When Hakkinen was 16, he loved Tarzan comics.

      Mika Hakkinen, a two-time world champion, was one of the most talented and fastest drivers of his generation, and it was no coincidence that Michael Schumacher considered him one of the strongest rivals and treated the Finn with great respect. 

      Books have been written about Mika Hakkinen, including in the F1News library.There are such people, and all Formula 1 fans, especially those who are interested in the history of the World Cup, know the main milestones of his biography, career stages and main achievements. The most advanced ones know that at one time, in 1993, he almost became a Williams driver, and this is a curious story in its own way.

      Probably not everyone knows what the future champion was doing at the age of 16, although, of course, thanks to the omniscient Internet, you can quickly make inquiries and clarify that then, in 1984, he became Finnish champion for the second time, winning the title in the junior Formula Nordic series.

      But few people know. what he was interested in outside of racing tracks, however, recently it accidentally turned out that at that time young Mika... loved comics about Tarzan.

      Here's the story told by the Finnish tabloid Iltalehti: a certain Pekka Pitkianen lives in the city of Kuopio, who is interested in second-hand books, so once again at the local "flea market" he rummaged through old I came across a pack of comic books about the adventures of Tarzan, released in 1984.

      But imagine his surprise when, having already come home and carefully examined the purchase, which he got for 30 cents per magazine, he discovered who subscribed to these comics then, 41 years ago. On the back of the cover, there was information that the subscriber was Mika Hakkinen, who lived at an address in Vantaa, a satellite city of Helsinki.

      "When I started flipping through these Tarzan comics at home, I noticed a sticker with the address, and the name was there: "Mika Hakkinen." I went online and found out that he really lived at this address in Vantaa at that time!" said Pekka.

      It was the September 1984 issue of the magazine – that month Mika turned 16.

      When Pitkianen was asked if such a rarity was more valuable if it originally belonged to a famous athlete, Pekka replied, "It's hard to say. However, you come across such relics less and less often. Perhaps such discoveries can be considered modern archaeological finds."