Mika Salo

Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . In sportscar racing, Salo won the 2007 American Le Mans Series title, as well as winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008 and 2009 in the GT2 class. He also won the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour.

Salo's best ranking was 10th in the world championship in , when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums and ten points, contributing to Ferrari's constructors' championship win by a four-point margin. He then raced for Sauber in 2000, and joined Toyota for their debut in 2002, which would be his final season in Formula One.

Career

Formula Three and Japanese racing 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.

Formula One

1994–1998: Lotus, Tyrrell and Arrows

After a few years racing in Japan, Salo 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. 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 .

1999: British American Racing and Ferrari

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. 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 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 .

2000–2002: Sauber and Toyota

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. 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. 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, Salo achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 33 championship points.

Post-Formula One Salo's 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, Salo 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). Salo raced again in the ALMS for Risi Competizione in 2008. Although he was not successful in defending his previous year's titles, he won the GT2 class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, coming in 18th overall.

In 2009, Salo 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 on NASCAR, and had his first test with Michael Waltrip Racing at the half-mile New Smyrna Speedway in November 2009.

In 2010–12, Salo competed in the Gold Coast 600, an endurance event for the V8 Supercars. In 2010, he partnered with Walkinshaw Racing's Andrew Thompson and retired from both races. For 2011–12 he raced with Will Davison and the Ford Performance Racing team, finishing 2nd in the 1st race of 2011 and winning the 2nd race in 2012.

In 2014, driving for Maranello Motorsport, Salo co-drove a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour alongside Australian motor racing legends Craig Lowndes and John Bowe, and another local Australian driver Peter Edwards.

Personal life As of 2013, Salo lives in Tallinn, Estonia, where he moved from Monaco in the late 2000s. He has a son, born in 2001, and a daughter, born in 2004, with his ex-wife (; born 1970), a Japanese former gravure idol. They were married from 1999 to 2022, but they had already been living separately for over two years before the divorce. In 2023, Salo married Annica Lindblom. His godson Jesse Krohn competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Like fellow Finns Keke Rosberg and JJ Lehto, both former Formula One drivers, Salo has commentated on several F1 races on MTV Oy since 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 commentator and former co-driver in the World Rally Championship.

In 2013, Salo featured in Discovery channel's program called Driven to Extremes along with Hollywood actors Tom Hardy and Adrien 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.

Helmet 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.

Racing record Career summary

† Not eligible for championship points.

‡ Team standings.

Complete British Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Pts 1989 Alan Docking Racing Alfa Romeo A THR SIL BRH SIL BRH THR SIL DON SIL SNE OUL SIL BRH DON SIL THR 14th 10 1990 Alan Docking Racing Mugen A DON SIL THR BRH SIL BRH THR SIL DON SIL SNE OUL SIL BRH DON THR SIL 2nd 98

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1991 Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. SUZ AUT FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ FUJ 23rd 1 1992 Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ AUT SUG FUJ FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ 15th 5 1993 Ad Racing Team Co. Ltd. SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ AUT SUG FUJ FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ 17th 1 1994 Team 5ZIGEN SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ FUJ FUJ SUZ 7th 6

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points 1994 Team Lotus Lotus 109 Mugen Honda V10 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS NC 0 1995 Nokia Tyrrell Yamaha Tyrrell 023 Yamaha V10 BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR PAC JPN AUS 15th 5 1996 Tyrrell Yamaha Tyrrell 024 Yamaha V10 AUS BRA ARG EUR SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN 13th 5 1997 PIAA Tyrrell Ford Tyrrell 025 Ford V8 AUS BRA ARG SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA AUT LUX JPN EUR 17th 2 1998 Danka Zepter Arrows Arrows A19 Arrows V10 AUS BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR AUT GER HUN BEL ITA LUX JPN 13th 3 1999 British American Racing BAR 01 Supertec V10 AUS BRA SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR 10th 10 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F399 Ferrari V10 AUT GER HUN BEL ITA EUR MAL JPN 2000 Red Bull Sauber Petronas Sauber C19 Petronas V10 AUS BRA SMR GBR ESP EUR MON CAN FRA AUT GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN MAL 11th 6 2002 Panasonic Toyota Racing Toyota TF102 Toyota V10 AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR GBR FRA GER HUN BEL ITA USA JPN 17th 2

Complete CART results (key) Year Team No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points Ref 2003 PK Racing 27 STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LS POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MOH MTL DEN MIA MXC SRF FONC † 16th 26

† Cancelled due to California Fires

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2003 Audi Sport UK Arena Motorsport Frank Biela Perry McCarthy Audi R8 LMP900 28 DNF DNF 2007 Risi Competizione Johnny Mowlem Jaime Melo Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 223 DNF DNF 2008 Risi Competizione Gianmaria Bruni Jaime Melo Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 326 19th 1st 2009 Risi Competizione Jaime Melo Pierre Kaffer Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 329 18th 1st 2010 AF Corse Luís Pérez Companc Matías Russo Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 0 DNS DNS 2014 SMP Racing Sergey Zlobin Anton Ladygin Oreca 03R-Nissan LMP2 303 37th 12th

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Complete GT1 World Championship results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points 2010 Mad-Croc Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R ABUQRRet ABUCR15 SILQR SILCR BRNQR19 BRNCR12 PRIQR PRICR SPAQR SPACR NÜRQR15 NÜRCR23 ALGQR ALGCR NAVQR NAVCR INTQR INTCR SANQR SANCR 52nd 0

Complete V8 Supercar results Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Final pos Points 2010 Walkinshaw Racing YMCR1 YMCR2 BHRR3 BHRR4 ADER5 ADER6 HAMR7 HAMR8 QLDR9 QLDR10 WINR11 WINR12 HIDR13 HIDR14 TOWR15 TOWR16 PHIQ PHIR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SANR23 SANR24 SYDR25 SYDR26 NC 0 + 2011 Ford Performance Racing YMCR1 YMCR2 ADER3 ADER4 HAMR5 HAMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 WINR10 WINR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 QLDR18 PHIQ PHIR19 BATR20SURR21 SURR22 SYMR23 SYMR24 SANR25 SANR26 SYDR27 SYDR28 52nd 201 2012 Ford Performance Racing ADER1 ADER2 SYMR3 SYMR4 HAMR5 HAMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 PHIR10 PHIR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 SMPR18 SMPR19 SANQ SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 YMCR24 YMCR25 YMCR26 WINR27 WINR28 SYDR29 SYDR30 NC 0 † † Not Eligible for points

Complete International Superstars Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 2012 Swiss Team Maserati Quattroporte MNZ1 MNZ2 IMO1 IMO2 DON1 DON2 MUG1 MUG2 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 VAL1 VAL2 PER1 PER2 19th 30

Bathurst 12 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2013 Maranello Motorsport John Bowe Peter Edwards Allan Simonsen Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 A 111 DNF DNF 2014 Maranello Motorsport John Bowe Peter Edwards Craig Lowndes Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 A 296 1st 1st 2015 Maranello Motorsport Ben Collins Tony D'Alberto Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 A 0 DNS DNS 2016 Maranello Motorsport Tony D'Alberto Grant Denyer Toni Vilander Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 AP 63 DNF DNF

Complete European Le Mans Series results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points 2013 SMP Racing GTC Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR HUN LEC 12th 11 2014 SMP Racing GTC Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 SIL IMO RBR LEC HUN 28th 4