OCTOBER 13, 2001

Hakkinen may not return to F1

MIKA HAKKINEN says he doesn't know if he will make an F1 comeback in 2003.

"We will have to wait and see," he told the F1 media at Suzuka. "I am planning to just take it easy and experience time with my family and have a lot of good times with them.

"There are definitely examples of people coming back into Formula 1 and doing a tremendous job. I see no problems at all with that. And I will have opportunities to test if I decide to come back."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said that he did not know what will happen and that the McLaren team will look at the problem of what to do with Hakkinen as and when it arises. The team is believed to have deals with both David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen for the long term but in F1 this means very little as all contracts are negotiable.