MCLAREN MAY SNUB MIKA
2002-05-27 15:42:00
Mika Hakkinen will not walk straight back into the McLaren team if he decides to return to F1.

Hakkinen plans to decide shortly whether to return to Formula 1 competition in 2003. At a Monaco press conference on Thursday, he said he expected to be welcomed back to McLaren with open arms.

But team boss Ron Dennis has warned it is by no means certain that he will be able to offer him a drive.

He told Reuters news agency: "There’s nothing automatic about it. If Mika wants to drive then it is for us to decide if that's the right thing for the team.

"Mika, David, Kimi and anyone who drives for the team understands that they are an integral part of it but they are not the sole and exclusive part.

"The team is run by its management, not by its players or particular drivers."

Dennis said David Coulthard’s victory at Monaco – McLaren’s first of the season – was unlikely to influence Hakkinen’s thinking.

He said: "I don't think any singular race is going to have any dramatic influence because he understands Formula 1.

"Mika's decision will be made during the course of the next few weeks and I don't think anything that happens this week or this year has any influence on that decision."