– Mika Häkkinen spoke about the difficult decision to return to Formula 1 after his life-threatening accident at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix. The two-time world champion seriously questioned his future in motorsport after the severe crash in Adelaide. Not only the physical consequences of the accident troubled him, but also the question of whether he wanted to expose himself to such a risk again.
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In a conversation with his former McLaren teammate David Coulthard on the “Up To Speed” podcast, Häkkinen recalled the seconds that changed his life. During qualifying, a tire failure catapulted his McLaren into the air. The car spun at high speed and then crashed into the tire barriers on the outside of Brewery Corner.
Häkkinen already knew during the accident that a severe impact was imminent. “When I was sideways and hit that huge kerb at the exit and the car lifted off, that was the moment I realized it was going to be a heavy impact,” the Finn recalls. The car barely lost any speed and was then tossed through the air.
Häkkinen recalls the dramatic seconds
Häkkinen vividly describes that just before the impact he was no longer able to move his body. “Normally you hold the steering wheel as tightly as possible and tense your muscles when you crash into the wall, but I didn’t see this coming,” he says. When he tried to move his hands or legs, it was no longer possible. Shortly after, he lost consciousness.
The consequences of the accident were severe. Häkkinen suffered a skull fracture, internal bleeding, and an airway blockage. The then Formula 1 safety and medical delegate Sid Watkins, as well as volunteer doctors Jerome Cockings and Steve Lewis, saved the Finn’s life. Cockings performed an emergency tracheotomy right at the racetrack.
Two months in hospital
Häkkinen then spent about two months in hospital. His memory of the early period after the accident is partly shaped by the strong medication. When Ron and Lisa Dennis visited him, he initially even believed he was in heaven.
“The first people I actually saw visiting me were Ron and Lisa Dennis, and the first thing I saw was Lisa Dennis in front of me,” Häkkinen recounts. “But of course, I was on so many medications that I thought I was in heaven. Then I looked to the left and Ron Dennis was there. Then I thought: This is not heaven.”
The humorous memory of this moment, however, belies how difficult the time actually was for Häkkinen. Because while he was slowly recovering physically, he also had to deal with a fundamental question: Did he want to continue his Formula 1 career after an accident in which he had almost lost his life?
“Do you really want to go back to the same business?”
Although Häkkinen was back in a Formula 1 car for test drives just a few months after the accident, the step back into the cockpit did not mean his doubts had disappeared. On the contrary: He describes the actual decision about his future as one of the most difficult moments of his career.
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Photo series: The career of Mika Häkkinen
“I think this moment of decision is one of the hardest,” Häkkinen explains. After such an experience, it was quite possible to choose a different life and leave motorsport behind.
The Finn had to clarify for himself what role motorsport should still play in his life in the future. “What do you want from your life? What does the future of your life look like?” Häkkinen describes the thoughts that occupied him. One question weighed particularly heavily: “A few months ago I almost died, so do you really want to go back to the same business?”
The passion for Formula 1 makes the difference
In the end, the decision was made in favor of Formula 1. For Häkkinen, the decisive factor was above all his extraordinary passion for motorsport and driving a Formula 1 car. The speed and the teamwork within a team continued to have great significance for him.
“It is such a huge passion, motorsport and driving the car, controlling this incredible Formula 1 car at very high speed,” explains the two-time world champion. The interaction with mechanics and engineers also made up an important part of the fascination for him.
At the same time, Häkkinen admits that his age and the desire to prove something to himself may also have played a role in his decision. “So I decided to come back, and I don’t know if it has something to do with youth, when you are young, your ego, you want to prove it: Yes, I can do it.”
Häkkinen had to overcome his fear of the next crash
The Finn therefore describes the return not only as a physical but above all as a mental task. After a serious accident, a driver must learn to deal with the knowledge that another crash is always possible: “I made the decision to come back, but it was not an easy one. You have to work on your mental attitude,” says Häkkinen.
“When you get into a car after an accident, you have to program your attitude so that you don’t think about the fear of crashing,” the Finn explains. His attitude was shaped by an awareness of the risk: “It will happen again. You will crash again, but you must not be afraid of this crash.”
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Häkkinen finally returned permanently to Formula 1 in 1996 and continued his career at McLaren. In the following years, his decision would pay off sportingly: In 1998 and 1999, the Finn became world champion with McLaren.
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