At the 1998 Australian Grand Prix, David Coulthard famously moved aside from the lead to let teammate Mika Hakkinen through with only three laps remaining, sparking streams of controversy at the time.
The moment came after a pit stop issue dropped Hakkinen behind Coulthard during the race, with the Scot moving aside to honour a pre-race understanding: whoever reached the first corner first would win — something Hakkinen had done, leading his teammate away from pole.
It was a moment that bewildered the F1 fraternity, highlighting not just that such an agreement was possible, but that teammates could so openly adhere to it.
Nearly 30 years later, that moment at Albert Park still follows Hakkinen.
It is a story the two-time world champion is now telling again, live on stage, as he prepares to bring his speaking tour with Coulthard to Australia.
“It was a deal. Deal is deal,” Hakkinen told Speedcafe.
“It was an agreement. It didn’t come random from the team.”
Hakkinen is unequivocal about the distinction between what played out in Melbourne and how modern McLaren has managed internal dynamics under its ‘Papaya Rules’.
“David is a gentleman. If something’s agreed, he will stick on that agreement,” he explained.
“And I think that is fantastic and that’s why David had such a great career in Formula 1.
“That’s why David is still massively part of Formula 1, for these reasons. Because he keeps his promises.
“He keeps his promise what he says. We had our agreement, like in that year ’98 in Melbourne. And he did it.”
That difference — between a pre-agreed understanding and a spontaneous call from the pit wall — is, in Hakkinen’s view, what separates trust from controversy.
“It’s really challenging, all these if you let your teammate overtake. Very painful situation,” he said.
“If you have that written in a contract, that is no discussion. It’s very easy. That has been agreed before the race. It’s painful. But it has been agreed.
“If it comes randomly from the team that has not been discussed, and they ask you to move over to let your teammate overtake, there has to be bloody good reason after the race of what’s going on. Especially if it is a situation with a championship.
“If you’re fighting for second, third, fourth, fifth, it doesn’t matter honestly. If it is challenging for the world championship, that is a different thing.”
Those themes of trust, rivalry, and pressure underpin Hakkinen and Coulthard’s partnership, which spanned 99 grands prix at McLaren — the third-longest teammate pairing in F1 history.
“We were racing many, many years together in the same team and fighting who’s going to be first,” Hakkinen said.
“Fighting one tenth of the second. I want to be better than you one tenth of the second, studying your data, working with the people.
“With the 1000s of people working, motivating everybody for years and years and years.”
Hakkinen added the intensity of that environment — particularly in the late 1990s — is often underestimated when such decisions are viewed through a modern lens.
“That requires massive physical preparation. Psychological preparation. And only one of us can win,” he said.
“When our ego was absolutely flat out high.”
While Melbourne ’98 is often portrayed as a turning point, Hakkinen insists it did not decide the championship.
“David could have been world champion ’98, but he had lots of failures,” he said.
“Well, I had lots of failures, but some reason [his were] just was a bit more.
“I don’t want to use the word luck was more in my side, but it just worked better in my side.”
The live tour itself was born from reflection on how that rivalry eventually softened into friendship — and how rare that evolution is at the top of F1.
“Every time when I meet David and we’re having a chat, we are smiling, we are laughing about our silly things what we did in the past,” Hakkinen admitted.
“We are laughing our serious commitment what we had.
“That’s why we came to this conclusion that we must do this kind of tour. And I think Formula 1 is very popular at the moment. It’s more popular than ever.
“Drive to Survive in Netflix has made a big impact for the fans everywhere in Europe and in the whole world.
“So we thought that I think this is the right time to ourselves to go and talk.”
Those reflections have resonated strongly with fans during their tour through Britain and Ireland last year, with some events attracting more than 2,000 people — a response that has surprised even the drivers themselves.
“I think all those 2000 people came to see David Coulthard!” Hakkinen joked.
“Of course it is brilliant. And like I said, people love stories. People love to hear the stories.
“What happened. How you guys were able to handle this, all this racing and this pressure and this danger when there was not these kind of safety systems in a car.
“And I think that has a huge impact.
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He added the passion and interest of the fans has helped connect the pair’s era to today’s world of F1.
“I think the fans are very smart,” he said.
“They understand the history keeps repeating itself. So whatever they can learn from the history can make them smarter for the future.
“And if they are fans of Formula 1, it’s good to come to have a listen what we have to say.”
Hakkinen also hinted that not every flashpoint from his partnership with Coulthard has yet been aired, with some to be revealed during their Australian visit.
“There must be not only one, but more situations where we didn’t agree with the plan,” he said.
“But I think I need to wait. I need to wait when I come to Australia.”
Hakkinen and Coulthard will visit Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth, as well as Auckland, between March 1 and 11.
