{"id":429264,"date":"2026-01-22T05:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/429264\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T05:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:16:13","slug":"f1-legends-david-coulthard-and-mika-hakkinen-heading-down-under-for-australian-speaking-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/429264\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 legends David Coulthard and Mika H\u00e4kkinen heading Down Under for Australian speaking tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formula 1 royalty is heading Down Under, with F1 legend David Coulthard and two-time world champion Mika H\u00e4kkinen set to reunite for an Australian speaking tour.<\/p>\n

The former McLaren teammates will share untold stories and memories from one of the sport\u2019s most iconic eras and giving fans a rare opportunity to see two global racing legends side by side.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: F1 legends Coulthard and H\u00e4kkinen to bring speaking tour to Australia<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

On Sunrise on Thursday, Coulthard said he was \u201creally looking forward\u201d to being back in Australia.<\/p>\n

Joining McLaren during one of the most fiercely competitive periods in Formula 1 history, lining up alongside H\u00e4kkinen at a time when championship pressure was relentless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt to me like it was a lot more intense than Oscar and Lando made it look. They looked so chilled all the time,\u201d he said, comparing his era to current greats of the sport, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant so much, and it seemed like there was so much intensity and pressure, but maybe it just took all of my effort to try and compete with Mika and to compete with Schumacher and talents like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Red Bull and McLaren driver said his rise to the pinnacle of motorsport was far from guaranteed, having grown up in a small Scottish village of just 300 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia became a huge part of my career,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"CoulthardCoulthard said he was \u201creally looking forward\u201d to being back in Adelaide. Credit: Sunrise<\/p>\n

Coulthard reflected on his early experiences racing in Australia, recounting a dramatic moment at the Adelaide Grand Prix that still lingers decades later.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, as I was watching that little clip play out of me moving over from Mika H\u00e4kkinen in Melbourne, it reminds me of when I left Adelaide in \u201895. I was leading the race, and I managed to crash out when I was coming in the pit lane,\u201d Coulthard said.<\/p>\n

Despite the disappointment of that mishap, the Scottish driver went on to enjoy success in Australia, winning the Grand Prix multiple times during his 15-year Formula 1 career.<\/p>\n

The 2026 speaking tour will mark one of the few times Coulthard and H\u00e4kkinen have reunited publicly in Australia, celebrating a golden era that helped define modern Formula 1 and cemented Adelaide\u2019s enduring place in sport\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Coulthard & Mika H\u00e4kkinen F1 Legends tour will his Australia in 2026. Credit: Sunrise<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 royalty is heading Down Under, with F1 legend David Coulthard and two-time world champion Mika H\u00e4kkinen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,14180,588,85,14179],"class_list":{"0":"post-429264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-on-the-show","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sunrise"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}