Mika Salo

Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver.

He competed in Formula One between and.

In 1989, Helsinki-born Salo competed in the British Formula 3 Championship, racing for Alan Docking Racing.

He raced with the Reynard Alfa Romeo package which was not the season's best.

Staying with Alan Docking Racing for 1990 and moving to a more competitive Ralt chassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rival Mika Häkkinen in Formula Three, finishing second to him.

In 1990, Salo was caught driving under the influence in London.

After a few years racing in Japan he made his first Formula One start at the penultimate round of the season in Japan for the ailing Lotus team.

He was kept on for the season's finale in Australia.

Following the collapse of Lotus following the end of the season, Salo moved to Tyrrell for.

He was to spend three years with the team, scoring points several times.

He scored two points for Toyota in their first season, becoming the first driver since JJ Lehto at the 1993 South African Grand Prix to score points on a team's debut by finishing sixth at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.

In the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix he completed the whole (rain-shortened and -slowed) race without refuelling, taking fifth place ahead of the faster Giancarlo Fisichella as a result.

Despite a promising with Arrows, he had no full-time drive in.

Following an injury to BAR driver Ricardo 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 at San Marino.

His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums and contributing to Ferrari's constructors' championship win.

However a greater opportunity arose when Michael Schumacher broke his leg in a crash during the 1999 British Grand Prix.

Salo was selected as his substitute to partner Eddie Irvine at Ferrari.

In his second race in Ferrari at the 1999 German Grand Prix Salo 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 with Mika Häkkinen.

Following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture of gratitude.

He also finished third at Monza, ahead of Irvine.

These podium finishes were critical in helping Ferrari win their first Constructors' title since.

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 2003 12 Hours of Sebring, driving the UK-entered Audi R8, the same car he was due to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans if it had not run out of fuel already after the first hour.

He raced in four CART races for PK Racing during the same year, his best finish being third in Miami in his second series start.

Because of his strong links with Ferrari he was picked up to be part of the development program of the Maserati MC12 GT racer.

He made his FIA GT debut in 2004, narrowly losing the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in a Ferrari 575.

After that he entered the last four races of the season in the Maserati, winning two races and finishing second once.

2005 was a year somewhat lost in the doldrums with only two participations with the Maserati MC12 in the ALMS GTS-class, a competition where the car turned out to be not even half as competitive as in the FIA GT series.

For 2006, Salo returned to racing full-time, signing with AF Corse in the FIA GT to drive the Ferrari F430 and later on in the year with Risi Competizione in the ALMS.

He was victorious in class in the 24 Hours of Spa and finished third in the FIA GT2 Drivers' Championship with 61 points, while his efforts in the ALMS contributed to Risi's Teams' Championship cup.

In the following year he continued with Risi Competizione in the ALMS and took the GT2 class honours in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the championship along with teammate Jaime Melo.

They won a total of eight races out of twelve in the class.

In addition, he won the RAC Tourist Trophy with Thomas Biagi when substituting for Michael Bartels, driving a Maserati MC12 once 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).

He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Salo raced again in the ALMS for Risi Competizione in 2008.

Salo was back full-time in with Sauber, taking 11th in the championship, although he left the team at the end of the season to join the new Toyota team in preparation for its Formula One entry in, and also cited a desire to score podiums rather than lower points-scoring positions.