LEGENDS: Mika Hakkinen’s 1995 crash + incredible recovery

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1:20Micka Hakkinen, achieving his dream of winning the Formula One World Championship and completing one of the sport's greatest recoveries. Because three years earlier, he suffered a crash which threatened more than just his racing career. I couldn't lift my arms, I couldn't move my legs, and I realised this is serious. Serious enough to make him question his future. I was looking all those years back, what I have done in motor racing started when I was six years old, little boy. I thought I got so far in my career now. I'm in a great team at McLaren and there's no way I can just now give up. I cannot.

2:06I cannot give up. This is F1 Beyond the Grid. I'm Tom Clarkson.

2:16It's 30 years since that day in Adelaide when a puncture at 120 miles an hour sent Mika's McLaren spinning over a high kerb and into a wall of tyres. The crash and Mika's injuries led to safety improvements which F1 drivers still benefit from today. Mika remembers the accident and his recovery in hospital vividly. We talked about the difficult decision on whether he would return to racing, the trepidation he felt getting back into the car, and how he became a driver capable of winning the world championship twice.

2:55Mika, it is great to see you again. It's been six years since you were last on the podcast. How have you been? Six years. Yeah, time flies. It's so long time ago. That's incredible. But you're right. You know, when you are part of the Formula One journey, it's very hectic. There's 24 Grand Prix. And I suddenly realized, like, oh, my goodness, it's only one month left before the Christmas. So it's really flying. The time is flying in this business, yes. Talking of time, we're coming up to the 30th anniversary of your accident in Adelaide in 1995. And can I take you back to that time? How often do you think back to what happened in that Friday qualifying session?

3:40Yeah, it is already a long time ago. But some reason I tell you, I don't think I have a single day when I don't think about it. It's really weird. It's such a strong experience when accident like that happens. You are so close to basically losing your life that automatically it's so deeply in your memory. But it's not a negative thing. I'm not thinking about negatively. I'm a very positive person and I'm very grateful every day about life what I'm living, what I'm experiencing, having five children, having a great time in Formula One, all these things. And I think the accident that I have reminded me always how lucky I am to be taking part of my journey of my life.

4:29Because it could end up very sadly 30 years ago in Adelaide. Do you remember any details? I mean, the accident was caused by a puncture. Do you remember how much warning you got? You know, things happened very quickly. going such a high speed and when the rear tire lost the air and Formula One car, the ride height is extremely low. It's only about 20 millimeters, 25 millimeters. So what happens when the tire is losing air very suddenly, the car starts bottoming very hard to tarmac. And that means you're definitely going to lose the control. And it just happened when I turned in a corner. So it didn't really happen on a straight line.

5:09It happened just when I turned in a corner. And this corner was extremely high speed corner. The corner where you have to put maximum focus because after that corner is a super long straight. So you need to have to get this exit perfectly right. So just when I turned in, I realized that's it. I'm losing the back end. Of course, I tried to do something with the steering, but because it was bottoming so hard on the tarmac, the cars start sliding sliding off the racing line going towards the exit of the corner and of course exit of the corner there was a huge curb and what is not anymore happening Formula One they have removed these high curbs for the safety reasons so so when I hit that curb the car launched in the air and and started spinning unfortunately the runoff area was not so big and the tire barrier was only not so wide basically not so good so when when the car was spinning i didn't see when the barrier was coming and normally when you're having an accident you know just moment when you're going to hit either other car or barrier you of course you put all your muscles in a maximum tension to hold the steering hard as you can because the impact is is huge so i didn't see the barrier coming and because the car was spinning in the air so when he hit the barrier It was very sudden.

6:34It was a surprise. That was the moment when my head moved very aggressively when I cracked my skull. And the actual moment when it hit, of course, the noise is enormous. And I remember that moment when I was sitting in a car. I couldn't lift my arms. I couldn't move my legs. And I realized this is serious. You were conscious at this point. I was that moment, yeah. I realized what happened. And I just told myself that way, Mika, just don't do anything. Well, I couldn't even move. But some reason my brain told me, just don't move. Stay calm and wait when the people come to help you. And then, of course, luckily, particularly at that corner, there was all the emergency team, all the doctors, and they were there like in 15, 20 seconds, they were there immediately helping me.

7:27And then they realized I couldn't breathe. so of course they give me I don't know in English tracheotomy it was an emergency tracheotomy wasn't it exactly and that was the moment when they did that I remember the pain and then I just passed out so you were conscious until they yeah put a hole in your throat exactly awful absolutely awful there are some scary looking pictures around of you with blood all over yourself when you see them now what goes through your mind what comes to my mind actually when i see that picture is that uh the accident happened in australia and because the time different of course in finland was it night or early morning or something very early morning in very early morning in finland and and of course my parents knew that i had a big accident but they didn't know exactly how serious it was.

8:23And when my mother went to the shopping center in the morning, newspaper had this picture on the front cover. So she nearly got a heart attack, you know. So it was a terrible moment for her and for the parents and for my sister, because they didn't know exactly how I was. Had your family been supportive of you being a racing driver anyway, or was your mum always a little bit anti because she was worried about something like this happening? They knew that way motorsport is dangerous. They knew that there's a risk, but they always supported me. I think my father was more scared than my mother. You know, they always told me just make a call flat out, you know.

9:09That was the strap line, flat out. Absolutely flat out, you know. So it was my choice of my life and choice of my work, what I decided to take. So they were supporting. They knew my talent. They knew I have a great opportunity in the future to win races and to fulfill my dream. So they were very supportive. We'll come on to that. But can we talk about the recuperation now? You say the last thing you remember is the pain in your throat. When did you next wake up and where were you? I think I woke up probably the next day if I remember correctly. I remember, of course, all the pipes and all these in my wrists and in my arms, all the tubes.

9:56Of course, I was on a heavy medication, of course. Awful, you know, puking blood. And when I woke up, very unpleasant feeling. I didn't really feel any pain, but that was just because they gave me such a heavy medication. and then what happened was who came to see me was Ron Dennis and Lisa Dennis and when I saw Lisa blonde haired woman I thought she was an angel that's it, I'm in heaven you know and it was a shocking moment that's what I remember I see the face of Ron I see the face of Lisa Dennis how shocked they were because they knew that, you know, this is mega serious. And I was just completely in a heavy medication and it was awful.

10:48How many operations did you have? That was one of the most challenging things. The whole time when I was in a hospital, I don't know, one and a half, two months. Most of the time spending time in a hospital was in Australia. Then I think in England I was in a hospital at least a week, maybe even two weeks. because when you're having an accident and you get a bang in your head, in your brain, the hospitals need to do all kinds of different tests. That way everything functions in your brain. That was one of the challenging things. That way all your sugar levels, they're testing with the different fluids, your sugar levels, that way your body functions normally.

11:31Other side of my face was paralyzed, so they're testing that if the nerves are completely broken or are they just bruised. So they're putting needles through your skin and your face to check your nerves. I said, Mika, can you feel this? Can you feel this? Oh my God, because if the nerve is of course broken, of course you don't feel nothing. But luckily they were bruised. But when they put the needles through your skin and your nerve, I mean, it was like Mike Taser would be punching in your head, you know. So it was a terrible experience and so many MRI scans of your head, your neck, to see how serious it is.

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13:15There's more from Micah in a moment. And there's more for you to listen to from Formula One. Our official race review podcast, F1 Nation, previews and reviews every Grand Prix. The latest episode features me, IndyCar race winner James Hinchcliffe and former F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez. We're looking back at a chaotic Mexico City Grand Prix. And F1 Explains is the podcast which answers your questions about how F1 works. This week's episode is all about data, how drivers and teams use it to go faster, featuring Jolien Palmer and Oscar Piastri's race engineer Tom Stallard. So check out F1 Nation and F1 Explains right after more from Micah.

14:03How quickly did you start to make progress? It was a very slow process. It just takes a super long time. Only maybe one and a half months later, I started understanding what stage I am. because they of course reducing the medication all the time less and less and then when they do that then comes to of course the pain the headaches what's happening and that that was one of the hardest part to handle the headaches because it was just 24-7 constantly headaches and everybody have experienced headaches and they and you can imagine how unpleasant it is so i think one and a half months later two months later I start recovering but even the doctor said that we are not allowed to start jogging you're gonna start lifting weights you're not allowed to put any pressure in your body it was very difficult it finally when I got back to back to Monaco and sitting in a terrace and looking beautiful lights in Monaco in the evening and wondering is this this is it is this this is my life now and you start asking questions from yourself.

15:13What do you want from your life? How quickly did you realize you wanted to race again? I didn't want to even think about it. I really didn't want to think about it. But that race where I had an accident in Adelaide, that was the last Grand Prix of the year. So that means I had a time to recover. It was about a couple of months later, the McLaurin have to ask me, that way, Mika, do you want to come back to racing? Otherwise, they had to found the auto driver you know so uh what did you say i i of course i spoke to family i spoke to management and i was looking all those years back what i have done in motor racing started when i was six years old little boy i thought i got so far in my career now i'm in a great team mclaren and it's no way i can just now give up i cannot i cannot give up i was very confident with my talent, my performance.

16:12So I put the thumbs up to McLaren and said, okay, let's do the test. Let's try what I'm going to feel and how it's going to go. What state were you in physically though? I mean, had there been, you've talked about your brain and the headaches. Was there any other physical damage to you as a result of the accident? No, of course I lost a lot of weight, all the medication. So my physical condition has dropped like 50%. How heavy were you? What was your fighting weight back then and how heavy were you by sort of January 1996? I was in when I was racing, my weight was probably around maximum around 70.

16:5270 kilos. How tall are you? I'm nearly 178. So I'm sure I lost like 7 to 10 kilos. So I was super skinny. Some of the problems I was losing some hearing, of course, because the accident, the little bones inside in the brain, in your ears, broke. So they had to build some artificial bones inside in the ears. So I need to have operations in England, in USA, in the mayor clinic, need to do operations. So all those were part of the journey for recovering. And it was quite a challenge. But one thing I really have to say that way, what Ron Dennis did, what the McLaren team did. Mansur Oje, who is not with us anymore, Mansur Oje's family, Mansur and Ron's friends were Australia, given the private plane to take me to different places before I came back to Europe.

17:50And of course, Geekka Rosberg, the management, how they were able to take care of me, and of course my family. It was just amazing what they did for me. They really gave me the peace, the space, to recover. It was just mega. Your then wife, Arja, when you said, I want to go back to racing, what reaction did you get from her? Again, it's no problem because, you know, they knew me. It's my decision. They were all supporting, you know, that, Mika, if you feel like that and if you decide to do that, we will support you. We all understood the risks of motorsport. Of course, I don't know exactly what they felt inside in themselves, but they were supporting me when I decided to go back to racing, to go back to even to try to do testing that were what I'm going to feel.

18:46So they were supporting, very supportive. Let's talk about that test then, the comeback test at Paul Ricard. How were you feeling on the eve of that test? How nervous were you? I was nervous, of course. I was nervous driving with my car, the public car, heading to the racetrack. And one thing I was really, really nervous about because, of course, all my mechanics were there. So they remember what Mika looked like, you know, the time before the accident, you know, my blonde, whatever hair. And, of course, in the hospital, they had to shave 50 % of my hair off. The other side was still a bit paralyzed.

19:32So I saw the mechanic's face when I entered on the garage. They were looking like, oh no, this guy is not going to make it. So that was for me quite unpleasant, of course. Even I tried to be normal and tried to act normal. It was very difficult. But again, you know, then came the time that they, okay, time to put the overalls on. put the racing shoes on. I was nervous, of course, automatically nervous. But then going in the car, putting crash helmet on, I was looking at the car, you know, it's absolutely fantastic. Tailor-made, the quality of what the McLaren does. You know, and when they're starting an engine, again, absolutely amazing.

20:18Mercedes engine, going out of the car house, and I felt like, wow, this is beautiful. And I put my foot down. I went flat out straight away, and everything was automatic. Everything felt good. But that day, when I was going to high-speed corners, I was thinking, what about if something breaks? I'm going to hit that wall. And then I told myself, Mika, stop thinking about it. This is now, this is the test, you know. Take that out of your mind. Just focus on the driving. And it worked. It really worked. And why it worked, my opinion, when I was thinking about time back, because I wanted to win. I wanted to be a world champion.

21:02I said, do not think about that. You're going to have accident or something breaks. Trust the car. Trust the team. How much of a risk was it for you? I mean, had the doctors said to you, Mika, if you have another big accident, the result might be a bit different? Had you had that kind of conversation? No, I did speak to doctors and already in hospital. I said, is my life going to be shorter now? And am I going to live, you know, normal life rest of my life? I said, it's no problem, Mika. You're fine. You can live normal life and this accident is not going to make your life shorter. Okay, if you go back to racing, again, something can happen.

21:44But if something happens, my condition or if I would be even without the accident, it's no difference. So I was not worried about that. I know you say you were trying to put it out of your mind. Don't think about a car failure in the quick corners. But had the crash changed you in any way and your attitude to risk? Attitude for the risks? Not really. I don't think so. I think it just changed me in terms of human. You know, I think I started listening to people much more, you know. I was extremely selfish. My ego was before my accident extremely high. Confidence was high. And now suddenly after the accident, I slowed down a bit.

22:30I started listening more what the people are saying. You know, thinking twice what I was doing. It made me, I don't say it made me smarter. but it it it it teaches me to appreciate the time when i'm living and and appreciate the time with the people you know i think that those are the little things and big things how they changed me a wet race day at spa you had the same attitude post-accident as you did before the accident oh yeah absolutely i mean absolutely mega i mean no problem at all i think only thing what changed when I did start winning in Formula 1, when I started getting pole positions, and finally when I managed to become a world champion, that was the time that changed me.

23:19I have reached my goal. I've reached my goal becoming a world champion. And then when I started taking risks on a racetrack afterwards, when I had mechanical failures and hitting a wall very hard, that was the moment when I started thinking about it. Do I push my luck now too far? And that's what you were thinking at the end of 2001. Exactly. Then I decided that Mika, you know, you are now two times world champion. And if I'm going to have an accident like what I had in Adelaide, maybe I'm not going to walk anymore. Maybe I can be even more serious. So now it's time to stop. I remember you selling it to us at the time that it was a sabbatical for 2002 but did you know in your mind it was over well Ron knew that you know losing me from the team he's gonna lose important asset for the team in terms of marketing in terms of performance the team knew me very well so Ron said to me just you know we got think about it take one year off relax chill out but it didn't take too long time.

24:35It didn't take too many months but I realized like, no, there's no way I can go back. My mind is thinking about the danger. My mind is thinking about accidents and again, my accident came back to my mind. What about if it happens again? And I was just purely thinking about life outside of the motor racing. There's so much to life life can give me that Formula One is not everything. Because if you want to be a champion in Formula One, you have to give 100%. You cannot have anything else in your life. So I thought, I don't want to go to that journey anymore. I want to explore other things in my life.

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26:20Can we rewind to Melbourne 1996 now? You've had the comeback test at Paul Ricard. You've said already that it felt amazing. What you haven't said is whether you were quick on the comeback test. Were you immediately quick? Yeah, I was quick. I was immediately quick. I mean, the car was just incredible. I was able to put myself on the edge. I was able to put the car on the edge. Straight away. Yeah, and I don't know. Maybe I'm so bloody stupid. I just wanted to show the team that way. it's we're gonna kick some ass right and so that evening after the first day of testing did you say to ron i'm here for you we're going racing that's it that's it i informed the team immediately after the test that way let's go for the fight let's continue our journey together you know and and it was very clear in my mind and it was it was it was super good it was really really good i i made the decision and and uh i'm a very active person you know i love to do things There's no way I could stop racing.

27:27Did Melbourne 96, your first race back five months to the day since your accident in Adelaide, did that carry extra significance for you, that race? I mean, you finished fifth. It was an extraordinary comeback. It was very difficult. Physically, no way I was not there. I was not physically there. And I would say the year 96, You know, I remember many of my seasons quite well, actually. But in 1996, my brain was in a fog. I wasn't there 100%. It was very unpleasant. I need to really push over my limits physically and mentally to go through that year. How mentally draining was a two-hour Grand Prix for you in 1996?

28:17It was. And also I had a teammate, David Kulthard. You know, I have a young Scottish guy, you know, kicking my ass, you know. So it was really challenging. So, you know, that made my life even more harder. You know, I was not physically there. I was mentally fighting all the time with my confidence. And David Goldhard was there, young guy, absolutely flat out. Every single time when he went out, is it the testing or race? He was just on the maximum, focusing with the engineers. and I was still in a recovering mode. So that's why the 96th year was like, I was all the time physically on the edge, you know.

28:57So when I came from the Grand Prix, I was exhausted. I tried to recover as quick as I could going back to Monaco. But it wasn't easy. I was still tired and to try not to think about my accident, you know, try to focus the future and the moment where I was living. And it wasn't easy. So it was taking a lot of energy. When were you back to proper mica, full fitness? How long did it take? 97 seasons? It took at least one year. I think 97, halfway through the season, 97 I started feeling like, then I started feeling, that's it. Now I'm strong. Now I'm confident. Now I learn from my mistakes. I'm more experienced than ever.

29:46I saw the team is doing great decisions in terms of people who they are hiring, how they are investing money inside the team for the materials. Mercedes-Benz was getting stronger in their performance, so I saw that this is it. I feel good. I feel strong. And you'd lost none of your speed. The flying fin was as fast after the accident as before. Well, not really. I think year 99, my world championship year, I don't think I was still yet absolutely on the top. I think 99 was the year when I started feeling like this is it. Now I'm in absolutely highest performance ever. Took a really long time to get 100%.