Mika Hakkinen Retrieved From His Car Following A Big Crash In Adelaide, 1995 (x)

Mika Hakkinen retrieved from his car following a big crash in Adelaide, 1995 (x)

“I remember being in the wall. I couldn’t move my legs and arms, I couldn’t focus. I thought, OK Mika, just relax, don’t fight it, don’t panic, everything is going to be OK. Then I was gone, I don’t remember any more.” (...) Eventually Mika was lifted into an ambulance and taken to the Royal Adelaide where his head was scanned – among other injuries, he had a fractured skull – and he was placed in intensive care. He regained consciousness the next day. “I was lying there with tubes everywhere, so I knew I was in a hospital. The first person I saw was Lisa Dennis, then Ron’s wife, this tall figure by the bed with blonde hair and a big smile, and I thought she must be an angel. Then I saw Ron standing next to her, and I thought, OK, I am not in heaven yet." “Then the hell started because I was in hospital in Australia for weeks. The doctors did a great job, and I know they saved my life where the accident happened, but I had so many tests and operations. Crazy tests, needles in my face to test the nerves, drilling a hole in my head to relieve the pressure, things like that. It was nasty. At first, because of the pain, I was thinking, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die.’ My whole life was looking at my watch to see when was it time for them to turn the valve in my drip for the next dose of drugs. The accident had damaged the nerves in my face and I couldn’t move my eyelids, so they had to tape my eyes shut to help me try to sleep. I couldn’t drink properly because my mouth didn’t work, so the water just fell out of my mouth. It was disgusting. I remember thinking, ‘This doesn’t look good.’ It wasn’t, ‘Will I be able to race again?’ It was, ‘Will I ever be able to live a normal life?’ “Finally I was able to walk in the garden, carrying my drip bottles, my head shaved like some bloody hooligan. I tried to look at things, the weather, the trees, the birds, but all I could think about was my next dose of painkillers. But I had great support from everybody, my girlfriend, my parents, my manager Didier Coton. My fitness trainer stayed all the time, because I didn’t want to be alone at night.”

The whole recovery was difficult. I really had to fight every day to get back, physically and psychologically. Soon I started running, even though I was still getting massive headaches. I knew I was getting better and better, and eventually Prof said, ‘OK Mika, you can do a test.’ I still had problems with my face and with my hearing – I’d had a couple of ear operations – but I went to Paul Ricard.” It was Monday February 5th, 87 days after the accident. “When I arrived everything was friendly, but I saw how the mechanics looked at me. I tried to behave like the normal Mika, but I knew they were thinking, ‘He won’t be able to do it, he’ll have to go back home.’ I thought, I’m going to show these guys, I’m coming back to win. When I got in the car I felt, this is my home, this is my office, and I went for it.” He did 63 laps, the best of which was half a second faster than Schumacher’s Ferrari had done the previous day. “I finished the test, said to the mechanics, ‘It’s fine. Pack up the car, take it back to England. I’ll see you in Melbourne.’”

Mika Hakkinen, 2010 (x)

More Posts from Cici0907 and Others

cici0907

1 month ago

do you have that pic of mark and jenson clasping hands but seb’s hand is just… in the middle??? bc i’ve been wracking tumblr trying to find it but i can’t!!!

Anon, I am so honored that you came and asked me 🙏 So I instinctively thought of Singapore 2011 because I remembered Seb standing btwn them, and I really hope this is what you're looking for BECAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS PIC BEFORE OHMYGODDDDD

I'm staring at this.....the size difference..........I appreciate you asking me this bcs I never even realized that this happened when I was watching this post-race

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cici0907

1 month ago

race winner sebastian vettel is interviewed during the post-race press conference, japan - october 10, 2010 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "The top three drivers in the 2010 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. In third place, for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Fernando Alonso; in second place, for Red Bull Racing, Mark Webber; and taking the win for Red Bull Racing in the team's third 1-2 of the season, Sebastian Vettel. Seb, last season, pole and the win. This year, pole and the win, and all n the space of just one day." Seb: "Yeah. Incredible day, obviously, this morning with qualifying and the pole position, and this afternoon we just continued, so fantastic. I think it was down to the team. They have been working very hard. Most of the guys, they didn't sleep from Thursday to Saturday, so actually was good that there was no quali so they didn't have to touch the car and then cut some sleep, and I think they deserve it today. Obviously this track is, like, drawn for us. With all the high-speed corners it's always a pleasure, and with the car getting lighter and lighter in the end it's just more and more fun, and yeah, incredible. Good start, which was obviously the key from the clean side, and I could see Robert obviously got a bit of momentum, but the way down to turn one was too short for him. And then with the safety car, which stayed out quite long, obviously, with the incident with Kubica… But then after that I think both of us were able to pull away from the field and just controlling the pace until the end. There was a little bit of a rest behind Jenson because we couldn't really go through him, so we had to wait until he pits, but after that, just incredible. So really, really happy, and it's about time." [laughs] Interviewer: "You looked to have the race pretty much under control from the off, but Mark was putting you under some serious pressure after the pit stops, wasn't he?" Seb: "Yeah, I mean, obviously in his position he tries to push. I know that overtaking is not so easy and obviously… I think I just went as fast as I had to. Obviously I could see that we were pulling away. I was mainly given the pace Fernando was doing for the majority of the race. Obviously I can see Mark when he's about one, two, three seconds behind, so [laughs] as I said, obviously with Button in the middle after the pit stop halfway through the race we had to, yeah, back off a bit, and then once he pulled obviously it was free fast to go. But, as you said, it was pretty much controlled until the end, so just trying to carry the car home. But still you want to push every single lap because the car is magnificent around here. Just feels fantastic, so really happy." Interviewer: "Congratulations. Well done." [time jump] Interviewer: "Back to you. You're now tied for second in the championship. Only two drivers have ever taken back-to-back wins at suzuka other than yourself-Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher-and they both went on to win the title. It's a pretty good omen." Seb: "I guess! I wouldn't mind, obviously. No, I'm very proud. I love this circuit. It's always special to come here. The fans, I think, the atmosphere for all of us is special. And yeah, it's the first time I win a grand prix for the second time, so I think ultimately you have to fall in love with this track. And yeah, very proud, so as you say. Think that's a good omen, so I wouldn't mind." [laughs] Interviewer: "Thank you very much, guys. Congrats."

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cici0907

3 weeks ago

#Mika

Mika Hakkinen congratulating teammate David Coulthard after he wins the '97 Australian GP

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cici0907

3 weeks ago

#Mika

Mika²

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cici0907

3 weeks ago

i read the whole Keke book and he’s just such a special human being

like when he started managing Mika and JJ (after he was convinced to do that of course which wasn’t that easy) it was just so precious and ridiculous bc he just went “I am your father now”, like when Mika was a McLaren test driver and living in Monte Carlo Keke only gave a small amount of his salary every month to teach him the value of money, KEKE WAS LITERALLY GIVING HIM ALLOWANCE, and Mika had to have good reasons when he came to ask for more

eventually Keke got fed up of Mika showing up at his door asking for money tho and gave him a sofa to his apartment which was furnished with a bed, a table and one chair

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cici0907

2 months ago

lewis hamilton shower gel ad #startyourengine

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cici0907

3 weeks ago

#Nico #Seb

Chinese Grand Prix 2016 cool-down room. everyone remembers the iconic seb blowing up at kyvat but before that he actually congratulates nico in german, needs to get his attention like 4 times. (there's also a longstanding belief that nico spoke in german in cooldown rooms only to mind game lewis, but it's actually seb who would start speaking to nico in german first)

rough translation because nico's voice is muffled and seb swallows half his words:

seb: (FOUR TIMES) nico, you won't be able to sleep tonight huh? - you won't be able to sleep tonight, 'cause you're so well rested - I said, you won't be able to sleep tonight, you're so well rested, it was so quiet up front/you were so untroubled up front...

nico: something was possible today lol

and then seb turns to kyvat to yell at him in English 😭😭 (and here's Nico's reaction)

Chinese Grand Prix 2016 Cool-down Room. Everyone Remembers The Iconic Seb Blowing Up At Kyvat But Before

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cici0907

3 weeks ago

#Mika

Mika trying to see and discuss the weigh-in results until people get mad 😭😭

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cici0907

1 month ago

Mika Hakkinen | 1987 [x]

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cici0907

2 months ago

Jenson Button pays tribute to his race engineer Andrew Shovlin in the post-race press conference at the Malaysian Grand Prix - Sunday 5th April 2009

transcription under the cut

Jenson: One final thing, can I just say a massive thank you to my engineer [Andrew Shovlin] who came out on the podium with me today. We've been through a lot of tough times and he's been wicked and today, as we saw, we came out on top and a lot of it was down to him. So thank you very much.

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