JJ Lehto in the Sauber at Silverstone in 1993

JJ Lehto

Finnish · 1989–1994

Photo: Martin Lee from London, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

No world title

Lehto in numbers

10 official points · best championship finish: 12th in 1991

0Drivers’ titles

none

0Constructors’ titles

none

Races124th of 789 all time
62
Wins
0
Poles
0
Podiums152nd of 789 all time

1.6% of races

1

0Drivers’ titles

none

0Constructors’ titles

none

Racesof 62 in the career
7
Winsof 0 in the career
0
Polesof 0 in the career
0
Podiumsof 1 in the career
0

0Drivers’ titles

none

0Constructors’ titles

none

Racesof 62 in the career
31
Winsof 0 in the career
0
Polesof 0 in the career
0
Podiumsof 1 in the career

3.2% of races with Dallara

1

0Drivers’ titles

none

0Constructors’ titles

none

Racesof 62 in the career
18
Winsof 0 in the career
0
Polesof 0 in the career
0
Podiumsof 1 in the career
0

0Drivers’ titles

none

0Constructors’ titles

none

Racesof 62 in the career
6
Winsof 0 in the career
0
Polesof 0 in the career
0
Podiumsof 1 in the career
0

JJ Lehto came into Formula 1 as British Formula 3 champion and left with the feeling that his big chance slipped away in a test. A Finn born in 1966, he made his debut with Onyx in 1989, and in 1991, with the Dallara, he was third at Imola from sixteenth on the grid, the only podium of his career.

In 1993 he was there for Sauber's first season: fifth in South Africa, in the team's very first race, and fourth at Imola. And for 1994 Benetton gave him the seat alongside Michael Schumacher. In a pre-season test he crashed and fractured vertebrae in his neck, missed the first two races and came back before he had fully recovered.

After four races Jos Verstappen replaced him, though he returned in Italy and Portugal while Schumacher served his ban, and finished the year with two races for Sauber. Outside Formula 1 he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. In Formula 1 it was 62 Grands Prix and 10 points.

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Rating by season

707173747519911992199372
First season
72 1991
Peak
72 1991
1993
72 Sauber

3 seasons in the database, from 1991 to 1993. Our own rating, from 50 to 99.

Teams

OnyxDallaraSauberBenetton

Tags

#Sauber#Benetton#Dallara#Finland#3rd at Imola 1991#Le Mans winner

Best year

1991

What would JJ Lehto have achieved with a different car or in a different era?

His team-mates

7 team-mates across 5 seasons. When both finished the race, Lehto was ahead in 5 of 14; on the grid he started ahead in 21 of 57.

YearTeam-mateIn the raceOn the grid
1990Gregor FoitekOnyx · 5 races·1-4
1991Emanuele PirroDallara · 13 races1-34-9
1992Pierluigi MartiniDallara · 15 races4-18-7
1993Karl WendlingerSauber · 16 races0-28-8
1994Michael SchumacherBenetton · 4 races0-20-4
1994Jos VerstappenBenetton · 2 races·0-2
1994Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber · 2 races0-10-2

The first number is always Lehto's. A team-mate is whoever started the same race for the same team. "In the race" only counts races both finished, because a retirement says nothing about who was quicker. "On the grid" is the starting position, with penalties already applied.

Compare Lehto with another driver

Titles, wins, poles and podiums side by side, against any of the 789 drivers in history.