[Saba Sports News] Two-time F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen recently admitted that when he heard the news of Michael Schumacher’s serious skiing accident in 2013, he was deeply shaken. That moment inevitably reminded him of his own near-fatal incident in Adelaide in 1995. During the qualifying session of the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, Häkkinen’s McLaren lost control due to a left rear tire blowout and crashed into the tire wall at around 200 km/h, resulting in a skull fracture. Emergency tracheostomy surgery was performed on-site by critical care specialists, successfully saving his life. Häkkinen miraculously recovered and made his return to the track in the season opener of 1996.
This personal experience made Häkkinen instantly recognize the severity of Schumacher’s accident. He expressed that the scariest aspect of a head injury is the risk of oxygen deprivation, noting that skiing protective gear cannot compare to the safety standards of F1 racing; once an impact occurs, the consequences are often unpredictable. Häkkinen also shared that what truly saddened him was the timing of the accident. For Schumacher, his racing career was just a brief segment of his life, and the fact that he faced such a blow right after ending a brilliant professional career and was preparing to begin a new chapter in life is difficult to accept.