Finnish ex-world champ loses French mansion in fire

Mika Hakkinen, pictured here chilling out with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton (it’s actually a still from a Mercedes advert), may be crying in the woods today after learning that his newly built French mansion burnt down at the weekend.

The blaze started at around four o’clock on Saturday morning and destroyed most of the building, which had only just been completed. There seems to be some doubt over whether or not Hakkinen was at home, although his girlfriend, who was definitely in, fled the building. The fire was reportedly caused by a short-circuit in the lighting system in one his trophy cabinets, making the Flying Finn a genuine victim of his own success.