“He Stood Up to Michael”: Red Bull Icon Hails Ex-Colleague for Trumping Schumacher to Double Title Wins

Michael Schumacher burst onto the F1 scene with his debut at the 1991 Belgian GP. Ever since then, he was a force to reckon with. After he won consecutive world championships with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, it seemed as though no one could end his spell of domination.

Running parallelly to Schumacher’s career was that of Mika Hakkinen’s. The Finnish racing ace did not make much of an impression during his early days in the sport. But that was all to change at the turn of the 1998 season.

Schumacher had made the switch to Ferrari in 1996. In his very first year with Ferrari, he won at an iconic rain-soaked Spanish GP. On the cusp of making Ferrari a world championship outfit again, Hakkinen’s McLaren colleague, Paul Monaghan, lauds the Finnish driver for stopping Schumacher in his tracks.

On the Beyond the Grid podcast, Monaghan told Tom Clarkson, “[He] went from being a good racing driver to a phenomenal racing driver. He was pretty quick that year [1998], wasn’t he? He stood up to Michael [Schumacher] and really gave him a good fight.”

For many, the genius and talent of Hakkinen only became apparent once the ’98 season had progressed. However, for Monaghan, who was looking at the Finn from close quarters, the potential of Hakkinen was pretty evident for him from pre-season testing itself.

How Hakkinen impressed McLaren during 1998 pre-season testing?

Monaghan charted the troubles McLaren faced during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya back in 1998. David Coulthard was ill, and Hakkinen was not on the scene initially. However, the eventual two-time world champion was drafted in to take the Briton’s place.

As it turns out, Hakkinen was right on the money with his first laps. As Monaghan explained, Hakkinen, with a car loaded with fuel, was still able to go a staggering two seconds faster than the competition.

That being said, Monaghan gave credit to Coulthard where credit was due. Monaghan went on to explain that Coulthard was also an immensely talented driver who gave Hakkinen tough competition within the team.