1999-08-01 F399 (3) Mika Salo GER - Hockenheim 2
The 1999 GP staged at the Hockenheimring, Germany, on the 1 August 1999 would see Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo score a one-two for Ferrari, both with the F399.
The start saw Häkkinen translate pole into an early lead, blasting away at the head of the field as Frentzen and Coulthard comparatively crawled off the grid. That allowed Salo to streak past the pair of them to secure second, while Irvine got caught behind them and duly slipped behind Rubens Barrichello. More into the race, Irvine duly battled past Frentzen to claim third during the pit window, a period which ultimately settled the race. Indeed, Häkkinen was the big loser as a failure in his refuelling rig cost him a lot of time.
With Salo and Irvine now running one-two, and with a healthy gap back to Frentzen, the Ferrari team played their familiar hand, ordering Salo to allow Irvine through.
Mika Juhani Salo (born1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2002. 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. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
He raced 1994–1998: Lotus, Tyrrell and Arrows. 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. 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 1983.
He finished his career 2000–2002: Sauber and Toyota
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
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.
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.
