To be a good winner, you have to be a good loser is the attitude of Hakkinen. Mika will be forever known as a great sportsman and a family man. I was just about ready to tear each strand of my hair out when his McLaren rolled to a halt on the last lap of the Spanish Grand Prix this year. It was astonishing to see Mika making friendly gestures to the crowd after such a bitter end to a brilliant performance. After crashing out of the Italian GP of 1999 - a critical race in the '99 WC, Mika headed down pitlane to apologise to his mechanics. 2001 was a frustrating year for everyone at McLaren, not least of which for Hakkinen. Such times can cause bitterness, between drivers and teams. There were no disparaging remarks made by the McLaren driver all season however.

Mika's presence will surely be missed by everyone in the pitlane during 2002. You could never forget some of his press conferences. Behind the microphone, there is usually a mental blank causing one word answers to questions and quite often a loss of words. Maybe Mika gave way to Coulthard in his last race to avoid the impending interview that is given to third place!
Hakkinen and Ron Dennis always had a great friendship at McLaren. Ron saw the Finn's abilities at a very early age and snapped him up as a test driver in 1993. It is not widely known but Mika was due to drive for Williams in 1993. However Williams forgot to submit an entry form for the world championship. That meant that they could only enter the championship if all other teams signed an agreement. Every team signed this request except Lotus, who claimed that they would only sign if Mika was released. Mika had left Lotus after two troublesome years. Williams had no choice but to cancel Hakkinen's contract. After this, Mika was offered a testing role at McLaren for 1993. Whilst trying to keep the disgruntled Ayrton Senna, Ron Dennis was forced to go 'all-out' financially to secure his no.1 man which meant he had no money to make Mika a decent contract and was forced to sign a rookie as his no.2 driver. Ron was delighted with Mika's championship win in 1998 and further jubilant with his success in 1999.

Mika had not commented much on his intentions for 2003. Opinions have been made by outsiders on what Mika will do, but in truth he is very much undecided on his intentions. A year off may re-charge his batteries for a third World title or make him realise that he enjoys life with his family more than his cars.

I would like to point out that regardless of his decision, this site will continue for the duration of 2002. All visitors are welcome.