Happy 50th Birthday Mika Häkkinen!

Mika Häkkinen, the 1998 and 1999 F1 World Champion was, it is said, the only driver Michael Schumacher ever truly feared and respected.

Even now, seventeen years after retiring from the sport, he still frequently ends up at the sharp end of polls for the all-time best F1 driver.

So, to mark his 50th birthday, we had a look at just a few of his most memorable on track memories, some happy, some not so…

P5: 1995 - Horror shunt Down Under

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You can’t look back at Mika’s time in F1 without remembering the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.

With the tragedies of the 1994 season still very much in mind, there looked a moment where 1995 would see another driver lost.

In the Friday afternoon qualifying session, Häkkinen’s McLaren picked up a puncture in his left rear tyre, while he was heading for a corner at somewhere north of 130mph.

The ensuing barrier impact caused his seat-belts to stretch, enabling his helmet to hit the steering wheel, fracturing his skull.

Incredibly luckily for Mika, two medics were stationed close by.

With him unconscious and not breathing, the doctors undertook an emergency tracheotomy, saving his life by the side of the track.

One very close shave indeed.

P4: 2001 - Last lap nightmare in Barcelona

Mika certainly did have his fair share of disappointment in his F1 career, none more so than him selecting the wrong gear, throwing away an easy Monza win in 1999, but Spain 2001 was a stinker by any measure.

Häkkinen had won in Barcelona on each of his previous three visits and starting the final lap with a whopping 40 second lead over Schumacher, this was another one in the bag.

Or maybe not.

This race was a classic example of the famous Murray Walker Curse, as the legendary commentator waxed lyrical about what a great win this would be for the Finn as he started his last lap.

By this time however, Mika was a double world champion and with retirement no doubt in mind, so accepted this calamity with extreme good grace.

A legend.

P3: 1998 - Joy in Japan!

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Following his first F1 win, at the infamous 1997 European Grand Prix at the end of the season, when 1998 came around, McLaren had a gem of a car in the MP4/13 and in it, Mika pretty much destroyed the field.

Sixteen races and half of them won by our man, it is difficult to pick out the best in his first title winning year.

Monaco, where he scored a ‘grand chelem’, with pole position, fastest lap and leading every lap of the race, would be up there but getting that title wrapped up, at the final round in Suzuka gets our pick.

Mika had gained cult status pretty much the moment he sat in an F1 car but since that brush with death in Adelaide, he’d become a firm fan favourite and there were few out there, not happy to see him crowned champion.

At last.

P2: 1993 - Out-qualifying Ayrton Senna on his McLaren debut

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Following a difficult couple of seasons since his F1 debut in 1991, with the under-financed Team Lotus, in 1993 Häkkinen moved into the premier league, when Ron Dennis saw off other team bosses after the Finn, to get him in at McLaren.

McLaren already hard CART star Michael Andretti signed up but took on Hakkinen as an insurance policy, as Ayrton Senna was leaving it until the very last moment before deciding to stay, which he did, meaning Mika was placed in the test driver role.

Andretti however, failed to shine and so towards the end of the season, at the Portuguese Grand Prix, he was replaced by Mika, who then promptly went and out-qualified Senna.

Out-qualifying the Brazilian legend was certainly not what was expected, not since the days of having Alain Prost in the other car had Ayrton had a team-mate to worry about.

If he wanted to make an impression on his McLaren team, then this was the way to do it.

P1: 2000 - THE ‘ZONTA’ - That overtake on Michael Schumacher

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The 2000 Belgian Grand Prix saw what has been argued as the best F1 overtake of all time.

It was indeed truly spectacular and it was fitting that the victim of Mika’s outrageous move was his long-time nemesis, Schumacher.

In a wet-dry race, it was looking good for pole-sitter Häkkinen, who soon pulled out a healthy lead over the field but on lap 13, a clip of a kerb saw him spin and Schumacher in the Ferrari snuck past.

There then followed a right old ding-dong between the pair, Michael’s defensive driving edging close to what was unacceptable.

On lap 41 the two of them came across the BAR of Ricardo Zonta on the fast run to Les Combes.

Looking in his mirrors, it would appear the Brazilian driver, with both bearing down on him at a rate of knots, did not know where to go.

He need not have worried, in the blink of an eye, Mika darted to his right, taking him and Schuey in one move.

Breathless stuff and one of the greatest onboard F1 moments you will ever see.

What is your Mika moment? Have your say in the comments section below!