How Mika Hakkinen can relate to Michael Schumacher accident after Adelaide 1995

Mika Hakkinen admitted he was left was stunned when he heard about Michael Schumacher’s 2013 skiing accident.

The two-time world champion admitted it conjured memories of his own life-threatening Adelaide 1995 crash, making the severity of Schumacher’s head injury painfully real.

Mika Hakkinen on Michael Schumacher: ‘I was shocked’

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After back-to-back title wins for Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999, Schumacher’s 2000 World Championship win was his first of five in a row with Ferrari. He retired as a seven-time World Champion at the end of 2006

Following a three-year return to the sport with Mercedes between 2010-12, he retired for a second and final time. On 29 December, 2013, the German fell while skiing and hit his head on a rock. The F1 icon required emergency surgery, after which he was placed into a medically-induced coma.

Since then, the Schumacher family has closed ranks around its patriarch, with little information released. In mid-2015 update confirmed that the F1 legend had returned home to continue his rehabilitation, with further information proving extremely scarce since.

Schumacher’s former rival Hakkinen was asked on the High Performance podcast whether the German’s accident changed the way that he thought about life as well.

The Finn recounted his shock when he first heard the news, and drew parallels a crash he suffered at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.

There, Hakkinen required immediate life-saving surgery after a qualifying crash. His McLaren suffered a left rear puncture, hit the kerb and was sent airborne into the tyre barrier at 200kph in Adelaide. He suffered a fractured skull.

Jerome Cockings, an intensive care specialist performed a life-saving emergency trackside tracheotomy. Hakkinen went on to make a full recovery, and was ready to go when the 1996 season got underway in Australia, this time at its new home, Albert Park.

“Yeah, I remember that day. I just couldn’t believe it,” Hakkinen said of hearing about Schumacher’s injury.

“I mean, all that hard work, all that success, like everything is in the right place, and it’s time to now enjoy your life, you know, do things what you want to do, go to the business world or whatever. Tell your stories, you know, experiences, what he has experienced, winning the World Championship so many times. Or do nothing. The whole world is open. Or just be with the family.

“And then when I heard that happening, of course, I was shocked when I heard it is a head injury. Being myself in a head injury in ’95, I knew that way, sh*t, if you stay with too long time without oxygen, that’s definitely a bad thing.

“Of course, it depends how in skiing, what kind of crash helmet you have. It’s not exactly a level of Formula 1. So I knew that way, if you hit your head, it is going to be bad.

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“It was just sad, of course, thinking about the family of Michael, you know, all this time what is ahead of you. The motor racing and this racing career, it’s a very short time of your life.

“First when you’re a young kid, you think about the school, think that takes forever, suddenly it’s over. Then comes the next step, your work life. Motor racing, your racing career can be very short. So then the real life starts actually.

“And Michael, just when his real life starts after motor racing, things like that happening. So you try to say to yourself, ‘This is not fair, what’s happening.’

“I was just shocked. It’s just terrifying, you know, to think about [his] children, it’s absolutely terrifying. So tough to handle it, for sure.”

In April 2025, Hakkinen and Schumacher were among the 20 living World Champions to sign a helmet, which was auctioned off for Sir Jackie Stewart’s Race Against Dementia charity.

Stewart confirmed that the seven-time world champion penned his initials, ‘MS’, on the helmet with the help of his wife, Corinna.

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