Häkkinen–Schumacher rivalry
Formula One racing rivalry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Häkkinen-Schumacher rivalry was an individual sport rivalry between Mika Häkkinen from Finland and Michael Schumacher from Germany in Formula One racing. Their rivalry began at the 1990 Macau Grand Prix. Both Häkkinen and Schumacher entered F1 in the 1991 season, with Häkkinen joining Lotus and Schumacher joining Jordan before later switching to Benetton. They were involved in some minor competitions from the 1992 to 1997 seasons. Schumacher became the World Drivers' Champion by winning the 1994 season.
Their intense rivalry in F1 took place from the 1998 to 2001 seasons. Häkkinen, who joined McLaren, won the world championship titles in 1998 and 1999. The competition between Häkkinen and Schumacher was interrupted in the middle of the 1999 season when Schumacher had to miss six races due to a broken leg after an incident at the 1999 British Grand Prix. In the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Schumacher, now with Ferrari, managed to bounce back and win his third and fourth World Championship titles, defeating Häkkinen. Before the 2001 Italian Grand Prix, Häkkinen announced he would take a break from F1 for the 2002 season for family reasons. In July 2002, Häkkinen changed his mind and decided to retire completely. His retirement also marked the end of his rivalry with Schumacher, who continued to race until the end of the 2006 season, and returned to F1 from 2010 to 2012.