Formula Three and Japanese racing In 1989,
Helsinki-born Salo competed in the
British Formula 3 Championship, racing for
Alan Docking Racing. He raced with the
Reynard Alfa Romeo package which was not the season's best. Staying with Alan Docking Racing for
1990 and moving to a more competitive
Ralt chassis, he raced against countryman and fierce rival
Mika Häkkinen in Formula Three, finishing second to him. In 1990, Salo was caught
driving under the influence in London.
Formula One at the
1995 British Grand Prix.
1994–1998: Lotus, Tyrrell and Arrows After a few years racing in Japan, Salo made his first Formula One start at the penultimate round of the season in
Japan for the ailing
Lotus team. He was kept on for the season's finale in
Australia. Following the collapse of Lotus following the end of the season, Salo moved to
Tyrrell for . He was to spend three years with the team, scoring points several times. In the
1997 Monaco Grand Prix he completed the whole (rain-shortened and -slowed) race without refuelling, taking fifth place ahead of the faster
Giancarlo Fisichella as a result. Despite a promising with
Arrows, he had no full-time drive in .
1999: British American Racing and Ferrari at
Monza in . Following an injury to
BAR driver
Ricardo Zonta, Salo took his place for three races whilst the Brazilian recovered. BAR's first season was not successful but Salo scored their best result of the year, with a seventh-place finish at
San Marino. However a greater opportunity arose when
Michael Schumacher broke his leg in a crash during the
1999 British Grand Prix. Salo was selected as his substitute to partner
Eddie Irvine at
Ferrari. In his second race in Ferrari at the
1999 German Grand Prix, Salo led for part of the race and would have scored a Grand Prix win but team orders demanded that he give the lead to Irvine, who at the time was fighting for the championship with
Mika Häkkinen. Following the race, Irvine handed his victory trophy over to Salo as a gesture of gratitude. He also finished third at
Monza, ahead of Irvine. These podium finishes were critical in helping Ferrari win their first Constructors' title since .
2000–2002: Sauber and Toyota at the
2000 Belgian Grand Prix. Salo was back full-time in with Sauber, taking 11th in the championship, although he left the team at the end of the season to join the new
Toyota team in preparation for its Formula One entry in , and also cited a desire to score podiums rather than lower points-scoring positions. He scored two points for Toyota in their first season, becoming the first driver since
JJ Lehto at the
1993 South African Grand Prix to score points on a team's debut by finishing sixth at the
2002 Australian Grand Prix. He retired from Formula One at the end of 2002, after getting fired from Toyota. Though the news was initially met with general surprise, it was later revealed that Salo was not on good terms with the team, who heavily criticized his deemed poor performance. During his Formula One career, Salo achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 33 championship points.
Post-Formula One Salo's first post-Formula One race came at the 2003
12 Hours of Sebring, driving the UK-entered
Audi R8, the same car he was due to race at the
24 Hours of Le Mans if it had not run out of fuel already after the first hour. He raced in four
CART races for PK Racing during the same year, his best finish being third in Miami in his second series start. Because of his strong links with
Ferrari, Salo was picked up to be part of the development program of the
Maserati MC12 GT racer. He made his
FIA GT debut in 2004, narrowly losing the 24 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps in a
Ferrari 575. After that he entered the last four races of the season in the
Maserati, winning two races and finishing second once. 2005 was a year somewhat lost in the doldrums with only two participations with the
Maserati MC12 in the
ALMS GTS-class, a competition where the car turned out to be not even half as competitive as in the
FIA GT series. For 2006, Salo returned to racing full-time, signing with
AF Corse in the
FIA GT to drive the
Ferrari F430 and later on in the year with
Risi Competizione in the
ALMS. He was victorious in class in the
24 Hours of Spa and finished third in the FIA GT2 Drivers' Championship with 61 points, while his efforts in the
ALMS contributed to Risi's Teams' Championship cup. In the following year, he continued with
Risi Competizione in the
ALMS and took the GT2 class honours in the
12 Hours of Sebring and the championship along with teammate
Jaime Melo. They won a total of eight races out of twelve in the class. In addition, he won the
RAC Tourist Trophy with
Thomas Biagi when substituting for
Michael Bartels, driving a
Maserati MC12 once more. Salo and Melo with Risi Competizione earned the first team At-Large honours on the 2007 All-American Racing Team, as voted for by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters (AARWBA). Salo raced again in the
ALMS for
Risi Competizione in 2008. Although he was not successful in defending his previous year's titles, he won the GT2 class in the
24 Hours of Le Mans, coming in 18th overall. In 2009, Salo joined the Risi Ferrari team at the blue-riband races only, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Petit Le Mans event, winning all three of them. Having won these enduro races all more than once, Salo felt he was ready for a new challenge. He set his mind on
NASCAR, and had his first test with
Michael Waltrip Racing at the half-mile
New Smyrna Speedway in November 2009. In 2010–12, Salo competed in the
Gold Coast 600, an endurance event for the
V8 Supercars. In 2010, he partnered with
Walkinshaw Racing's
Andrew Thompson and retired from both races. For 2011–12 he raced with
Will Davison and the
Ford Performance Racing team, finishing 2nd in the 1st race of 2011 and winning the 2nd race in 2012. In 2014, driving for
Maranello Motorsport, Salo co-drove a
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 to victory at the
Bathurst 12 Hour alongside Australian motor racing legends
Craig Lowndes and
John Bowe, and another local Australian driver Peter Edwards. ==Personal life==