Finland is out of F1 drivers for the first time since the 1980s – but why?

Finland, despite having just 5.6 million inhabitants, representing only 0.07% of the world's population, has made a significant contribution to the history of Formula 1.

The Nordic country has indeed never hosted a grand prix race or had any F1 teams, yet among its nine F1 drivers, there were seven podium finishers, five race winners, and three World Champions: Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen, and Kimi Räikkönen. Not to mention, Nico Rosberg -although he competed under a German licence from 2004 until his 2016 retirement- is also from this country that has made its mark in F1 history.

It's a surprisingly high winning rate. According to a quote often mistakenly attributed to Raikkonen, Finnish F1 journalist Heikki Kulta credited this success to the harsh weather conditions in Finland. "Our roads and long winters," Kulta stated in a 2008 interview with The Telegraph, "You really have to be a skilled driver to navigate Finland's roads effectively, which are frequently slippery and uneven."

A racing driver who has won the grand prix for teams such as Renault, McLaren and Lotus disputes this claim.

From a young age, I'm accustomed to navigating challenging, slippery conditions," he tells Weden News. "Once you're on the roads, it's believed that you need exceptional skills to handle these slippery roads and avoid any accidents. Many people emphasize the importance of this, but I think it's a lesser factor than it's made out to be.

In Kovalainen's opinion, there are two key factors at play. Firstly, an ongoing passion for motorsport in a nation that has experienced greater success in rallying is a major consideration.

Finnish drivers have an even better history in rallying, and nearly constant success in the field often keeps them in the news - Kovalainen notes - to continue inspiring future drivers.

Photo by: Sutton Images

Among the countries that have produced world champions in this field, Finland holds the top spot with eight champions. France follows closely with three. Journalist Kimi Kovalainen grew up observing rally drivers like Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen dominating the World Rally Championship, and at the same time, racing sensation Mika Hakkinen was making a name for himself in the world of Formula One. It is no surprise that he became interested in this type of radio racing, as he later went on to win a Super GT championship and secure consecutive titles in the All-Japan Rally Championship.

They were constantly in the news, making it almost impossible to ignore them, so you saw them everywhere. Maybe that influenced alot of people, like myself – I watched the news, I looked at the cars, I saw the speeds they were achieving, and that might have increased my interest in motorsport.

The Finnish people tend to have a fairly neutral mindset," the 43-year-old notes. "We are relatively neutral people, not experiencing extremely high or low points in our lives – we generally have pretty normal and somewhat average days. In such a high-pressure context, that is beneficial.

You have a tremendous amount of pressure, being in the spotlight with a multitude of responsibilities to manage. In that state of mind, staying calm and composed naturally is incredibly beneficial. It seems that Finns aren't required to exert a lot of effort to achieve a sense of calm, even when faced with complex and challenging situations, as they manage to remain calm and unruffled.

I was taken aback, considering I assumed that if Hulkenberg secured the spot, Valtteri's performance would be at the very least just as strong as Hulkenberg's.

Heikki Kovalainen

The thing is, unless one of the Mercedes drivers gets injured and Bottas takes over, 2025 will be the first Formula 1 season without a Finnish driver since 1988, the year before Lehto made his debut with Onyx in the final four races of the year. Bottas, 35, has been unable to hold onto a seat on the grid after failing to score points while driving for a struggling Sauber in 2024, and the likes of Kovalainen and Raikkonen have long since retired from the sport.

Stays positive for the 2026 transfer market – “In my mind, it is still not my last race,” he stated in Abu Dhabi – but for now, that's his current situation.

Read Also: Why Bottas won't let a "worst-case scenario" bring an abrupt end to his F1 career

I had seen it coming, so it's no big surprise," Kovalainen says. "Evidently, the second half of last year, it was becoming more apparent that Valtteri wouldn't be continuing as a race driver.

“When Sauber chose not to sign Valtteri and signed Hulkenberg first, I was surprised because I believed that if Hulkenberg gets the seat, Valtteri’s performance will be at least as good as Hulkenberg’s. I suppose it’s likely that there are some marketing considerations behind it, but that would be a bit of a letdown if it’s a marketing-driven decision, because typically major brands aiming to become top teams choose their drivers based on performance, not marketing purposes.”

Finland's Bottas, who has had a long run representing a Finnish driver on the Formula 1 grid, will not be racing for Sauber in 2025, marking the end of his tenure.

Image by: Zak Mauger, Motorsport Images

“To be clear, Hulkenberg has done a good job, and I'm not suggesting he's the wrong choice. However, Valtteri being there for three years and not having his contract renewed raises some doubts – it implies that something is missing in their partnership or that they have concerns about him not fitting their future plans.”

The issue is that no Finnish driver has reached the championship since Bottas made his debut in 2013 with Williams. In fact, the only recent young driver to compete in the F1 feeder series (F2 or previously GP2) was Niko Kari, who was a junior driver for Red Bull from 2016-17 after winning the SMP F4 series.

Kari finished tenth in his first European F3 and GP3 seasons, but this wasn't enough to keep his spot in the academy. His only attempt at a place in the more advanced F2 ranks came in the final two events of the 2018 season, and he hasn't had a significant racing commitment since the 2020 European Le Mans Series.

There have been relatively few Finnish drivers present in junior formulae series lately.

"That's a valid point, I may not provide the correct answer,” says Kovalainen, who is receptive to mentoring young Finnish drivers in single-seaters or rallying, having himself consulted Keke Rosberg as an up-and-coming driver. “It's a topic we've also discussed in the Formula 1 studios here when I work on TV projects. We haven't reached a definitive conclusion.”

“When I think back to my time, and I was one of the pioneering individuals to participate in the Renault junior program, which was also one of the first to establish such a program, the greatest benefit I derived from that program was the financial backing. As a result, Renault covered the expenses for my racing in the junior divisions.”

“However, in today's context, even if you're selected for a prestigious program like Ferrari or Mercedes, individuals typically need to cover a significant portion of the costs themselves. This poses a substantial hurdle, since the budgets are substantial and the Finnish market is relatively modest, especially given the current economic climate. It's a challenging time for many companies, individuals, and families, making it particularly tough to secure funding for something like racing. I believe this is likely one factor contributing to the situation.”

“Another side to this issue is that truly exceptional individuals often get recognized and signed. If you can demonstrate that you possess exceptional talent and are achieving something remarkable, you can still get picked up despite financial difficulties. Moreover, even if financing has been tough to secure, some of the young drivers might be able to reflect on themselves and see part of the reason for this as well.”

Kovalainen was able to break into F1 thanks to backing from Renault during his early career, but that backing was not a guarantee of success, as illustrated by the failures of other hopefuls such as Loic Duval and Jose-Maria Lopez.

Photo by: Renault F1

We really need to make a statement every now and then. I don't think you have to win every single junior championship or every race you enter, but you have to do something truly special that people take notice of. Perhaps that's also what's been lacking for the drivers who are trying to build a career in Formula 1.

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“I could tell right away that as long as I performed well, the team would be satisfied, they would advance my career and propel me to the next level,” the former Renault protégé recounts. “However, there was a great deal of competition right from the start. Initially, there were as many as six individuals in the Renault junior program, and I was the only one who succeeded in making it through to become a Renault Formula 1 driver."

“I didn’t win every championship I participated in, but every year I managed to secure pole positions, win some races, and make a significant impact. They appreciated that, and that was essentially the turning point, basically, to take me to the top in F1.”

Crucially, there will be a Finn in Formula 3 this year: Tuukka Taponen, who has been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy for the past two years.

In recent years, French-Finnish driver Marcus Amand gained recognition through his accomplishments in karting, particularly by securing the 2019 CIK-FIA European Championship title in the OK-Junior division.

There will be a Finn racing in Formula 3 this year: Tuukka Taponen. Taponen has been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy for two years. Notably, he is a three-time Finnish karting champion, having won a world title in 2021 as well. In 2022, Taponen won the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, finishing third in the European series behind Rafael Camara and James Wharton, who are the current and former Ferrari juniors, respectively.

The 18-year-old driver from Lohja, approximately 48 kilometers west of Helsinki, has now joined F3 as a driver for ART Grand Prix, drawing inspiration from a fellow Finnish driver's achievements in that series, which at the time was known as GP3, with the same team.

“ART GP is a well-known team to us Finns,” Taponen noted. “For instance, Valtteri Bottas won the championship with ART GP before moving up to the Formula 1 series,” he noted. If he were to follow in Bottas' footsteps 14 years later, the young driver would win the F3 title as a rookie and then graduate to F1 in 2027.

Can Taponen emerge as Finland's next major threat in the F1 arena?

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