Most drivers during their karting days idolize one driver for whatever reason. For a young Valtteri Bottas, it was his fellow countryman — Mika Hakkinen. The young Bottas took a shine to the two-time champion, for obvious reasons. However, when asked to comment if he’s ever met his hero, the Sauber driver gave an extremely daunting reply.
In an exclusive with Sauber Motorsport, he was first asked about his hero in F1. Bottas replied, “When I was small there was this Finnish driver called Mika Hakkinen. He won the championship twice. 98-99 and that’s when I was doing like go-karting myself so he was the hero.”
However, when Bottas was asked if Hakkinen was still his hero, he confirmed the old saying, “They say never meet your heroes. I think as a kid you’ll get this illusion that they are superheroes but in the end, everyone is a human.”
Lovely Mika Hakkinen tribute by Valtteri Bottas. #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/HM4YX4oPdG
— Parc Fermé (@PFF1) May 24, 2018
There is currently no evidence of a rift between the two Finnish drivers. However, there could be perhaps an instance because of which the two-time champion lost his hero status in the eyes of the Sauber driver. In fact, there is only evidence of Hakkinen supporting Bottas, especially during his time at Mercedes.
Hakkinen puts his vote of confidence in Bottas
During his Mercedes stint, Bottas was always held back with Lewis Hamilton being favored. This scenario at Mercedes was often criticized by many. The Finn was often asked to surrender his position in favor of the seven-time champion.
After a point, even Hakkinen spoke up against this regular occurrence. Apart from his criticism back in 2021, the Finn was full of praise for his countryman racing for Mercedes at the time. In a Motorsport column, Hakkinen wrote, “Since moving from Williams to Mercedes I know that Valtteri has never stopped pushing, learning, and developing as a driver.”
“As Lewis’s teammate, he has the most formidable competitor beside him. It has been unbelievable to watch how calm, controlled, and determined Valtteri has remained, how hard he has continued to work despite the challenge.”
Such high praise from the two-time champion and despite that, Bottas’ opinion of Hakkinen has changed. There is no public knowledge as to why Hakkinen might’ve lost the hero status. However, there is still mutual respect.
