Finnish press laments that Keke Rosberg is undeservedly forgotten

      Yesterday, we published a compiled by Williams ten drivers who spent at the wheel of cars of this British team the largest number of starts, and on the tenth line in this list is the name of Keke Rosberg, the first Finnish driver of Formula 1, in 1982 became world champion.

      Williams press service gave such a characteristic of Rosberg-senior: "Keke was famous for a dashing manner of piloting, unbridled courage and business acumen ..." Last December, he turned 76, and this week in Finland, where he spent his childhood and youth, and where in the early 70's he achieved his first victories, once again was composed of five athletes whose names are included in the symbolic "Hall of Fame" of national sport. But Keke Rosberg's name is not in it. In this regard, the Iltalehti newspaper published an article whose title can be translated as "Shame on you!". The author reproaches the people responsible for compiling the traditional top five most deserving representatives of Finnish sport for unfairly treating the first Finn to achieve world fame in Formula 1. "After all, he became world champion! And he didn't win the title because he was lucky, as some people think. The world champion is always the best driver of the season - period," writes the young journalist Juuso Taipale. He also reminds the reading public that Rosberg played for Williams and McLaren even after 1982 and ended his career when he made that decision himself, after which he became a successful entrepreneur. The fact that drivers such as J.J. Lehto and Mika Hakkinen have achieved fame in world motorsport is also partly to his credit, because he was their manager. Hakkinen became a two-time world champion and Lehto won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, but the Finnish Sports Hall of Fame only has the name of the former. "Hakkinen was rightly honored in 2016. Lehto also deserves a place there, but only after Keke Rosberg," Taipale believes, insisting that there are not many athletes in the history of Finnish sport whose merits surpass Rosberg's fame and notoriety. But for some reason, the attitude of Finnish journalists towards Keke has always been rather cool, and even in 1982, when Rosberg was recognized as Finland's Sportsperson of the Year, many were not happy. The author ends his text like this: "Of course, Rosberg doesn't care at all whether his name is included in the Hall of Fame or not... The retired world champion is unlikely to attend the ceremony, even if he is ever invited. This is also the reason why those who vote for this list continue to ignore Rosberg. But if he doesn't complain, I will. In any case, Juuso Taipale and those Finnish motorsport fans who care about the achievements of their compatriots in Formula 1 should be pleased that Williams has compiled its top ten drivers and found warm words for Keke Rosberg.