If you grow up in Finland, just doing a driving test will actually give you a basic introduction to rally driving. Such is the danger of their icy roads during winter.So it is little wonder why so many incredible rally drivers have come from a country with such a small population. Motorsport has become part of the culture, and it has become a time honored tradition that a Finnish driver wins the local Rally Finland event. Tommi Mäkinen is one of the many local winners of this event, but he is one of the relatively few who have been able to dominate the rest of the events around the world. In the 90s, he was borderline untouchable and pretty much single-handedly turned the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo into an automotive icon.
10 Started Out With Lancia
Although he made his name with Mitsubishi, his first few races were indeed in the best car available back then.
In the late 80s after the mad-cap Group B era came to a necessary end, the Lancia Delta Integrale HF rally cars were untouchable. It made sense as a privateer to enter one of these cars, sadly for Mäkinen he never finished a race in any of his exploits as a privateer.
9 First Win In A Ford
He truly announced himself on the international stage when he won the Rally Finland (1000 Lakes Rally back then) in the legendary Ford Escort RS Cosworth.
It was something of a watershed moment, although Ford were pretty much stacked with their driver lineup, he had done enough to finally secure a drive with one of the big works teams.
8 World Domination With Mitsubishi
It would prove to be the most fruitful of combinations, Mitsubishi built a car that worked very much in sync with the driver.
His incredible high risk driving style was quite something to watch in the 90s, it was Mäkinen at the peak of his powers matched quite brilliantly with a car at its peak too. Until then, the Lancer was a simple econobox, after winning 4 titles in a row it had become a new kind of performance car also taking the world by storm.
7 Has A Car Named After Him
After winning his 4th title with the manufacturer, he got his name immortalized by them when they released the limited edition Lancer Evo Tommi Mäkinen edition.
It was an incredible gesture from the Japanese manufacturer, effectively thanking the man who helped them achieve such incredible results and playing a huge part in popularizing an otherwise underwhelming brand.
6 All Or Nothing
His driving style was fearless, this meant he crashed, a lot. If you look through his stats, you will notice that he would either get a DNF or finish in the top 3 in just about every race.
Living on the edge like this eventually led to one of his biggest accidents in 2001 when his established co-driver Risto Mannisenmäki broke his back. It effectively spelled the beginning of the end for the Finn too, as he struggled with other co-drivers and his title challenge fizzled out.
5 The Flying Finn
A title given only to the fastest Finn, initially given to olympic athletes, but was quickly adopted by the motorsport fraternity.
Timo Mäkinen (no relation) is recognized as the first to earn this title for his rallying exploits in the 60s, but Tommi would be the one to take that title in the 90s for his incredible run of success.
4 Move To Subaru
In what proved to be an ill-fated attempt to revitalize his career, he would jump ship and join Mitsubishi's bitter rivals Subaru.
It wasn’t a betrayal though, Mitsubishi were less focussed on their rally division and the car was already in a downward spiral by 2001. In 2002, without Mäkinen, they finished dead last, Subaru fared better but Mäkinen could only manage an 8th place finish in both seasons with the team. He was at least able to bow out with a podium finish in his last event in 2003.
3 Tommi Mäkinen Racing
He might have retired as a driver, but he never left rally racing. The year after his final race as a driver, he set up his own team.
They hit the big time when they got contracted to run Toyota’s WRC team in 2016, with Mäkinen taking up the team principal role. Although Toyota had been away from the sport for a few years, they came in with big ambitions and deep pockets.
2 Victory As Team Principal
In 2018, he became the first champion as a driver and a team principal when Toyota won the constructors' championship.
It is a huge achievement, and to get there as quickly as they did took some doing. Having a group of talented drivers at his disposal surely helped.
1 New Role With Gazoo Racing
In 2020, Gazoo Racing would take on a more prominent role and Mäkinen would step back from the team principal role.
Mäkinen has now taken on a more advisory position where he consults with the team but won’t need to travel nearly as much, something he has wanted for a long time now.