In 1990, Häkkinen applied to become a member of the "Marlboro World Championship Team" through what was akin to a fully sponsored racing driver academy. Its members were short-listed for testing by a judging panel including McLaren Formula One team boss Ron Dennis (whose team was sponsored by Marlboro), Formula One World Champion James Hunt, and Formula 3000 team bosses, Mike Earle and Hugues de Chaunac. In an April 2015 interview, Earle recounted that Häkkinen's application was the last one that he reviewed at the end of a long day, despite protests by Hunt who had already made plans to head to a pub for a beer. Häkkinen performed strongly in his test and went on to secure Marlboro's sponsorship. That same year, therefore, Häkkinen left Dragon and moved to the West Surrey Racing team and won the British Formula 3 series, by taking nine victories en route to the Championship, with 121 points, ahead of fellow Finn Salo. In November, Häkkinen entered the Macau Grand Prix where he drove to pole position and won the first heat of the event. He retired from the second heat due to a last-lap collision with German Formula Three driver and future Formula One rival Michael Schumacher, who was classified as the overall winner.
In 1990 Häkkinen applied to become a member of the "Marlboro World Championship Team" through what was akin to a fully sponsored racing driver academy Its members were short-listed for testing by a judging panel including McLaren Formula One team boss Ron Dennis (whose team was sponsored by Marlboro) Formula One World Champion James Hunt and Formula 3000 team bosses Mike Earle and Hugues de Chaunac In an April 2015 interview Earle recounted that Häkkinen's application was the last one that he reviewed at the end of a long day despite protests by Hunt who had already made plans to head to a pub for a beer Häkkinen performed strongly in his test and went on to secure Marlboro's sponsorship That same year therefore Häkkinen left Dragon and moved to the West Surrey Racing team and won the British Formula 3 series by taking nine victories en route to the Championship with 121 points ahead of fellow Finn Salo In November Häkkinen entered the Macau Grand Prix where he drove to pole position and won the first heat of the event He retired from the second heat due to a last-lap collision with German Formula Three driver and future Formula One rival Michael Schumacher who was classified as the overall winner