Leo Kinnunen: First ‘Flying Finn’, last GP driver with an open helmet

When it comes to Finnish racing drivers, most fans think of the three world champions Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen and Keke Rosberg, the Grand Prix winners Valtteri Bottas and Heikki Kovalainen, and perhaps JJ Lehto or Mika Salo. The name Leo Kinnunen, however, means nothing to the Netflix generation.

Yet Kinnunen paved the way for numerous great Finnish racing drivers – by competing in the 1974 Grand Prix at Anderstorp, he became the first Finn to take part in a Formula 1 World Championship race.

It was actually meant to happen in Belgium, but the Surtees driver failed to qualify there. He was racing for the AAW team, the only Finnish Grand Prix outfit in Formula 1.

AAW stood for Antti Aarnio-Wihuri – yes, that’s the millionaire who supported Valtteri Bottas for years.

Another unique feature: Leo Kinnunen was the last driver in the Formula 1 World Championship to compete wearing an open-face helmet. And he refused to improve his English. Which didn’t exactly make life any easier for his teams.

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Leo Kinnunen was a bit different anyway: his career began with motorbike racing, then he competed in ice races in a Fiat 500, and years later he was at the wheel of the most powerful sports car the world had ever seen – the Porsche 917.

Porsche-Werksfahrer Kinnunen 1970 als Hobby-Fotograf

Foto: Grand Prix Photo

As a works driver for the Stuttgart-based team alongside Pedro Rodríguez, and as a lone wolf in the Interserie (the European equivalent of the Can-Am series), Kinnunen was extremely successful – alongside the Mexican, ‘Leksa’ (little lion), as his friends called him, triumphed at Daytona, Brands Hatch, Monza and Watkins Glen in 1970.

Sieg in Daytona 1970 für Porsche mit Pedro Rodríguez

Foto: Porsche

At the 1970 Targa Florio, Kinnunen smashed the circuit record in the Porsche 908. The Sicilian roads were no place for the faint-hearted.

In the Interserie, he was crowned champion three times in a row from 1971 to 1973.

Leo described himself as ‘The Flying Finn’ and even had the words painted on his racing car.

Kinnunen moved effortlessly between circuit racing and rallying. At the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally, he led his class until he was disqualified for missing a checkpoint. In 1967, he finished second in the Finnish Rally Championship. In 1973, he finished third in the 1,000 Lakes Rally.

From 1968 onwards, Kinnunen was mainly to be found on the circuit: in Formula 3, he beat future Grand Prix stars such as Ronnie Peterson and Reine Wisell. His performances caught Porsche’s attention.

Leo was invited to a test in the Porsche 917 at the Österreichring. Helmut Flegl was amazed: “The bloke was throwing the car round the corners as if he were on a rally stage.”

Team principal John Wyer spontaneously paired Kinnunen with Pedro Rodríguez in the same car; the rest is part of motorsport history.

Leo could certainly have achieved more in Formula 1. But there was little to be done with the privately entered Surtees. What’s more, Kinnunen had never even seen the car up close before the 1974 Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

Just imagine that today: the entire team consisted of five people, including the drivers. The car was 80 kilos too heavy, and the old engine was wheezy. The unsurprising result – they failed to qualify.

In Sweden, things went better, partly thanks to a previous test at Keimola, where the car’s handling had been improved. Unfortunately, this did nothing to freshen up the engine. A faulty spark plug brought Leo Kinnunen’s only Grand Prix to an end.

Kinnunen returned to Porsche for 1975 to drive alongside Herbert Müller.

In 1976, he drove a Porsche 934 owned by Egon Evertz. His career petered out with a few rally appearances.

On 5 August 2026, Leo Kinnunen would have turned 83. However, the first ‘Flying Finn’ died in 2017, aged 73, from pneumonia.