Finland could have simply 5.6 million inhabitants – simply 0.07% of the world’s inhabitants – but it has immensely contributed to System 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 planet 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 beneath 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 fee. 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 advised The Telegraph in 2008. “You actually must be a great driver to outlive in Finland. It’s all the time slippery and bumpy.”
A grand prix winner who raced for the likes of Renault, McLaren and Lotus, Kovalainen doesn’t utterly 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 suppose you might want to have some sort of better-than-average talent 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 huge a contributor as it might sound.”
As a substitute, 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 a good higher observe report in rallying, and near-constant success within the self-discipline means they’re typically within the information – Kovalainen explains – to proceed inspiring future generations
Picture by: Sutton Pictures
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 had been dominating the WRC, whereas Hakkinen was making waves in F1. It’s no shock he took an curiosity on this sport, along 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 had been fairly often within the information, so that you couldn’t keep away from seeing them, you simply noticed them all over the place,” Kovalainen explains. “Maybe that affected lots of people like myself – I noticed the information, I noticed the automobiles, I noticed the speeds they had been doing, and that maybe grew the eagerness in the direction of motorsport.
“Possibly the opposite purpose is the Finnish individuals’s mentality is kind of impartial,” the 43-year-old provides. “We’re comparatively impartial individuals, we don’t have tremendous highs or tremendous lows in our lives – we have now fairly odd and form of common days. In that sort of high-pressure setting, it’s a great factor.
“You could have lots of strain, you’re within the highlight with lots of issues to handle. Should you can keep calm and funky naturally, that helps lots. Finns don’t appear to want to work tremendous laborious on that – even when the state of affairs is tight and sophisticated, you keep calm and funky.”
“I used to be shocked, as a result of I assumed if Hulkenberg will get the seat, Valtteri’s performances are at the very least nearly as good as Hulkenberg’s” Heikki Kovalainen
The factor is, until 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 last 4 rounds. Bottas, 35, has been unable to retain a seat on the grid after failing to attain a degree 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. “Definitely, 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 and so they signed Hulkenberg earlier than Valtteri, I used to be shocked, as a result of I assumed if Hulkenberg will get the seat, Valtteri’s performances are at the very least nearly as good as Hulkenberg’s. I suppose there are most likely some advertising and marketing causes behind it, however that could be a bit disappointing if it’s a marketing-driven resolution, as a result of normally that sort of huge manufacturers – if you wish to turn out to be a high staff, you select the drivers primarily based 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
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
“Having mentioned that, Hulkenberg has carried out fairly properly, I’m not saying he’s the unsuitable man there. However Valtteri being there for 3 years after which not re-signed, it sort 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. Actually, the one teen to race in F1’s most important feeder collection (F2 or beforehand GP2) within the final fifteen years was Niko Kari, who was a Pink Bull junior from 2016-17 after successful 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 executed any substantial racing because the 2020 European Le Mans Sequence.
Why have there been so few Finns in junior formulae these days?
“That may be a good query, I most likely 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 System 1 studios right here after I do some TV work. We don’t have a transparent consensus.
“The distinction these days to, for instance, my time, after 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 principle factor that I obtained from that programme was the monetary assist. So, they paid all my racing within the junior classes.
“However these days, as I perceive, even if you’re chosen right into a Ferrari, Mercedes or another junior programme, many of the guys nonetheless must deliver some price range themselves – and that’s fairly an enormous impediment, as a result of the budgets are fairly large, and Finland will not be that huge a market, particularly these days when the financial 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 feel that’s most likely a part of the rationale.
“The opposite aspect can be that the superb ones do get picked up. If you’ll be able to present that you’re an impressive expertise and you might be doing one thing particular, these guys are nonetheless picked up. In addition to funds have been tough to lift, on the similar time a number of the junior drivers most likely can look within the mirror and discover a part of the rationale there as properly.
Kovalainen reached F1 because of assist 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
Picture by: Renault F1
“You actually must do one thing particular once in a while. I don’t assume you might want to win essentially all of the junior championships or all of the races that you simply go into, however it’s important to do one thing excellent, one thing that folks decide up on. Possibly that’s additionally one thing that’s been lacking with the fellows who attempt to construct a System 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 properly sufficient, that they’re blissful, they’ll progress my profession, they’ll take me to the following degree each time,” the previous Renault protege relates. “However on the similar time, there was lots of competitors. There have been [six] of us on the very starting of the Renault junior programme, and I used to be finally the one one who made all of it the way in which and have become a Renault System 1 driver.
“I didn’t win each championship that I entered, however yearly I used to be in a position to take some pole positions, win some races and lift some eyebrows. They preferred that, and that was the important thing, principally, to then take me all the way in which to F1.”
Crucially, there shall be a Finn in System 3 this 12 months: Tuukka Taponen, who has been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy for 2 years
Extra just lately, French-Finnish teen Marcus Amand shone in karting by successful 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 System 4 and System Regional, and switched to Porsche Carrera Cup France final 12 months.
Crucially, there shall be a Finn in System 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 likewise took a world title in 2021. Final 12 months, he received the System 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, protecting in thoughts a fellow countryman’s success in that championship (then known as GP3) with the identical squad.
“ART GP is a well-known staff to us Finns. For instance, Valtteri Bottas received the championship with ART GP staff earlier than shifting as much as the System 1 collection,” Taponen identified. If he had been to emulate Bottas 14 years later, the teen would take the F3 title as a rookie earlier than graduating to F1 in 2027…
Can Taponen turn out to be Finland’s subsequent huge F1 hope?
Picture by: ART Grand Prix
On this article
Ben Vinel
System 1
Heikki Kovalainen
Valtteri Bottas
Tuukka Taponen
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