Mika Salo

Mika Juhani Salo(born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish formerracing driverandbroadcaster, who competed inFormula Onefrom1994to2002.
His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injuredMichael SchumacheratFerrarifor six races, scoring two podiums and contributing to Ferrari's constructors' championship win. He also won the GT2 class in the2008and2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 1989,Helsinki-born Salo competed in theBritish Formula 3 Championship, racing forAlan Docking Racing. He raced with theReynardAlfa Romeo package which was not the season's best. Staying with Alan Docking Racing for1990and moving to a more competitiveRaltchassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rivalMika Häkkinenin Formula Three, finishing second to him.
In 1990, Salo was caughtdriving under the influencein London.
After a few years racing in Japan he made his first Formula One start at the penultimate round of the1994season inJapanfor the ailingLotusteam. He was kept on for the season's finale inAustralia. Following the collapse of Lotus following the end of the season, Salo moved toTyrrellfor1995. He was to spend three years with the team, scoring points several times. In the1997 Monaco Grand Prixhe completed the whole (rain-shortened and -slowed) race without refuelling, taking fifth place ahead of the fasterGiancarlo Fisichellaas a result.Despite a promising1998withArrows, he had no full-time drive in1999.
Following an injury toBARdriverRicardo Zonta, Salo took his place for three races whilst the Brazilian recovered. BAR's first season was not successful but Salo scored their best result of the year, with a seventh-place finish atSan Marino.However a greater opportunity arose whenMichael Schumacherbroke his leg in a crash during the1999 British Grand Prix. Salo was selected as his substitute to partnerEddie IrvineatFerrari. In his second race in Ferrari at the1999 German Grand PrixSalo led for part of the race and would have scored a Grand Prix win but team orders demanded that he give the lead to Irvine, who at the time was fighting for the championship withMika Häkkinen.Following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture of gratitude. He also finished third atMonza, ahead of Irvine. These podium finishes were critical in helping Ferrari win their first Constructors' title since1983.
Salo was back full-time in2000with Sauber, taking 11th in the championship, although he left the team at the end of the season to join the newToyotateam in preparation for its Formula One entry in2002, and also cited a desire to score podiums rather than lower points-scoring positions. He scored two points for Toyota in their first season, becoming the first driver sinceJJ Lehtoat the1993 South African Grand Prixto score points on a team's debut by finishing sixth at the2002 Australian Grand Prix. He retired from Formula One at the end of 2002, after getting fired from Toyota. Though the news was initially met with general surprise, it was later revealed that Salo was not on good terms with the team, who heavily criticized his deemed poor performance.
During his Formula One career, he achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 33 championship points.
His first post-Formula One race came at the 200312 Hours of Sebring, driving the UK-enteredAudi R8, the same car he was due to race at the24 Hours of Le Mansif it had not run out of fuel already after the first hour. He raced in fourCARTraces for PK Racing during the same year, his best finish being third in Miami in his second series start.
Because of his strong links withFerrarihe was picked up to be part of the development program of theMaserati MC12GT racer. He made hisFIA GTdebut in 2004, narrowly losing the 24 Hours ofSpa-Francorchampsin aFerrari 575. After that he entered the last four races of the season in theMaserati, winning two races and finishing second once.
2005 was a year somewhat lost in the doldrums with only two participations with theMaserati MC12in theALMSGTS-class, a competition where the car turned out to be not even half as competitive as in theFIA GTseries.
For 2006, Salo returned to racing full-time, signing withAF Corsein theFIA GTto drive theFerrari F430and later on in the year withRisi Competizionein theALMS. He was victorious in class in the24 Hours of Spaand finished third in the FIA GT2 Drivers' Championship with 61 points, while his efforts in theALMScontributed to Risi's Teams' Championship cup.
In the following year he continued withRisi Competizionein theALMSand took the GT2 class honours in the12 Hours of Sebringand the championship along with teammateJaime Melo. They won a total of eight races out of twelve in the class. In addition, he won theRAC Tourist TrophywithThomas Biagiwhen substituting forMichael Bartels, driving aMaserati MC12once more.
Salo and Melo with Risi Competizione earned the first team At-Large honours on the 2007 All-American Racing Team, as voted for by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters (AARWBA).Salo raced again in theALMSforRisi Competizionein 2008. Although he was not successful in defending his previous year's titles, he won the GT2 class in the24 Hours of Le Mans, coming in 18th overall.
In 2009, he joined the Risi Ferrari team at the blue-riband races only, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans event, winning all three of them. Having won these enduro races all more than once, Salo felt he was ready for a new challenge. He set his mind onNASCAR, and had his first test withMichael Waltrip Racingat the half-mileNew Smyrna Speedwayin November 2009.
In 2010–12, Salo competed in theGold Coast 600, an endurance event for theV8 Supercars. In 2010, he partnered withWalkinshaw Racing'sAndrew Thompsonand retired from both races. For 2011–12 he raced withWill Davisonand theFord Performance Racingteam, finishing 2nd in the 1st race of 2011 and winning the 2nd race in 2012.
In 2014, driving forMaranello Motorsport, Salo co-drove aFerrari 458 Italia GT3to victory at theBathurst 12 Houralongside Australian motor racing legendsCraig LowndesandJohn Bowe, and another local Australian driver Peter Edwards.
Salo lives inEstonia,and has a sonand a daughter with his wife Noriko Endo, who he married in July 1999.His godsonJesse Krohncompetes in theIMSA SportsCar Championship. Like fellow FinnsKeke RosbergandJJ Lehto, both former Formula One drivers, Salo has commentated on several F1 races onMTV3and the pay-channelC More MAXsince 2005.Since 2011, Salo has been hosting the Finnish TV-show, Virittäjät ('Test Drive by Mika Salo'), along with his former co-host Tomi Tuominen, who is a Finnish journalist, television presenter,sports commentatorand formerco-driverin theWorld Rally Championship.
In 2013, Salo featured in Discovery channel's program calledDriven to Extremesalong with Hollywood actorsTom HardyandAdrien Brody. Salo appeared in two episodes, one with Tom Hardy in minus 50 degrees Celsius in Russia, and the other one with Adrien Brody to the Malaysian jungle at the height of the monsoon season.
Salo's helmet was originally dark blue with a white halo on the top (with a red line inside), two white stripes (with a red line inside) going from the rear going down diagonally to the sides of the helmet and a white trapezoidal shape on the chin area (with blue outline), slightly based on Prost's helmet. When he raced in Formula One, he changed the helmet from dark blue to sky blue with the rest of the elements intact.
Not eligible for championship points.
‡ Team standings.
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† Cancelled due to California Fires
† Not Eligible for points
(key) (Races inboldindicate pole position) (Races initalicsindicate fastest lap)