Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen (pronounced [ˈɑri ˈʋɑtɑnen] ⓘ; born 27 April 1952) is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009.

In that year he won the Nortti Rally in an Opel Ascona, beating Hannu Mikkola in the process, which brought him to wider attention.

[citation needed] Vatanen did not finish the Scottish Rally, but he won the championship, a feat he repeated in 1980, co-driven by David Richards, who later became chairman of Prodrive.

He was tipped to win the 1985 world title, but at mid-season was trailing his teammate Timo Salonen after a series of accidents and mechanical problems.

His seat broke, and he was thrown around inside the car, suffering severe injuries to his legs and torso and life-threatening internal bleeding.

He went on to make a complete recovery and his return to motorsport in 1987 saw him go on to win the Paris-Dakar Rally four times; with Peugeot in 1987, 1989 and 1990, and with Citroën in 1991.

[2] In 1997 he won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies with a Citroën ZX Rallye-raid alongside navigator Fred Gallagher (co-driver).

He scored a podium finish on Rally Argentina, the first time he had contested the event since his accident there nine years previously.

In 2004 and 2005, he drove the Dakar for Nissan, and in 2007 he made another attempt with Volkswagen, but retired on the seventh stage after a fire destroyed his car.

In 2016 Max followed his fathers footsteps by entering the British Rally Championship driving an M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5.

[7] In 1999, Vatanen was elected to the European Parliament from the list of the conservative Finnish National Coalition party although he continued to live in France.

[10] On 23 October 2009, Vatanen failed in his bid to be elected as president of the FIA, which was won by his former team boss at Peugeot, subsequently Scuderia Ferrari manager Jean Todt.