Finland could have simply 5.6 million inhabitants – simply 0.07% of the world’s inhabitants – but it has immensely contributed to Formulation 1’s historical past.
The Nordic nation admittedly has by no means hosted grand prix racing, and neither has it had any groups on the earth championship. Nonetheless, amongst its 9 drivers competing in F1, there have been seven podium finishers (together with Mika Salo and Jyrki Jarvilehto, higher generally known as JJ Lehto), 5 race winners (notably Heikki Kovalainen and Valtteri Bottas) in addition to three champions: Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen. That’s not counting Nico Rosberg, who was topped in 2016 however raced below a German licence from his sophomore F3 Euro Sequence marketing campaign in 2004 till his shock retirement from F1.
That’s a surprisingly excessive victory charge. In a quote typically wrongly attributed to Raikkonen, well-known Finnish F1 journalist Heikki Kulta attributed this success to the extreme climate within the land of a thousand lakes. “Our roads and lengthy winters,” Kulta instructed The Telegraph in 2008. “You actually should be a very good driver to outlive in Finland. It’s at all times slippery and bumpy.”
A grand prix winner who raced for the likes of Renault, McLaren and Lotus, Kovalainen doesn’t fully agree.
“We get used to form of powerful, slippery circumstances from a really younger age,” he tells Motorsport.com. “As soon as we get on the roads, I assume that you must have some form of better-than-average ability to outlive and handle to remain on these slippery roads. Many individuals typically point out that, however my feeling is that it’s not as massive a contributor as it could sound.”
As an alternative, Kovalainen views a few components as extra influential. The primary one is a permanent ardour for motorsport, in a rustic that has been much more profitable in rallying.
Finns have an excellent higher monitor file in rallying, and near-constant success within the self-discipline means they’re typically within the information – Kovalainen explains – to proceed inspiring future generations
Photograph by: Sutton Photos
From Ari Vatanen to Kalle Rovanpera, eight Finns have been world champions on this self-discipline; France is subsequent with three. When Kovalainen was a child, Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen have been dominating the WRC, whereas Hakkinen was making waves in F1. It’s no shock he took an curiosity on this sport, together with his post-F1 resume together with a Tremendous GT crown and back-to-back titles within the All-Japan Rally Championship.
“All these guys, they have been fairly often within the information, so that you couldn’t keep away from seeing them, you simply noticed them in all places,” Kovalainen explains. “Maybe that affected lots of people like myself – I noticed the information, I noticed the automobiles, I noticed the speeds they have been doing, and that maybe grew the eagerness in the direction of motorsport.
“Perhaps the opposite cause is the Finnish folks’s mentality is kind of impartial,” the 43-year-old provides. “We’re comparatively impartial folks, we don’t have tremendous highs or tremendous lows in our lives – we’ve got fairly strange and form of common days. In that form of high-pressure surroundings, it’s a very good factor.
“You may have a variety of strain, you’re within the highlight with a variety of issues to handle. In the event you can keep calm and funky naturally, that helps so much. Finns don’t appear to wish to work tremendous exhausting on that – even when the scenario is tight and sophisticated, you keep calm and funky.”
“I used to be shocked, as a result of I believed if Hulkenberg will get the seat, Valtteri’s performances are at the least pretty much as good as Hulkenberg’s” Heikki Kovalainen
The factor is, except one of many Mercedes racers will get injured and Bottas stands in, 2025 would be the first F1 season and not using a Finnish driver since 1988, the 12 months earlier than Lehto made his debut with Onyx over the past 4 rounds. Bottas, 35, has been unable to retain a seat on the grid after failing to attain some extent aboard a struggling Sauber in 2024, whereas Kovalainen and Raikkonen from the earlier era are lengthy gone.
The brand new Mercedes reserve driver clearly prefers to maintain a constructive outlook forward of the 2026 switch market – “In my thoughts, it’s nonetheless not my final race,” he mentioned in Abu Dhabi – however for now, that’s a actuality.
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“I’ve seen it coming, so I’m not completely shocked,” Kovalainen says. “Actually, the second half of final 12 months, it was getting much more apparent that even Valtteri was not going to be persevering with as a race driver.
“When Sauber didn’t wish to signal they usually signed Hulkenberg earlier than Valtteri, I used to be shocked, as a result of I believed if Hulkenberg will get the seat, Valtteri’s performances are at the least pretty much as good as Hulkenberg’s. I assume there are in all probability some advertising and marketing causes behind it, however that may be a bit disappointing if it’s a marketing-driven resolution, as a result of normally that form of massive manufacturers – if you wish to change into a prime workforce, you select the drivers based mostly on efficiency, not on advertising and marketing causes.
Bottas misplaced his race drive at Sauber for 2025, ending a prolonged streak of F1 having a Finn on the grid
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
“Having mentioned that, Hulkenberg has carried out fairly nicely, I’m not saying he’s the unsuitable man there. However Valtteri being there for 3 years after which not re-signed, it form of made me really feel that there’s one thing that’s lacking in that relationship – one thing that they don’t like about Valtteri, or they don’t assume that he’s matching their plans.”
The issue is, no Finnish driver has come near becoming a member of the championship since Bottas’ debut in 2013 with Williams. In reality, the one teenager to race in F1’s principal feeder collection (F2 or beforehand GP2) within the final fifteen years was Niko Kari, who was a Crimson Bull junior from 2016-17 after profitable the SMP F4 collection.
Kari then took tenth place in his maiden European F3 and GP3 campaigns, which didn’t suffice to retain his spot within the academy. His (unsuccessful) solely foray into F2 got here within the final two rounds of 2018, and he hasn’t finished any substantial racing for the reason that 2020 European Le Mans Sequence.
Why have there been so few Finns in junior formulae these days?
“That could be a good query, I in all probability don’t have the suitable reply to that,” says Kovalainen, who’s open to serving to out younger Finnish drivers in single-seaters or rallying, having himself sought Keke Rosberg’s recommendation as an up-and-coming racer. “It’s a query that we’ve additionally debated within the Formulation 1 studios right here once I do some TV work. We don’t have a transparent consensus.
“The distinction these days to, for instance, my time, once I was one of many first ones to hitch the Renault junior programme and Renault was one of many first ones to truly arrange a junior programme – these days, the primary factor that I acquired from that programme was the monetary help. So, they paid all my racing within the junior classes.
“However these days, as I perceive, even in case you are chosen right into a Ferrari, Mercedes or another junior programme, many of the guys nonetheless should carry some finances themselves – and that’s fairly an enormous impediment, as a result of the budgets are fairly big, and Finland shouldn’t be that massive a market, particularly these days when the economic system is struggling. Usually, it’s a tough time for lots of the businesses, for lots of people and households. It’s particularly tough to lift cash for one thing like racing. I believe that’s in all probability a part of the rationale.
“The opposite facet can be that the superb ones do get picked up. If you’ll be able to present that you’re an excellent expertise and you’re doing one thing particular, these guys are nonetheless picked up. In addition to funds have been tough to lift, on the identical time a number of the junior drivers in all probability can look within the mirror and discover a part of the rationale there as nicely.
Kovalainen reached F1 because of help from Renault throughout his early profession, however that was no assure of creating it (as Loic Duval and Jose-Maria Lopez found), which solely illustrates the problem for Finns
Photograph by: Renault F1
“You actually should do one thing particular every so often. I don’t assume that you must win essentially all of the junior championships or all of the races that you just go into, however you need to do one thing excellent, one thing that individuals choose up on. Perhaps that’s additionally one thing that’s been lacking with the fellows who attempt to construct a Formulation 1 profession.”
Don’t get him unsuitable, Kovalainen doesn’t imply that he had it straightforward.
“It was fairly clear from very early on that so long as I do my job nicely sufficient, that they’re completely satisfied, they will progress my profession, they will take me to the following stage each time,” the previous Renault protege relates. “However on the identical time, there was a variety of competitors. There have been [six] of us on the very starting of the Renault junior programme, and I used to be ultimately the one one who made all of it the way in which and have become a Renault Formulation 1 driver.
“I didn’t win each championship that I entered, however yearly I used to be capable of take some pole positions, win some races and lift some eyebrows. They favored that, and that was the important thing, mainly, to then take me all the way in which to F1.”
Crucially, there shall be a Finn in Formulation 3 this 12 months: Tuukka Taponen, who has been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy for 2 years
Extra lately, French-Finnish teenager Marcus Amand shone in karting by profitable the 2019 CIK-FIA European Championship within the OK-Junior class, however his single-seater profession didn’t take off. Amand took no wins in three years in Formulation 4 and Formulation Regional, and switched to Porsche Carrera Cup France final 12 months.
Crucially, there shall be a Finn in Formulation 3 this 12 months: Tuukka Taponen, who has been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy for 2 years. Taponen is a three-time Finnish karting champion and in addition took a world title in 2021. Final 12 months, he received the Formulation Regional Center East Championship, then got here third within the European collection behind Rafael Camara and James Wharton, respectively present and former Ferrari juniors.
The 18-year-old from Lohja, 30 miles west of Helsinki, is now tackling F3 with the ART Grand Prix outfit, conserving in thoughts a fellow countryman’s success in that championship (then referred to as GP3) with the identical squad.
“ART GP is a well-recognized workforce to us Finns. For instance, Valtteri Bottas received the championship with ART GP workforce earlier than transferring as much as the Formulation 1 collection,” Taponen identified. If he have been to emulate Bottas 14 years later, the teenager would take the F3 title as a rookie earlier than graduating to F1 in 2027…
Can Taponen change into Finland’s subsequent massive F1 hope?
Photograph by: ART Grand Prix
On this article
Ben Vinel
Formulation 1
Heikki Kovalainen
Valtteri Bottas
Tuukka Taponen
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