couple of times he'd have been slower...
Bring back this qualifying format please! Seeing the top drivers going blow for blow and following their laps on the ragged edge was a real treat! Today we just watch cars crossing the line one by one 🥱
There was something very magic about Mika's last sector, trailing after first 2 sectors and having an unforced error. The expressions at McLaren & Ferrari say it all.
less than a tenth wouldn't say thats been owned tbh ... best season ever 00 season and loved the schumi mika rivalry. That years mercades engine was the one of the best sounding engines ever
He was 0.4 behind after the first sector that was probably because the Ferrari and the McLaren cars had their strenghts on different parts of the track. Mika going off like that and still taking pole is a greater comeback in my book.
Don´t know why you guys keep arguing. Schumacher has said that the only driver he feared was Häkkinen. On the other hand they are very god friends when they are not racing. Booth are great drivers :) Love there battles
yep, and 2003 was very close between schumi and raikkonen, and 2005 raikkonen with liiitle better luck and engine he's now 2005 world champion, and that nurburgring... but mika is one of top. 10 greatest drivers