Home » Sports » Formula One Racing » Mika Hakkinen announces his break from Formula One

Mika Hakkinen announces his break from Formula One

© Anand Janefalkar

Mika Hakkinen who was the world champion for two consecutive years - 1998 and 1999, has announced that he would be taking a break from Formula One. He has been replaced by fellow country mate Kimi Raikkonen who will race next to David Coulthard in Mclaren's 2001 lineup.

Mika Hakkinen comes from Finland and has been one of the best drivers in Formula One. He started his racing career with the Finnish National Carting tournament, which he won consistently and later entered higher racing tournaments like F3000, from where he qualified himself for Formula One. In the recent past, he was perhaps the only driver to have successfully competed with Michael Schumacher, who is the greatest driver in the history of F1. Hakkinen has been Schumacher's rival since very early in his racing career.

The recent lacklustre performance and the birth of his first son, Hugo, are being cited as the main reasons of his sabbatical. Many speculations were being aired about his possible retirement as race after race, his motivation for winning came under scrutiny. He currently stands 6th in the drivers championship, owing to his many non-starts in the season. Mclaren has struggled throughout the season and have consistently faced non-reliability problems. His decision to take a break came before the race in Imola, the Italian Grand Prix. He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and discover life beyond Formula One. Though he has said that he would return after an year, its being said that this is his first step towards retirement.

It has been an overall sad weekend for Formula One. Former F1 driver Zinardi suffered a high speed crash due to which he lost both his legs. Luciano Burti is still recuperating from the 185 mph horrifying accident at Spa.