When it comes to a country with a strong racing atmosphere, Finland, located in Northern Europe, is one that cannot be ignored. From small townships to townships, Finland has a regular racing culture atmosphere of holding rally races, and the annual Thousand Lakes Rally is a national event. In addition, Finland's snow and gravel roads are extremely demanding to drive, and the traditional way of doing things to encourage cleverness and boldness has made many Finns outstanding in driving, and they have been exposed to beginner racing such as karting as teenagers, and many of them will try to take the professional path.
If you vote for the three most popular sports in Finland, the answer is probably ice hockey, football and motor racing. When it comes to Finnish sports celebrities, I believe that most sports fans, in addition to the two football stars of Litmanin and Hyypia, think mostly of Finnish drivers who are racing in F1. Of course, the Finns are also strong in the rally.
In the history of F1, a total of nine Finnish drivers have left their mark on the battlefield, including three drivers who have won the F1 World Championship. In the impression of fans, Finnish drivers are mostly talented drivers. In this article, I will review the F1 drivers from Finland one by one for reference according to the timeline.
First, Leo Guinon
In F1 history, Leo Guinen, who took the stage in the 1974 season, was the first Finnish driver to appear in the league. Prior to his appearance in F1, Leo Guinen won the World Sports Car Championship for Porsche in 1970 and won three consecutive championships in the Interserie series from 1971 to 1973 before moving on to F1.
Unfortunately, in F1, Leo Guinu was able to leave only one season of record and lackluster results. In F1 history, Leo Guinen was one of the last drivers to use an open helmet. For later Finnish drivers, Leo Guinu was a pioneer in F1.
II. Miko Kozarovicji
Back in time to the 1977 season, the second Finnish driver landed in F1. During the season, Miko Kozarovicji competed in two races. At that year's British Grand Prix, this driver had an accident and broke his arm, and has not been able to return to F1 since then, which is a hurried passer-by in the history of F1.
Iii. Koko Rosberg
After the F1 league hastily welcomed and quickly bid farewell to the two Finnish drivers, it did not take long for fans to wait for a phenomenon-level Finnish racer to appear.
Fast forward to 1978, when 30-year-old Koko Rosberg was in the F1 league, he was older than F1 players. Prior to that, he had won five domestic karting events in Finland and had a good record in the European F2 Championships.
From 1978 to 1982, Koko Rosberg played for atts, Wolves, Fedipaldi and other third-tier teams. Because the chariot was so bad, Koko's performance in F1 was average. By 1982, Koko had ushered in a turning point in its take-off.
At the same time, world champion Alan Jones unexpectedly retired early and the mighty Williams team was looking for a successor. Among the vast drivers, they chose Koko Rosberg, who has a passion for driving style. In his first season with Williams and high-quality racing, Koko Rosberg soared to the top of the world and became the champion of the year.
Koko Rosberg is a wild rider with a distinctive driving style, who strives to run at the highest speed even on dangerous rainy days, winning the reputation of the original "Flying Finns" with his performance. After reaching the top of the world in 1982, Koko delivered a few years of good performances, but did not have the opportunity to reach the top again, and after 1990, he switched to cross-country racing, starting to run his own team and transforming a driver manager.
Incidentally, Koko Rosberg trained his son Nick Rothberg to become a world champion and, as manager, took Mika Hakinen to a higher stage. Since Nico Rosberg chose to be a German naturalizer, the name of Rosberg Jr. will not be seen in the list. In reality, though, it's not unreasonable to think of Nico Rosberg as a champion driver trained in Finland.
IV. J· J. Lechto
As a Finnish driver active from the 1990s to the mid-1990s, J. J. Lechteau's achievements actually come more from endurance racing. At Le Mans, he won the annual title three times (1995, 2003, 2005) at legendary level.
As for the F1 career, Lechto has not left many highlights, but it is an old car fan looking at familiar faces and names. As early as 1989, Lechto began his F1 career, and in the early days, he left a record of conquest in the Onyx team, Ferrari team, Sauber team, after all, there is a certain strength to mix so many teams, but the driving style is more aggressive, and the completion rate and points rate are low.
In 1994, Lechto switched to Benetton Racing and became the number two driver in the team, and the number one who pressed him was Michael Schumacher, the king of the car who was preparing to take off. Because of this experience, everyone was deeply impressed by him. In addition, because of his good popularity, his friendship with famous players such as Senna and Schumacher is acceptable, and he is often captured by the media in the pictures of drivers communicating or private gatherings, and everyone is also familiar with him. Judging from the results of F1, he is probably just a driver who can play steadily in his heyday, and later concentrated on playing endurance racing.
V. Mika Hakinen
The passionate red chariot and the invincible legend under the name of the car king are indeed the beginning of countless fans to fall in love with Schumacher and Ferrari; however, the smart and elegant black and white trench coat and the championship journey of the Finnish Flyers are actually the good memories of countless fans for Hakinen and McLaren.
Back in 1991, at the age of 23, Hakinen won the F3 of the previous year, and with the help of agent Koko Rosberg (Finland's first F1 champion mentioned above), Hakinen was given the opportunity to start his career at Lotus.
After just one year of F1 performances, As a newcomer, Hakinen was given the opportunity for McLaren to poach the first-class team. During his nine years at McLaren, Hakinen was always seen as one of the top drivers.
In 1998, Hakinen fought Schumacher throughout the season, and it was only at the last stop that the winner was decided, reaching the top of the world championship for the first time;
In 1999 , Schumacher was sidelined due to injury , and Ferrari driver Edmund Owen Jr. played his career-best against Hakinen in the top position. Waiting for the last stop in Japan, Hakinin withstood the pressure to reverse the crown and successfully defended the championship;
In 2000, Schumacher returned, and the two once again engaged in fierce competition. On the countdown trip to the United States, Hakinen's car was discharged from the race in an accident, and finally lost to Schumacher while missing out on a three-game winning streak;
By 2001, Hakinen's status had declined, ranking fifth in the year. After the season, Hakinen took a year off from the team to leave the arena to relax. After the full time, Hakinen found that he had lost his passion for F1 and did not come back, and the king of the generation disappeared into the F1 league.
It is worth mentioning that before asking the team's general manager Ron Dennis to leave the race, Hakinen recommended a young junior driver from his hometown to mcLaren to replace him, and this young Finnish young man who was recommended by Hakinen's ticket was named Kimi Raikkonen.
VI. Mika Salou
Earlier than his early years in F3, Mika Salou was on par with Hakinen as the Finnish duo on the field. As a child, Mika Sallow's residence and Hakinen's residence are just across the road, and a block is home to two well-known F1 drivers, which is really wonderful.
In F3 in 1990, Mika Sallo was runner-up of the year, and the driver who beat him was Hakinin, who entered F1 the following year. Mika Saloben got his FIA super driver's license early and had a chance to get into F1 earlier, but he was caught drunk in the back, followed by a bad reputation and kicked out of the industry. To tell the truth, this driver is also a strange person, daring to get drunk on the windy arena and joke about his own and his opponent's life.
After moving to Japan to reflect on herself and disappear for more than two years, Mika Salou reappeared in the public eye as an F1 driver and the image of the prodigal son. From 1994 to 2002, Mika Sallow played for Lotus, Tyrrell, Arrow, Anglo-American, Ferrari, Sabah, Toyota and other teams, achieving a total of 33 points.
The best year was Hakinen's 1999 season, in which he defended his title. Due to Schumacher's injury absence, the original number two driver Edmund Owen Jr. was promoted to the number one driver, and Mika Salo topped Irving Jr.'s position and finished tenth of the year.
VII. Kimi Raikkonen
Because of his unsmiling personality and meticulous driving style, Kimi Raikkonen has been known as the "Iceman" since his debut. From debut to fame, Kimi Raikkonen took a very short time and lasted a long time at his peak, making him one of the few legendary drivers in F1 with both super genius and evergreen nature.
Back in 2001, Raikkonen, who had only had more than two dozen low-level Formula Renault races, became a contracted driver for Sauber. After driving for Sauber for a year, Raikkonen was recommended by fellow hakinen and entered the top team McLaren the following year in F1.
In 2003, Raikkonen, who had just become acquainted with McLaren, became a great threat to the Schumacher championship journey. That season, Raikkonen lost to Schumacher by a very narrow margin and was runners-up of the year.
Later in 2005, it was also a very memorable year in the history of F1, in addition to a bunch of famous veteran drivers doing supporting roles, the real protagonists of the championship were two equally young and equally talented drivers: Raikkonen & Alonso. Once again, Raikkonen lost by a narrow margin and was once again runners-up of the year.
By 2007, Raikkonen had reached its peak. That season, he switched to Ferrari, becoming the league's highest-paid driver. That same year, Raikkonen defeated Alonso & Hamilton to become the overall champion of the year.
After 2009, Raikkonen temporarily left F1 to play WRC, and only returned to F1 after 2013, and has continued to perform well since then, finally officially announcing his retirement from F1 this year.
In the history of F1, Raikkonen is the Finnish driver with the longest activity, the most races and the most races. If you are a little luckier, such a talented and enduring player may have won the championship more than once.
VIII. Haike Kovalainen
Fast forward to 2007, after Renault's top Alonso switched to McLaren, Renault signed a young driver from Finland: Haike Kovalainen.
Looking back at Haike Kovalainen's F1 career, it can be said that it is a high and low. Shortly after his debut at Renault that year, he finished second in the Japan division and finished seventh in the first year of his career, which was blown up by the outside world as Raikkonen 2.0; the following year, he switched to McLaren Racing, partnered with the same young Hamilton, and won seventh place again in the second year season.
However, for some reason, the subsequent state did not last, Kovalainen handed over a 0 podium performance in the 2009 season, and McLaren immediately abandoned this son to make up for the future world champion Barton.
After leaving McLaren, Kovalainen spent a total of three and a half years at the Lotus team and the Cartham team. In the 2013 season, due to his poor performances, he was relegated to a test driver by the Carterham team halfway through and beaten into the cold.
Judging from the stories of F1 over the years, the Finns are very united and very old-fashioned. When Kovalainen fell to the bottom, the fellow who was willing to pull him was his predecessor Raikkonen. With Raikkonen injured in the second half of the 2013 season, Lotus team vacated a spot.
With Raikkonen's help, Kovalainen was given the opportunity to represent Lotus racing in the United States and Brazil, which was also the last chance to redeem himself. Unfortunately, in both races, Kovalainen was ranked 14th, but the performance was not lost, and it was difficult to give the rest of the team a good reason to sign themselves. After the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix, Kovalainen, once dubbed the genius of Finnish racing, disappeared into the F1 league.
IX. Walteri Bottas
Walteri Bottas, aged 32, plays for Mercedes-AMG and is currently the only Finnish F1 driver currently in service.
Back in 2013, Walteri Bottas made his debut at the Williams team, handing over the no. 14 rookie answer that season. After entering 2014, Walteri Bottas has been among the top drivers for a long time, getting the opportunity to join the top team AMG after williams team handed over three amazing seasons of fourth, fifth and eighth place of the year.
Since joining in 2017, Bottas has delivered season results at AMG: third place, fifth place, second place and second place. This season, Bottas is temporarily in third place. Truth be told, Hamilton's biggest enemy in the future may not be anyone else, but his teammate Bottas. Before the end of his career, Bottas also has the opportunity to challenge the F1 Champion driver of the year.