Mika Hakkinen: A Finn still flying
The double world champion shows no sign of slowing down – even after more than a decade out of F1. He talks to Jonathan Noble about his busy – and contented – lifestyle
There was a time when an interview with Mika Hakkinen was not the work of the moment. While he was locked in the intensity of life as a top-line F1 driver, gunning for world championship glory against the might of men like Michael Schumacher, simply extracting more than a few customary words during a sit-down chat with the Flying Finn was a pretty big achievement.
Time has moved on.
Now, away from the pressures of a life measured in thousandths of a second, Hakkinen is a new man. He is just as busy - combining 'racing dad' duties with his son, management responsibilities with long-time ally Didier Coton, and a global ambassadorial 'responsible drinking' role with Johnnie Walker.
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Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
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