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Hakkinen suffered serious head injuries in a crash at Adelaide in 1995 and was only saved when a doctor performed an emergency tracheotomy trackside. However, he bounced back from the accident better than ever.
Simply untouchable on his day, the Flying Finn took back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999 and arguably remains the man who has pushed Michael Schumacher hardest. Monotone and undemonstrative in press conferences, Hakkinen was in fact one of the most affable and genuine men in F1 behind closed doors.
1968 Born in Helsinki, Finland.
1978 Started racing karts.
1986 Finnish, Nordic and Swedish Karting Champion.
1987 Finnish, Nordic and Swedish Formula Ford Champion.
1988 Formula Opel Euroseries Champion. Second in British series.
1989 Moved up to British Formula 3 series with Dragon Racing, and struggled as team tried to learn about this technical category. No wins, but sixth overall.
1990 Beat Mika Salo to British Formula 3 title with West Surrey. Crashed on final lap of Macau Formula 3 GP to hand win to Michael Schumacher.
1991 Leapt straight to Formula 1 with Lotus and impressed in a car that was not among the pick of the pack. Was fifth on his third outing, in San Marino GP.
1992 Stuck with Lotus and scored six times, peaking with two fourth places that lifted him to eighth overall.
1993 Mika took a gamble on Senna retiring, by joining McLaren. But Senna stayed on and Mika sat on the sidelines until the team fired Michael Andretti. Made an instant impact by out-qualifying Senna for Portuguese GP.
1994 Enjoyed a full season with McLaren and was on the podium six times, but never as a winner. Ranked fourth overall.
1995 Arrival of Mercedes engines brought promise, but this was never realised fully and Mika ended up seventh overall with two second places, never even starting the final race, the Australian GP, after crashing and sustaining head injuries in qualifying.
1996 Was consistent for McLaren, but only reached podium four times, all for third place and finished fifth overall.
1997 Won a Grand Prix, on his 96th attempt, when Jacques Villeneuve let him by on final lap at Jerez. Looked set for earlier wins at Silverstone and the Nurburgring before his Mercedes engine blew. His win raised him to equal fifth overall.
1998 World Champion for McLaren, but only clinched the title at the final round when he scored his eighth win and Michael Schumacher had to start from the back.
1999 World Champion for McLaren again, this time winning only five times to beat Ferrari's Eddie Irvine at the final round. Was on pole 11 times in 16 Grands Prix.
2000 Just failed to make it three in a row after his engine blows in the US GP, ending his title challenge. Runner-up in the world championship to Michael Schumacher.
2001 Starts season with a big accident in Melbourne and things fail to improve. Generally lacklustre but wins brilliantly at Silverstone and Indy before announcing he plans to take a sabbatical from the sport in 2002.
2002 Announces at the Monaco GP that he has hung his helmet up for good and will not be returning to the sport.
Drivers: Rubens Barrichello | Gerhard Berger | David Coultard | Giancarlo Fisichella | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Mika Hakkinen | Eddie Irvine | Olivier Panis | Michael Schumacher | Ralf Schumacher | Jacques Villeneuve
Teams: Ferrari | Jordan | McLaren | Renault | Williams
