Mika: The best move of my career

In an exclusive interview in this week's Autosport, McLaren's double World Champion recounts how much pleasure he got from passing Schumacher on a circuit the Ferrari star regards as his own.

The pass happened when leader Schumacher and Hakkinen came across Ricardo Zonta's BAR Honda on the long straight to Les Combes. Schumacher went to the outside to lap the Brazilian, while Hakkinen cut to the inside and passed them both in one fell swoop.

"It was mega, obviously," said Hakkinen. "There was a chance and it came when I had to make a very fast decision in the race about what to do. The moment when Michael started to overtake this backmarker was when I realised he had maybe made a mistake. It gave me the opportunity to go the right way and that is why it is such a great move. My best move? Yes. Definitely."

In the interview, Hakkinen speaks of his respect for Schumacher and how he believes McLaren team-mate David Coulthard's mind was affected by his plane crash at Lyon Airport. He also talks about why it took until the middle of the season for his title challenge to gather pace.

"The start of the season was quite negative for me," he said. "And probably it did affect, at least a little bit, my confidence and way of working, because things didn't go the way they should have."