Mika in Macedonia.

Officially, according to the FIA Formula One world championship rankings at any rate, Mika Hakkinen is no longer the best driver in the world, but that hasn't stopped him from having a hectic global schedule.

After two consecutive championship crowns, this year the Finn had to settle for a close fought second place behind Michael Schumacher. However, McLaren title sponsor West seems keen to ensure that the Finn remains the best travelled driver in the sport and, following a brief holiday at the end of the season, Hakkinen was back on the PR trail last weekend, spending a night and a day in Macedonia.

For those of you with shaky geography, the Democratic Republic of Macedonia, to the north of Greece, has only been in existence since 1991. Mika flew there from Mercedes-Benz's traditional end of year 'Stars and Cars' party in Germany, and arrived to a hero's welcome. This was a big deal for the citizens of the newly formed nation, the only previous visitor of note having been outgoing US president Bill Clinton. The West McLaren Mercedes driver was accordingly given top billing, being met by the minister of internal affairs and the chief of police.

The obligatory press conference was very well attended, not only by the local press, but also by media from several surrounding countries. Mika then attended a gathering in the main square of the capital city Skopje, where he wowed the crowd of 30,000 by speaking to them in their own language, and got particularly excited when he suggested the country might stage its own grand prix one day.