Watch: Ferrari team player Mika Salo gives Eddie Irvine a helping hand in Hockenheim | 1999 German GP

The closest Mika Salo ever came to winning in Formula 1 was at the 1999 German Grand Prix, and when he quit the sport three years later, he did so without tasting a triumph. Today, Mika Salo is remembered more as the man who handed that win to his Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine, but a fairer memory of the likable Finn is the battle he had with two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen in their Formula 3 days back in 1990.

Two races earlier at Silverstone, Michael Schumacher, not knowing that the race had been red flagged as Alex Zanardi’s Lotus and Jacques Villeneuve’s BAR were left stalled on the start line, was still fighting his way past Irvine and had just done so when he crashed heavily at Stowe. The German’s Ferrari was destroyed and he broke his right leg. Mika Salo had already stood in at three 1999 races for the injured Ricardo Zonta at BAR, with a best result of seventh at Imola. He was thus the perfect choice when Ferrari suddenly needed a replacement for Schumacher, and qualified seventh on his debut in Austria. He got caught up in the aftermath of pole-sitter Hakkinen’s first-lap clash with team mate David Coulthard, collided with Johnny Herbert’s Stewart, and had to fight back up to ninth.

Hockenheim went much better next time out, however. Hakkinen once again took pole position, from Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Jordan and Coulthard’s McLaren. Salo was fourth, a couple of tenths faster than Irvine’s sister F399.

Hakkinen led the first 24 laps then pitted for fuel and fresh tyres. Salo had pitted a lap earlier, and when Hakkinen’s fuel rig malfunctioned, the Ferrari stand-in found himself leading a Grand Prix for the first time by the 25th lap. But it did not last. In the end, Eddie Irvine led Mika Salo over the finish line in a Ferrari 1-2 by 1.007s, with Frentzen’s Jordan five seconds further back. And the Ulsterman understably handed his team mate the winner’s trophy:

“He did it on the podium, which I thought was a nice gesture. Actually, I ended up at home with both of the trophies, first and second! Then a few weeks later Eddie called me and said can he have the second-place one? So I sent it to him. People say it must have been frustrating for me, but I didn’t think of it that way at that time. I just thought that’s my job, so it’s okay. That’s how it was. It’s a team sport.” – Mika Salo explained.

1999 German Grand Prix highlights: