Simo Rassinen

Simo Rassinen
Rassinen in 2017
Nationality	Valkean
Born	(1986-05-03) May 3, 1986 Hopsu, Valkea
Retired	2020
Astyrian Formula One Championship
Years active	2010-2020
Teams	Juhola, Sidus
Starts	196
Championships	2 (2015, 2020)
Wins	24
Podiums	45
Poles	38

Simo Rassinen (born 3 May 1986) is a Valkean racing driver who competed in Astyrian Formula One from 2011 to 2020. He won the Drivers' Championship for Sidus in the 2015 and 2020 seasons.

Born in Hopsu, Järvimaa to a middle-class family, Rassinen began karting at the age of 5 and entered into kart racing at the age of 7, winning various local, national, and regional championships. He progressed to car racing at 17 years old, winning the 2005 Formula Raamaker Championship. He went on to win the Formula 3 Lorecian Series in 2008 and 2009, as well as the Valkean Open Wheel Series in 2010.

Rassinen was promoted to a race seat in Formula One in 2011 for Juhola, partnering with Scanonian driver Martin Søndergaard. He claimed his first pole position and first win at the 2013 Hindia Belandan Grand Prix. In 2014, he moved to Sidus as a replacement for fellow Valkean and outgoing two-time champion Paavo Laakkonen. A year later, he won his first Drivers' Championship at the 2015 Nidwaldeser Grand Prix. He added a second championship at the 2020 Aquitaynian Grand Prix, becoming the second Valkean racing driver after Laakkonen to claim two Astyrian F1 titles.

In September 2020, Rassinen publicly announced that he is retiring from Formula One at the end of the 2020 season. He has participated in 197 Grands Prix, with 24 wins, 45 podiums, and 38 pole positions to his name.

Early and personal life

Simo Rassinen was born to Hannu and Ritva Rassinen in Hopsu, Järvimaa, Valkea. He has an older sister, Aleksandra, who is an ophthalmologist, and a younger brother, Heikki, who is also a racing driver. His father gave him a go-kart for Christmas at the age of 4, which began his interest in cars and motor racing.

He received his secondary education at the Naarkoski Gymnasium in Hopsu, where he passed with a respectable grade. Rassinen described his school life as "boring", and would often complete his schoolwork as quickly as possible so that he can go karting. He graduated from the University of Källälivi with a degree in Environmental Science.

Rassinen is married to his childhood friend Amalia Häkkinen since 2015. Together they have two children: a son, born in 2016, and a daughter, born in 2019.

Karting career

Rassinen began competing in kart racing at the age of 7. He was quickly discovered to be a talented driver, winning races and cadet championships throughout Järvimaa and later Southern Valkea. At the age of 10, he won the Satajärveä Cadet Cup. He continued to progress through the ranks, finishing 4th in the 1997 Valkean Junior Karting Championship, 3rd in the 1998 Valkean Kart Challengers' Cup, and 1st in the 1999 Valkean Karting Championship.

In 2000 he claimed 3rd place in the Northern Lorecian Kart Masters' Cup, 4th place in the Juhola Karting Cup, and 1st place in the Northern Lorecian Karting Championship. He then won the 2001 Lorecian KF1 Championship and finished 6th in the Astyrian Karting Championship. In 2002, he finished 3rd in the Astyrian Formula Super A Championship.

Junior racing career

Rassinen moved up to car racing in 2004 at the Formula Raamaker Championship, driving for Meyr Racing. His first season with the team was decently successful, as he finished in the standings in 4th position. He continued to remain with Meyr Racing for 2005, where he would win the championship that year. He went on to win 2nd place in the Valkean Junior Open Wheel Series in 2006 and 1st in the Valkean Formula 3 Series in 2007. At around this time, he was recruited into the Juhola Young Drivers' Programme in 2006.

Because of his success in Valkea, Rassinen gained a seat with SLB Racing Team in the Lorecian Formula 3 Series in 2008. He would go on to win back-to-back championships, establishing his credentials as a skilled driver. He was almost signed to join the Raamaker Formula One team for the 2009 season, but negotiations fell through due to opposition from sponsors. He first tested for Juhola in 2009 at Schwarzenberg Circuit.

In 2010, Rassinen went back to Valkea to race in the Valkean Open Wheel Series, the top formula racing class in the country. Despite a rocky start due to reliability issues, Rassinen persevered and showed consistent driving, which was enough for him to win the championship. His performance prompted Juhola to call him up to Formula One in 2011.

Astyrian Formula One career

Juhola (2009-2013)

In 2009, Juhola signed Rassinen as one of its test drivers. On his first free practice weekend at the Nidwaldeser Grand Prix, he set the 4th fastest time in Friday's second practice session. He would go on to sporadically test for Juhola throughout the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Due to Vilhelmi Mäki's crash at the 2010 Caprican Grand Prix, Juhola announced that Rassinen was going to drive as his replacement at the 2010 Hindia Belandan Grand Prix. He started in 9th place and briefly was 5th during the race, but a puncture forced him to pit and drop to 10th position.

Rassinen's first season in Astyrian F1 saw him partner with Martin Søndergaard for the 2011 championship. Because of an uncompetitive car, neither driver scored any points throughout the whole season. Rassinen's highest finish in 2011 was 12th place at the Nidwaldeser Grand Prix. Despite this, he showed great promise in qualifying, often outqualifying his teammate by up to 3/10ths of a second. Despite a rocky start, Rassinen performed brilliantly at the 2011 Aquitaynian Grand Prix, and was on track to win a podium for Juhola. Unfortunately, his engine caught fire on the 46th lap, forcing him to retire.

The 2012 season proved to be more promising for Rassinen. He scored his first ever podium finish at the Nynorsk Ostlijord Grand Prix, crossing the line in 3rd place. Yet he didn't evade any unfortunate circumstances throughout the season; a gearbox problem late into the race forced him to retire from the Noordenstaat Grand Prix, a devastating tire puncture caused him to crash out of the Scottopian Grand Prix while he was once again about to win another podium, and a collision with Stefan Lakowski took both drivers out at the first lap of the Nidwaldeser Grand Prix.

However, his best season with Juhola came in the 2013 season. Rassinen, who was helped out by a rainstorm over Sherbourne Circuit, scored a 2nd place finish at the Aswickan Grand Prix, behind his compatriot Paavo Laakkonen. At the Nikolian Grand Prix, he qualified fastest on the grid, putting him on pole position for the first time. On race day, he had a poor start, consequently dropping to 6th position. However, he was able to steadily make his way back to the front, challenging MacGregor driver Adam Dunford for the lead. Rassinen passed the Aswickan on Lap 36 and maintained his lead until the very end of the race. This gave him his first career win, and would be the only win for the entire season.

Sidus (2014-2020)

In December 2013, Sidus announced that Rassinen will be joining them for the 2014 season, replacing the outgoing Paavo Laakkonen. He was paired with fellow Valkean driver Pekka Koivu. Both drivers proved to be a dominant combination as the two claimed three straight 1-2 finishes for Sidus; Rassinen won the Aswickan Grand Prix and the Astyrian Grand Prix while Koivu won the Mizia Grand Prix. However, both cars were hampered with reliability problems, which cost the team precious points in their Constructors' Championship challenge. Worse still, Rassinen and Koivu's relationship turned into a fierce rivalry, which created a toxic environment at Sidus. This rivalry came to a head at the San Joaquin Valley Grand Prix, when Rassinen defied team orders and fought Koivu for the lead. This resulted in both cars colliding on Lap 52, when Rassinen collided with Koivu, causing both to spin out. Sidus' choice to let the drivers fight freely throughout the season was another blunder, as Steven Grey's win at the Confederate Grand Prix allowed him to sneak past and claim the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships for MacGregor. Koivu announced soon after that he would be leaving Sidus to join Phaeton in the 2015 season. Consequently, Rassinen would be paired with Beriquois driver Guy Bassett.

Rassinen had his most successful season to date in 2015. He and Bassett were in contention for the championship throughout the year, although the Valkean proved to be quicker than his teammate. As with the previous year, Rassinen was involved with a race-ending crash with the Beriquois, this time at the first turn of the first lap at the 2015 Nidwaldeser Grand Prix. Despite this setback, he was able to quickly reconcile with Bassett. In 2015, he scored eight victories, winning the Drivers' Championship that year. Bassett finished 2nd highest in championship points, meaning that Sidus won their 4th Constructors' Title.

Ahead of the 2016 season, Rassinen's contract with Sidus was extended until 2022. It looked like he was going to retain the championship, with the FS-216 showing very promising results in pre-season testing. However, the 2016 season became one of the most competitive fights for the championship in years, with Phaeton drivers DiParadisa and Koivu, MacGregor driver Steven Grey, and Raamaker's Robert van Grol all challenging him for the title. The Valkean drove to four wins, winning in Mizialand, ViZion, Valkea, and Aquitayne, but he fell short of the title due to a botched strategy at the final race in the Confederate Grand Prix. Van Grol won the race and became Drivers' Champion for 2016. Further troubles lay ahead for Rassinen in 2017, as a combination of reliability problems and poor strategy calls meant that he never won a single grand prix throughout the year, putting him firmly out of contention for the championship.

Rassinen stayed with Sidus for 2018. He and Bassett headed to the Aswickan Grand Prix with many critics and pundits believing that Sidus had returned to form with a dominant car. In reality, it proved to be a difficult season opener as Rassinen qualified in 5th place and finished the race in 8th. Additional setbacks plagued him in the Noordenstaat Grand Prix and the Nikolian Grand Prix. However, he was able to recover, taking podiums at the Monsan Grand Prix, Caprican Grand Prix, and Scottopian Grand Prix, as well as a victory in front of his home crowd at the Valkean Grand Prix. He finished that year's Drivers' Standings in 3rd place behind Breuer's Nicolas von Siedel and Phaeton's Tertius DiParadisa.

2019 was a better year for Rassinen, and he was able to mount a championship fight against Hudnall, DiParadisa, and Grey. He won the opening round of the 2019 season, fending off DiParadisa for the race victory. However, his crash at the Nikolian Grand Prix gave him heavy injuries, which meant he was going to miss the Khyragusian Grand Prix on medical grounds. Lauren Blake was brought in to replace him, marking the first time a female driver competed in a grand prix since 1985. Rassinen returned for Sidus at the Kelonnan Grand Prix, where he would qualify in 4th and finish in 3rd. He went on to win the Hindia Belandan Grand Prix and the Nidwaldeser Grand Prix. These results meant he was 3rd in the Drivers' Championship once again, this time behind MacGregor drivers Steven Grey and Conway Prescott.

Rassinen's 2020 season began with a terrible result, as he qualified at the Aswickan Grand Prix in 11th and finished in 13th. However, things quickly turned around in Mizialand when he qualified 3rd fastest and fought Koivu for the lead to win the race. He would go on to win four more times in Kelonna, Monsa, San Joaquin Valley, and the 60th Anniversary Grand Prix at the Rintalinna International Circuit. Despite his terrible luck at the end of the season, he was able to win his 2nd championship at the Aquitaynian Grand Prix, where he finished 7th place. He and Bassett's drives were enough to give Sidus their 5th Constructors' Championship.

Retirement from Formula One

Rassinen began considering retirement from Formula One when he considered the possibility of winning the championship. He discussed this with his wife Amalia and his manager Alfred Hohmann before telling team principal Petri Joensuu about it after the Valkean Grand Prix. After he won the 60th Anniversary Grand Prix, Rassinen made public his decision to retire, citing that he wanted to explore other racing series as well as spend more time with his family. He retired after the Confederate Grand Prix, marking the first time that a reigning champion has retired from AstyF1 in years. No comment was ever made about the possibility of returning to the sport.

He has stated that he will be maintaining contact with Formula One as a brand ambassador for Sidus. It has been rumored that he will be racing at the 2021 Astyrian Endurance Championship for Juhola, but he hasn't confirmed such rumors.