McLaren confirm Alonso and Button for 2015

Jenson Button will partner Fernando Alonso at McLaren next year, after the team announced the two former champions as their race drivers for the 2015 Formula One season on Thursday.

Kevin Magnussen, who drove alongside Button for what was his rookie campaign in 2014, will serve as McLaren’s test and reserve driver.

McLaren Group chairman and CEO Ron Dennis said a partnership of Button and Alonso - whose return to McLaren had been widely predicted following his departure from Ferrari - would drive the team forward for what will be the first year of their renewed partnership with Honda.

“McLaren’s policy has always been to assemble the strongest line-up possible, and in Fernando and Jenson I firmly believe that is exactly what we have,” said Dennis. “We signed Fernando a little while ago, but we decided not to announce the fact until we had also re-signed Jenson as his team mate.

“For many reasons our negotiations with Jenson took quite a long time, but, now that they have been concluded, we are confident that our collaboration with him will continue to thrive in the future every bit as well as it has in the past. Make no mistake about it, Jenson is 100 percent committed to McLaren-Honda, to Formula One, and to winning.

“As a pair, he and Fernando are supremely experienced. Fernando has started 234 Grands Prix, has converted 32 of those starts to victories, has stood on a Grand Prix podium 97 times, and has won the drivers’ world championship not once but twice. He is a class act.

“He is 33 - which, for an athlete as physically fit as he is, constitutes a Formula One driver’s professional prime of life. Moreover, he is old enough to be experienced and expert, yet young enough to be enthusiastic and energetic. I therefore firmly believe he will deploy those four e’s - experience, expertise, enthusiasm and energy - to drive forward McLaren-Honda’s on-track success next season and for quite a few seasons to come.”

Alonso said he was delighted to finally confirm his switch from Ferrari to McLaren, for whom he previously contested the 2007 season.

“I am joining this project with enormous enthusiasm and determination, knowing that it may require some time to achieve the results we are aiming for, which is no problem for me,” commented the Spaniard. “Over the past year I have received several offers, some of them really tempting, given the current performance of some of the teams that showed interest. But, more than a year ago, McLaren-Honda contacted me and asked me to take part, in a very active way, in the return of their partnership - a partnership that dominated the Formula One scene for so long.

“McLaren-Honda’s repeated and open desire, perseverance and determination in making it possible for me to join their exciting renewed partnership, have been some of the main factors that made me take this decision, not forgetting the most important factor of all: we share a common objective and expectations, and there is a very solid future, with confidence, ahead.

“I have had in-depth discussions with all the senior people at both McLaren and Honda, I have viewed their fantastic facilities in both the UK and Japan, and it is clear to me that, together, McLaren and Honda are in the process of beginning what is sure to be a long and successful partnership. And I intend to give 100 percent effort to help make it exactly that.”

Button said he was excited to line up for what will be his 16th F1 season. The Briton had been vying with Magnussen for the right to partner Alonso. The two were evenly matched for pure pace in 2014, with Button out-qualifying the Danish rookie 10-9. The Briton had a more pronounced advantage in the races, however, scoring twice as many points over the season.

“Like Fernando, I am certain that McLaren and Honda will achieve great things together, and I feel sure that, working together, all of us will pull incredibly hard to create a brilliantly effective winning team,” commented Button, who drove for the Japanese company’s former works team earlier in his F1 career.

“I admired Ayrton Senna enormously, but, for me, it was the exploits of his McLaren-Honda team-mate Alain Prost that inspired me most as a boy. The way he stroked those beautifully brutal red-and-white cars to grand prix wins and world championships was to my mind poetry in motion, and I have tried to emulate his driving style ever since.

“Being a part of new-look McLaren-Honda is a wonderful opportunity for all of us, and I am very pleased to have been invited to do my bit. In fact, I am absolutely raring to go. I am also very glad that Kevin will remain part of the team. He is a very quick driver and a really nice guy.

“Looking forward, I know the Honda guys well, having driven Formula One cars powered by their engines from 2003 to 2008. I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for them, and promise to give 100 percent to make their partnership with McLaren a success.

“Last but far from least, I am very much looking forward to having a driver as fast and as experienced as Fernando as my team mate. I am sure we will work extremely well together.”

(source: f1.com)

Finnish F1 drivers: Mika Häkkinen

The fifth finnish F1 driver was Mika Häkkinen in 1991.

In 1991 Mika Häkkinen made his first test in a Formula One car with the Benetton team driving 90 laps around the Silverstone Circuit. He later decied to sign with the Lotus team for the 1991 season. Making his début in the United States alongside team-mate Julian Bailey, Häkkinen qualified thirteenth on the grid and suffered an engine failure on the sixtieth lap and was classified thirteenth. The next race at Brazil saw him finish ninth, and clinched his first Formula One points scoring positions with fifth place in San Marino. Häkkinen suffered from a dip in race form as he was encountered consecutive retirements in the next two races—his car suffered from an oil leak in Monaco and spun out in Canada. Before Canada, Bailey lost his seat at Lotus due to a lack of funding, so Häkkinen was partnered by Johnny Herbert and Michael Bartels throughout the remainder of the season. Although Häkkinen secured a ninth place finish in Mexico, he did not qualify for the French Grand Prix. Over the remainder of the season, he did not finish four of the nine races he entered. Häkkinen finished his début season sixteenth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring two points.

In 1992 Mika Häkkinen remained at Lotus and was partnered by Johnny Herbert. At the opening round of the season in South Africa, Häkkinen finished in ninth position, which he followed up with his first points of the season in Mexico. He managed to take a further finish in Brazil, although he did not qualify for the San Marino Grand Prix and suffered consecutive retirements in the following two races.  At Monaco, Lotus introduced their new car, the Lotus 107. Häkkinen later managed to clinch further consecutive points in the following two races, before he was forced into retirement at the German Grand Prix due to an engine failure. A similar pattern followed in the next three races which was broken when he finished fifth in Portugal and suffered a retirement at the penultimate round of the year in Japan. Häkkinen concluded the season with a seventh place finish in Australia.

During the season, Häkkinen became embroiled in an contract dispute. Häkkinen, who was under contract to Lotus, opted to join Williams. However, Williams had not submitted their entry for the 1993 season, and Häkkinen was unable to join the team when he learnt that Lotus team prinicpal Peter Collins would veto the Williams team entry if they had signed Häkkinen. Häkkinen later approached Ligier although his contract contained a clause of which his manager Keke Rosberg disagreed with. He later approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis for a contract with the team, which was drafted at Courchevel Airport. The dispute eventually went to Formula One Contract Recognition Board, who ruled in favour of McLaren after two days of delibration.

For 1993, Häkkinen joined McLaren, originally as an race driver, although he became the team's official test driver when CART World Series driver Michael Andretti was hired by the team. Apart from regular testing duties, Häkkinen entered two Porsche Supercup races, held as an support race for the Monaco Grand Prix, where he clinched pole position and took victory in both races. He was promoted to a Formula One race seat after the Italian Grand Prix, when Andretti left Formula One. Häkkinen entered the Portuguese Grand Prix where he out-qualified regular driver Ayrton Senna. During the race, he retired due from a collision with a concrete wall. At the next race held in Japan, Häkkinen claimed the first podium of his career with a third place finish, and ended the season when his McLaren car suffered an brake pipe failure in Australia. Häkkinen concluded the season with 15th in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 4 points. In December, McLaren confirmed that Häkkinen would remain with the team on a three-year contract from the 1994 season onwards.

Mika Häkkinen with his teammate Ayrton Senna.

During 1993, Häkkinen, along with Senna, tested the Lamborghini V12 engine in a modified version of the McLaren MP4/8 race car dubbed the "MP4/8B" at both Estoril and Silverstone. Both drivers were impressed with the engine, with Häkkinen reportedly lapping Silverstone some 1.4 seconds faster in the MP4/8B with its V12 engine than he had with the team's race car fitted with the Ford V8.

Häkkinen stayed at McLaren for 1994 and was partnered by experienced driver Martin Brundle. He endured a torrid start: At the first two races of the season, Häkkinen retired as his car developed engine problems in the Brazilian Grand Prix and gearbox issues in the Pacific Grand Prix which included a collision with Senna on the first lap. He later managed to clinch his first podium finish of the season at the San Marino Grand Prix, although he suffered a dip in form as he was forced into consecutive retirements in the next four races.

Häkkinen clinched a further podium finish at the British Grand Prix, despite an last-lap collision with Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello for which he received a one-race ban, suspended for three races. The ban was enforced after the German Grand Prix, where Häkkinen collided with Williams driver David Coulthard with the Finn's car sliding into another group of cars. He was replaced by Philippe Alliot for the next race in Hungary.

Häkkinen returned for the Belgian Grand Prix, initially coming third but was later promoted to second after the disqualification of Benetton driver Michael Schumacher. He managed to clinch consecutive 3rd-place podium finishes in the next three races, before rounding off the season by finishing the final two races in Japan and Australia, abeit outside of the points scoring positions. Häkkinen managed to clinch fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 26 points.

In 1995 Häkkinen remained at McLaren and was partnered by Nigel Mansell. During pre-season testing, Häkkinen and team-mate Mansell complained the car, the McLaren MP4/10, was not wide enough to fit in, resulting in their hands and elbows striking the sides of the cockpit. Mansell was forced to miss the opening two rounds, so Häkkinen was partnered with Mark Blundell.

Häkkinen started off the season by clinching fourth place at Brazil, and later retired in Argentina due to a collision which punctured his left rear tyre that followed a spin. He managed to take a further points finish with a 5th place at San Marino, before suffering from consecutive retirements in the next three races. For the French Grand Prix, McLaren introduced a revised version of their car, the McLaren MP4/10B. This did not revive Häkkinen's fortunes as he did not finish in the points scoring positions, and later suffered consecutive retirements in the next four races, but managed to clinch second place at the Italian Grand Prix. He was forced to miss the Pacific Grand Prix due to an operation for appendicitis and was replaced by Jan Magnussen. He returned for the Japanese Grand Prix, clinching second place.

At the season finale held in Australia, Häkkinen's car suffered a tyre failure during the event's first qualifying session, which resulted him crashing heavily in the wall. He was critically injured in the accident, sustaining a skull fracture, internal bleeding and swallowed his tongue, causing a blockage of his airway. His life was saved by the efforts of FIA Medical Delegate Sid Watkins who performed an emergency cricothyroidotomy at the side of the track. Häkkinen finished the season seventh in the Drivers' Championship, with 17 points.

The 1996 season was the first in which Häkkinen was the more experienced driver in his team and was partnered by David Coulthard. Häkkinen was confident going into the season and set himself a target of winning races. To ensure his fitness, Häkkinen spent time training in Bali and in February, McLaren conducted a secret test at the Paul Ricard Circuit. In the event that Häkkinen was not prepared, McLaren had Magnussen to replace him should the need arise. The season started well for Häkkinen: He clinched consecutive points scoring positions in the opening two rounds, before he suffered his first retirement of the season in Argentina as his car developed an throttle problem. He later managed to finish the next two races, abeit outside of the points scoring positions, before clinching consecutive finishes inside of the points in the following four races.

In the following race held in Britain where McLaren brought a revised version of the car, their McLaren MP4/11B, Häkkinen clinched his first podium finish of the season with third place.

However, he retired from the next race held in Germany due to a gearbox failure. This marked a turning point in Häkkinen's season as he managed to finish the next three races, including consecutive third place finishes in Belgium and Italy. In September, it was announced that Häkkinen would remain at McLaren for 1997, having previously been linked to Williams and Benetton. He retired from the penultimate round in Portugal resulting a collision with team-mate Coulthard, damaging Häkkinen's front wing and eventually led to his retirement on the 52nd lap of the race. He rounded off the season with a third place finish in season finale held in Japan. Häkkinen finished the season fifth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 31 points.

In 1997 Häkkinen's season got off to a good start: In the season opening race in Australia, he clinched third position and later managed to score further consecutive finishes inside of the points scoring positions in the next three races. He suffered his first retirement of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix  when he was involved in a collision with Benetton driver Jean Alesi. Häkkinen later managed to take ninth position at the Spanish Grand Prix, but later suffered three consecutive retirements in the next three races—a collision with Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine in Canada and engine failures in France and Britain. At the latter race, he had seemed set for his first win, but his engine blew while he was holding off eventual winner Jacques Villeneuve.

Häkkinen managed to secure another podium finish with second place in Germany and later retired from an hydraulic problem in Hungary. He later secured third place in the Belgian Grand Prix but was later disqualified when it was discovered that his car used an illegal type of fuel during the event. He secured a ninth place finish in Italy and later suffered from consecutive retirements in the next two races—engine failures in the Austrian Grand Prix and the Luxembourg Grand Prix while leading both races.  Häkkinen ended the season with a fourth position in the penultimate round in Japan and clinched his first Formula One victory at the season closing European Grand Prix. Häkkinen ended the season sixth in the Drivers' Championship, with 27 points.

Häkkinen remained at McLaren for 1998, partnered by Coulthard. Häkkinen was confident going about the challenge for the World Championship into the season, citing the involvement of technical director Adrian Newey. The season started off with controversy in Australia when team-mate Coulthard let Häkkinen past to win the race. Häkkinen had earlier been called into the pit lane by an engineer by mistake. Coulthard later revealed an pre-race agreement by the team that whoever led into the first corner on the first lap would be allowed to win the race. Despite this, Häkkinen managed to take back-to-back victories by winning the next race in Brazil. He managed to maintain his good form at the Argentine Grand Prix where he finished second, although he retired from the San Marino Grand Prix when his car's gearbox failed. However, Häkkinen managed to clinch consecutive victories in the next two rounds, which was followed by a retirement from the race in Canada as his car suffered another gearbox failure.

Häkkinen followed this up by taking consecutive podiums in the next two rounds—third in France and second in Britain. He managed to clinch further consecutive victories in the next two rounds, and followed this up with a sixth place finish in Hungary. In August, it was announced that Häkkinen and Coulthard would be retained for 1999. Häkkinen retired from the following race held in Belgium when Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher collided with the Finn and was also hit by Sauber driver Johnny Herbert. He later managed to clinch fourth position in Italy despite suffering from brake problems resulting from a spin. Häkkinen finished the season by taking victory in the final two rounds at the Luxembourg Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix, which ensured he took enough points to clinch the 1998 World Championship, with 100 points, ahead of nearest rival Schumacher.

Häkkinen was awarded the Autosport International Racing Driver Award for 1998. He was also named the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year by journalists. The Finnish Post Office issued stamps to commeorate Häkkinen's World Championship in January 1999.

In 1999 McLaren suffered problems with their car, the McLaren MP4/14, during pre-season testing, resulting in a lack of preparation. Despite these setbacks, Häkkinen was confident going into the season, saying: "I've gained confidence and experience and am more relaxed. With this title I no longer have to tell myself every morning I can win, to put pressure on myself".

At the opening round in Australia, Häkkinen was forced into retirement as his car developed an throttle issue. However, he managed to clinch his first victory of the season in Brazil, despite his car developing a gearbox problem early in the race. Häkkinen retired from the race in San Marino when he collided with an barrier while leading. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Häkkinen managed to clinch third place, having slid on oil left on the track surface in the race. He followed up the results by clinching consecutive victories in the races held in Spain and Canada. Häkkinen took a second place finish in France, and was forced into another retirement in Britain, as a result of a wheel failure.

During the Austrian Grand Prix, Häkkinen who started from pole position, was hit by Coulthard from behind and rejoined at the back of the field. Häkkinen eventually finished in 3rd place.

During the German Grand Prix, it was announced that Häkkinen would remain at McLaren

for 2000. Häkkinen encountered further bad fortunes in the race when his car's right rear tyre exploded at high speed, forcing his car into a 360° spin before resting on a tyre wall. He managed to clinch his fourth victory of the year at Hungary, and followed up the result with a second place in Belgium. Häkkinen retired from the following race held in Italy, due to a spin while leading the race.

He managed to clinch further finishes with fifth place at the European Grand Prix, and achieved a podium finish with third place in Malaysia. At the season finale held in Japan, Häkkinen took victory, which ensured he took enough points to clinch the 1999 World Championship, with 76 points, ahead of nearest rival Eddie Irvine.

In November of 1999, Häkkinen was ranked seventh in the Reuters Sports Personality of the Year Poll scoring 46 out of a possible 260 points. He was also awarded his second consecutive Autosport International Racing Driver Award for 1999. In November, Häkkinen was announced as one of the seven men shortlisted for the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year. At the awards ceremony on 28 December, Häkkinen was awarded second place behind skier Mika Myllylä.

For 2000, Häkkinen set himself new limits along with physical and psychological preparations for the upcoming season. He also believed that he along with Schumacher and Coulthard would be the key drivers of 2000. He endured a bad start: At the opening round in Australia, both McLaren cars retired with engine failure after completing less than half of the race distance; and in the following race in Brazil, Häkkinen was forced into retirement when his car's oil pressure became problematic. However, this marked a turning point as Häkkinen took consecutive second place finishes in the next two rounds, and later clinched his first victory of the season in Spain.

Häkkinen finished in second position at the European Grand Prix, having traded the lead position with Schumacher throughout the race. He followed up the result by taking sixth place at Monaco, fourth in Canada and a podium finish with second position in France. The day after the French Grand Prix, it was announced that Häkkinen would remain at McLaren for 2001. Häkkinen won the following race held in Austria, although his team were stripped of constructors' points due to missing seal on the electronic control unit in Häkkinen's car. He took another podium finish with a second place in Germany, and later clinched another victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he took the lead of the World Drivers' Championship from Schumacher. Häkkinen clinched his second consecutive victory in Belgium, which included a simultaneous pass on Michael Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta in the Kemmel straight. Häkkinen later took second place in Italy, and retired with an engine failure in the United States. He rounded off the year with a second place in Japan where he conceded the World Championship to Schumacher, and clinched fourth position in the season closing race held in Malaysia.

In 2001 the season started badly for Häkkinen: He was forced into retirement in the opening round held in Australia due to an failure with his car's suspension resulting in his car spinning violently into a tyre barrier. The McLaren cars were off the pace in Malaysia, with Häkkinen managing to clinch 6th place. He retired from the following race in Brazil when his car stalled on the starting grid, and clinched further points at the San Marino Grand Prix. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Häkkinen looked on course to clinch his first victory of the season, until the final lap of the race, when his car was hampered with a clutch failure and was classified ninth.

He suffered further consecutive retirements in Austria where he stalled his car on the starting grid, and Monaco where his car's steering failed after fifteeen laps of the race. At the following race held in Canada, Häkkinen took his first podium of the season with a third place finish. He clinched sixth place at the European Grand Prix, and was unable to start the French Grand Prix as his car developed a gearbox problem. However, this marked a brief turning point for Häkkinen as he managed to clinch victory in the British Grand Prix. He was forced into another retirement in Germany when his engine failed, later managing to clinch fifth position in Hungary and fourth place in Belgium.

Before the Italian Grand Prix, Häkkinen announced that he would be taking a sabbatical, citing the reason to spend more time with his family. He was forced into another retirement during the race due to a gearbox issue. He managed to clinch the final victory of his career in the United States despite incurring a grid penalty, and ended the season with a fourth place finish in Japan. Häkkinen finished the season 5th in the Drivers' Championship, with 37 points.

Finnish F1 drivers: Jyrki Järvilehto a.k.a. JJ LEHTO

The fourth Finnish F1 driver was Jyrki Järvilehto a.k.a. JJ Lehto back in 1989.

In 1989 Lehto tested for Ferrari before making his Formula One debut for the Onyx team as a late-season replacement for Bertrand Gachot. Though he failed to prequalify for his first race at Estoril he impressed with his speed in the tough sessions and made his first start in the following meeting. In the wet season finale at Adelaide he ran as high as 5th before retiring with waterlogged electrics. Over the summer Onyx were sold to Swiss racer turned businessman Peter Monteverdi. Lehto, marked by many as a star of the future, was paired with Gregor Foitek but financial difficulties hampered his season, leading to the team's withdrawal after the Hungarian Grand Prix (one of five events the Finn failed to qualify for – though he had been hindered by the team's poor preparation, including a driveshaft being fitted the wrong way around for several meetings, and favouritism towards Foitek, whose father was involved with the buyout).

For 1991 he was signed by the ambitious Scuderia Italia team, financed by Beppe Lucchini with a Dallara chassis, Judd V10 engines and Emanuele Pirro in the second car. Due to poor results in 1990 the cars had to prequalify but soon established themselves as decent midfield runners. In the wet San Marino Grand Prix Lehto impressed by lasting in a race of attrition to finish 3rd, scoring his first F1 points. He impressed elsewhere but did not score again through poor reliability and bad luck (only finishing on four other occasions). He stayed with the team in 1992, now paired with Pierluigi Martini and using Ferrari V12 engines but the new Dallara B192 chassis had severe handling problems. Lehto's best result was 7th at Spa, his worst a failure to qualify at the Hungaroring.

He landed the second seat (alongside Austrian Karl Wendlinger) at the new, much-anticipated Sauber team for 1993, running Ilmor engines. The season started very well as Lehto survived a late downpour at Kyalami to score 5th place on the team's debut, then finished 4th at Imola despite a late engine failure. However, after a collision with Wendlinger at Monaco his relationship with both his team-mate and Sauber became frosty and his season tailed off with no more points scored.

For 1994 he saw off competition from Michele Alboreto and Luca Badoer to land the second seat at Benetton alongside Michael Schumacher. However, he injured his neck testing the new B194 in pre-season with test driver Jos Verstappen taking his place for the first two rounds of the championship. Lehto returned to the cockpit for the ill-fated San Marino Grand Prix despite some question marks over his fitness. He qualified 5th but stalled on the grid, his car being struck from behind by Pedro Lamy's Lotus. This led to the safety car period which may have contributed to the death of three-times world champion Ayrton Senna. Despite running 3rd in Spain before an engine failure and scoring a point in Canada (after the disqualification of Christian Fittipaldi) it was clear his injuries had not healed fully and he was replaced once again by Verstappen for the French Grand Prix. He returned to the cockpit for the Italian and Portuguese rounds in place of the suspended Schumacher but did not impress and was released entirely soon afterwards when the team signed Johnny Herbert. This freed him up to drive in the last two rounds for Sauber – Wendlinger's own injuries had failed to heal and his previous replacement Andrea de Cesaris was unreachable. Lehto's final Formula 1 drives were again mediocre.

Finnish F1 drivers: Keijo "Keke" Rosberg

The third finnish F1 driver was Keijo "Keke" Rosberg in 1978.

Rosberg had a relatively late start to his F1 career, debuting at the age of 29 after stints in Formula Vee, Formula Atlantic and its antipodean counterpart Formula Pacific and Formula Two, then "feeder" series to Formula One. His first Formula One drive was with the Theodore team during the 1978 season. He immediately caught the attention of the Formula One paddock with a superb drive in the non-Championship BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone in just his second race with the team, emerging victorious after many of the big names had been caught out by a tremendous downpour. Rosberg wasn't able to qualify for a race afterwards, and was signed by another uncompetitive team, ATS, for three races after the Theodore team scrapped its unreliable car design. He returned to Theodore after they acquired chassis from the Wolf Formula One team, but these were also uncompetitive and Rosberg returned to ATS to end the season.

He next emerged with the Wolf team, midway through the 1979 season. However, the team was having difficulty staying solvent, and Rosberg had problems in finishing races. Rosberg soon had to change teams again when Wolf left Formula One, and signed with Fittipaldi Automotive which had bought the remains of Walter Wolf's squad. He secured his first two point-scoring results in the 1980 season, including a podium, but often failed to finish or qualify. 1981 was worse as he failed to score at all.

Despite this, Williams was interested in Rosberg, with the retirement of former World Champion Alan Jones leaving a seat open for the 1982 season. Given a competitive car, Rosberg had a highly successful year. He consistently scored points and earned his first victory in the Swiss Grand Prix at Dijon-Prenois late that year (despite being called the "Swiss Grand Prix", the race was held in France due to Switzerland's ban on motor racing in effect since the 1955 Le Mans disaster).

Rosberg's first memorable season came in a year where no driver won more than two races. With Ferrari's season marred by the death of Gilles Villeneuve at Zolder, the career-ending injuries to Didier Pironi at Hockenheim and the turbocharged Brabham-BMW and Renault cars suffering from poor reliability (and not helped by Brabham continually changing between the Ford V8 and the BMW turbo), consistency won Rosberg the Drivers' Championship, despite his Williams FW07C using the normally aspirated Ford DFY V8 engine which was considered outdated and out-matched against the vastly more powerful turbo cars. Rosberg's 1982 Championship proved to be the last World Championship win for the old Cosworth DFV engine which had been introduced to F1 by Lotus in 1967 (the DFY was a development of the DFV).

Rosberg's post-championship years would be hamstrung by both uncompetitive chassis from Williams, and the powerful but unreliable Honda turbo engine. For his title defense in 1983, Rosberg was again using the reliable Ford DFY V8. However, by this time, Ferrari, Renault and BMW had got their act together and the reliability of their turbo engines was starting to match their speed and power output. Rosberg still put his Williams FW08 on pole for the opening race of the season in Brazil (where he was disqualified from 2nd place because he was push started in the pits after he was forced to abandon his car in his pit bay due to a fuel vapor fire), and then won both the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and in Monaco thanks to a clever choice of slicks at the start when all others started on wets, but it was increasingly obvious that without a turbo charged engine, results would be scarce. To that end, Frank Williams concluded a deal to run the Honda V6 turbo engine in his cars. Honda had come back into Formula One that year with the Spirit team and results had been slow with unreliability, but they were enthusiastic about joining Williams who had a reputation as a Championship-winning team. Rosberg and team mate Jacques Laffite first got their Honda turbos in the season ending South African Grand Prix at Kyalami and immediately the new Williams FW09 was on the pace. Rosberg finished in 5th place to give him 5th place in the championship. During the year, Rosberg earned the title "King of the atmospherics".

Despite good power from the Honda engines, Williams and Rosberg struggled in 1984 mostly due to the FW09B chassis not being rigid enough to handle the power delivery of the 850 bhp (634 kW; 862 PS) V6. The Finn managed to tame both the car and engine long enough to win the Dallas Grand Prix, but his only other podium for the year was a second at the season opener in Brazil (the 3rd time in succession he finished second in Brazil, but the only one from which he was not disqualified). After a frustrating year he finished the championship in 8th place with 20.5 points.

1985 would prove better for both Rosberg and Williams. The Finn had a new team mate in Nigel Mansell and the all carbon fibre Williams FW10 chassis was a big improvement over the FW09B. For the first few races the team used the 1984 engines until Honda introduced an upgraded version which improved power delivery, fuel economy and most importantly, reliability. Rosberg used the new engine to good effect, winning the Detroit Grand Prix and claiming pole in the next two races in France at the Paul Ricard Circuit and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Rosberg's pole-winning lap at Silverstone created history when he lapped the 4.719 km (2.932 mi) circuit in 1:05.591 for an average speed of 160.9 miles per hour (258.9 km/h). This would remain the single fastest lap of a circuit in Formula One until broken by Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya at the 2002 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Keke Rosberg's fifth and final Grand Prix victory came at the 1985 Australian Grand Prix on the Adelaide Street Circuit. As it was the final race of the season, it was also Rosberg's final race for Williams. The win enhanced Rosberg's reputation as a "street fighter" as his final four wins (Monaco, Dallas, Detroit and Adelaide) had all come on street circuits.
Just as the Honda engine began producing regular results, Rosberg decided to leave Williams at the end of 1985 and signed for McLaren, winners of the 1984 and 1985 Drivers' and Constructors Championships. The Williams-Honda team would go on to dominate Grand Prix racing in 1986 and through 1987.

At the time, Rosberg's move to McLaren for the 1986 season had seemed a master stroke as they were the championship team of the previous two seasons, having done so (especially in 1984) in dominating fashion. However, the 1986 McLaren was now somewhat underpowered compared to its rivals, and Rosberg was soundly beaten by teammate, 1985 World Champion Alain Prost (the McLaren MP4/2C had been designed by John Barnard to suit the smoother style of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, while Rosberg had never shed the ground effects style of late braking and throwing the car into a corner. It wasn't until it became known Barnard was leaving for Ferrari that the designer allowed Rosberg to fundamentally change his cars set up to suit his style. Ironically this coincided with Rosberg's only pole position of the season in Germany). On top of that, the fatal crash of Elio de Angelis while testing a Brabham in France deeply affected him (Rosberg and de Angelis were close friends) and he retired at the end of the season. He would later claim that he retired "too soon"^.

Keke Rosberg dominated the final race of his Formula One career, the 1986 Australian Grand Prix, though he did not win. While holding a 30 second lead over Nelson Piquet (his replacement at Williams), he had a rear tyre let go on lap 62. Thinking the noise from the back of his McLaren was engine related, he shut the engine off and pulled off the circuit, only to find when he got out and checked that all he needed to do was drive back to the pits to change tyres. However, he later revealed that he would never have won anyway, that he planned to give best to Alain Prost in the Frenchman's bid for back-to-back World Championships (Prost needed to win the race with Nigel Mansell finishing no better than 4th to claim the championship, while Rosberg had dropped out of title contention some races before). As it turned out, Prost won the race and the title, and a lap after Rosberg's retirement Mansell suffered the same fate as his former team mate, though in much more spectacular fashion.

Rosberg, who had made up his mind in mid 1984 that he would only race for two more years (but didn't announce it publicly until Germany 1986), had no regrets about leaving Williams and joining McLaren at a time when the Honda engine was starting to come on strong, while the Porsche built TAG engine (and the 3 season old MP4/2) was starting to show its age. In an interview following his retirement announcement, Rosberg said that he was glad he left Williams when he did, stating that had he stayed with them he may have quit Formula One early in the 1986 season after Frank Williams pre-season accident (in which he suffered a spinal cord injury which left him a tetraplegic) had left someone in a position of authority within the team who he said was one of the reasons he had decided to leave Williams, adding "We simply could not stand each other". While Rosberg did not name the person, it was generally believed to be Williams head designer and Technical Director Patrick Head, who had taken over the day-to-day running of the team while Frank Williams recovered from his accident.

Finnish F1 drivers: Mikko Kozarowitzky

The second finnish F1 driver was Michael "Mikko" Kozarowitzky in 1977.

With a solid background in various lower formula series, he reached Formula One in 1977. Driving for the RAM team, which was then running March 761 cars, Kozarowitzky entered the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix where he failed to qualify mainly thanks to a lack of testing time in the car.

His next attempt was at the 1977 British Grand Prix where he failed to pre-qualify following an accident avoiding Rupert Keegan during practice. Kozarowitzky broke his hand in the accident and left the team after they wanted him to try to qualify in the spare car despite his injury.

His Formula One plans for 1978 came to nothing due to lack of funds, and he then retired from the sport.

That was all about him! This was a bit short but there isn't anything else to say about his F1 career.
I actually considered contacting him once for an interview but I totally forgot about it. If you feel that I should try to do this then send me a message!

Finnish F1 drivers: Leo Kinnunen

It's the finnish independence day today so I thought that I would start a series where I will talk about every finnish F1 driver. You might not have heard about them all so this might be interesting!

The first finnish driver in F1 was Leo Kinnunen in 1974.

Kinnunen was close to moving to Formula One already for the 1971 season. With the help of Jochen Rindt he was negotiating for a race seat with Team Lotus, which was controlling the series at the time and eventually won the World Constructors' Championship that season. After Rindt's sudden death at Monza, the negotiations came to a halt. According to Kinnunen, Bernie Ecclestone wanted him to drive for free. Kinnunen turned down the offer and demanded a wage for his services, as he was a professional racer. This ended his Formula One career even before it had actually started, and he went to drive in the Interserie instead.

In 1974, Kinnunen was looking for a job and John Surtees offered him one of his new Formula One cars, Surtees TS16, on lease. Kinnunen accepted the offer since the Surtees TS14 had done well the previous season. After finally finding sponsorship, Kinnunen entered the series with a new team and a Cosworth DFV V8 3.0 litre engine. Antti Aarnio-Wihuri allowed the team to use the name AAW Racing Team, which was recognized and had a good reputation in racing circles.

AAW Racing's first Grand Prix at Nivelles turned out to be a disaster. The TS16 arrived in time for the race weekend, but Kinnunen had never even sat in the car before. It also turned out that the car had been used as a mobile testbed by the factory, and it already had a damaged monocoque and rear suspension. On top of that, it was 80 kilos overweight, the engine lacked power and the team was not allowed to get the top quality tires all the top teams had. When Kinnunen took the car on track, its gearbox broke after three laps. The team, consisting of only three mechanics, had no spare parts and repairing it turned out to be unsuccessful, as the gearbox broke again in qualifying, leaving Kinnunen without a recorded time and the only driver not to qualify for the race.

After Nivelles, the team concentrated on testing and fixing the car. They did not travel to Monaco but entered the next race in Sweden. Kinnunen managed to qualify 25th. Actually, only 24 cars were qualified for start but due his good relations within the Swedish motor sport circles Kinnunen was allowed to start the race. So was Vern Schuppan who qualified 26th. Schuppan finished the race 12th but was disqualified from the results.

The AAW team knew that the car would not last the whole race, so they fueled it for only ten laps in order to make a quick press run. This compensated the overweight of their TS16 and Kinnunen managed to overtake five cars in eight laps before a spark plug problem forced him to retire. Kinnunen later told that one spark plug thread in the cylinder head had been stripped. A Ferrari mechanic loaned them a threaded insert kit to fix it but the Finns did not master the method and the plug never seated properly.

The rest of the season did not go well for the team either. They were not allowed to take part in the Dutch Grand Prix and did not qualify for the races in France, Great Britain, Italy and Austria. Lack of funding then forced the team to retire from Formula One.

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