Michael Schumacher says his toughest rival in his first career was Mika Hakkinen, which is quite a compliment from a man who also raced against Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost and lost his final world championship battle to Fernando Alonso.
Mika make's his F1 debut in Phoenix for Lotus in 1991, but suffered engine failure on lap 60. He scored his first grand prix points at Imola, where he finished fifth starting 25th on the grid.
In 1993 , Hakkinen made his McLaren race debut at Estoril and in his first outing for the team outqualified Ayrton Senna.
At the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, Hakkinen suffered a tyre failure at the early part of the first qualifying session, which resulted in him crashing heavily into the wall. He was critically injured in the crash.
He made a full recovery and finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship in 1996.
Two season's later in 1998, Hakkinen finished ahead of Michael Schumacher to clinch his first world title.
In 1999, he retained his title by finishing ahead of Eddie Irvine,who was Ferrari's main threat after Schumacher's broken leg sustained at Silverstone.
At the end of the 2001 season, Hakkinen decided to take a break from racing and was replaced by by his young compatriot Kimi Raikkonen. In 2002 , he announced his full retirement.
For me two stand up moments from Mika's carriers other than the double world titles were brilliant overtake manoeuvre over Michael Schumacher at Spa in 2000 and the the final lap hydraulic failure in 2001 Spanish Grand Prix.
Finland Post issued stamps in memory of Mika Hakkinen's 1998 World Championship win.
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