Mika Hakkinen picks a surprising moment as the ‘happiest’ time from his two-time title-winning F1 career

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Mika Hakkinen is the most successful Finnish driver to hail from the Northern European country, winning two F1 drivers’ championships as part of Ron Dennis’s McLaren team in the late 1990s.

Hakkinen is one of the few drivers to have gone toe-to-toe with Michael Schumacher and come out on top, with the Finn’s final title in 1999 preceding the legendary German driver’s period of dominance between 2000 and 2004.

Hakkinen and McLaren teammate David Coulthard ‘couldn’t stand’ each other during the former’s title-winning years due to both of their desires to be a Formula 1 world champion.

Coulthard believes Hakkinen stopped him from becoming champion due to the Finn’s formidable form in race-winning machinery. Despite winning two titles during his stint in the sport, Hakkinen’s happiest memory surprisingly came before his title-winning seasons.

McLaren signing Adrian Newey was Mika Hakkinen’s ‘happiest moment’ in F1

Speaking at a roundtable full of Formula 1 legends at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Hakkinen was asked what the happiest memory of his 11-year career in the pinnacle of single-seater racing was.

Hakkinen replied, “Well, the happiest moment. I had a lot of happy memories during my racing time, but one of those memories is very strong. When I started Formula 1, it took me about seven years to win my first Grand Prix. 

So it was a long journey. I’m sure many of you have experienced a lot of these kinds of things. But one of the happiest memories that I remember was when the team finally started getting better results and you can see light at the end of the tunnel. 

“The happiest moment was when Adrian Newey joined our team. I said, “That’s it, guys!” That was, I would say, the final dot for the success of McLaren, at the time when I was there.”

After Newey’s addition to the McLaren set-up in 1997, Hakkinen went on to win both of his F1 world titles, consecutively, in 1998 and 1999.

Adrian Newey is setting his sights on bringing an F1 title to Aston Martin in 2026

With the new 2026 F1 regulations coming into effect next season, Newey is hard at work at Aston Martin’s Silverstone factory in hopes of producing yet another title-winning car in Formula 1.

Newey is one of the most successful designers in F1 history, with his cars winning 13 drivers’ championships and 12 constructors’ titles, earning himself the deserved moniker of being a genius in the sport.

Following his departure from Red Bull mid-way through the 2024 season, Newey created a race between F1 teams to secure his talents, with Ferrari coming close to penning his signature before Aston Martin swooped.

Newey once recalled a time he angered Dennis during his tenure at McLaren. The chief of the Woking-based outfit wasn’t happy with the designer after he painted the walls of his office a different colour to the grey ‘sanctuary’ that Dennis had created at the McLaren Technology Centre.