In 1975 he started in the school in Vantaa (Laajavuori basic school) and in 1985 he got an examination as a sheetmetal welder.

In 1988 he served his military duty in the Finnish Defence Forces in Lahti, where he happened to share room with other soon-to-become-famous Finnish people like the soccer player, Jari Litmanen. But he still kept his career, now in the Lucas British Formula 3 Championship, very much alive, and the following year he changed his helmet design to the one that he still has today, choosing the national colors of Finland, blue and white.

In 1990 Mika was already head to head with a certain Michael Schumacher in the F3 World Championship, but he lost to Schumi because he hit Mika's car in Macau and Mika had to drop out. But Mika's manager, the former Formula One Champion, Finnish Keijo Rosberg, had a consolation prize to Mika: He'd be driving in the Formula One the following year with Team Lotus.

In 1993 Mika signed a contract with Team McLaren-Ford because they thought that Ayrton

Senna was leaving, but he stayed and Mika therefor became the test driver only. Senna's team mate, Michael Andretti, did poorly though, and in the end of the season the Team fired him and Mika had the chance to drive the last three Grand Prix of the season. Sensationally Mika actually outqualified his own team mate with a third place, and even though he drove out in both this GP and the following one, he made it to the podium for the first time in the last GP with a third place!

wouldn't make it, and if he'd survive he definitely wouldn't be a F1 Pilot ever again, but thanks to dr. Jerome Cockins, who was standing only a few meters away when the accident happened, Mika had first aid so fast that his brain didn't suffer from the small lack of oxigen and just three months later he was test-driving his car again after a miraculously fast recovery. His girlfriend, Erja Honkanen, whom he had met just a few months before, was in Paris at the time of the accident and saw the whole thing on international tv. For obvious reasons she wasn't able to get any phone calls through and had to wait 24 hours before knowing if Mika was okay. He was in a coma for the first 24 hours, but woke up before Erja arrived to the hospital the next morning with an early flight. Despite Mika's fast return to F1, he later admitted that it took him nearly a year to recover both physically and psychologically.

Year 2000 has started on the wrong foot for McLaren. The car didn't make it the two first Grand Prix, and in the third GP it gave Mika so many problems that he finished second after Schumacher. But it's too early to conclude that Mika still can't pull out any tricks of his hat, which only the great Juan Manuel Fangio has achieved in the long history of F1: The socalled title hat-trick (three consecutive FIA Formula One World Championship titles)!

usually tells about his feelings. I remember especially (with a smile upon my face) the interview after the GP in Austria last year when Coulthard hit Mika at the very beginning of the race, and he said afterwards that done is done, nothing to talk about, but in Finnish he made it very clear that he'd talk with BIG words with "one certain team mate that is sitting next to me, whose name I cannot mention now" and that the case definitely wasn't over yet...  ;o)

I've found a few quotes from an interview with Mika which, I hope, can show that side of Mika that we don't see very often during the Formula One season:

Reporter: "What kind of tyres are McLaren going to use in the race?"

Häkkinen: "Well, there are many kinds of tyres. We use Goodyear's, which are black and round!"

Reporter: "So what kind of strategy is McLaren going to use?"

Häkkinen: "I think we're gonna go to the pits at some point" (Mika burst into laughter)

Reporter: "What is the biggest difference between you and Keke Rosberg?"

Häkkinen: "Well, I'm taller...uhm, let's cut that from the interview"