Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2002. His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Career

Formula Three and Japanese racing

In 1989, Helsinki-born Salo competed in the British Formula 3 Championship, racing for Alan Docking Racing. He raced with the Reynard Alfa Romeo package which was not the season's best. Staying with Alan Docking Racing for 1990 and moving to a more competitive Ralt chassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rival Mika Häkkinen in Formula Three, finishing second to him. In 1990, Salo was caught driving under the influence in London.In 1991 Salo headed to Japan to race in the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship (now named Super Formula). His initial aim was to race in Europe's Formula 3000 but did not garner enough funding to compete. A budget would have spanned from £200,000 to £500,000 to drive in Europe and Salo had only collected a fraction over £200,000, not enough to stay competitive.