NOVEMBER 22, 2006

A possible explanation for Hakkinen rumours

The rumours that Mika Hakkinen might make a comeback with McLaren are rather odd. It is hard to believe that McLaren would go down that route when the team has a hotshoe like Lewis Hamilton, who would be signed up within minutes if he was on the open market. And the other car belongs to Fernando Alonso, so there is no chance of Mika taking that one.

So what is going on?

The team has an experienced test driver in Pedro de la Rosa but there is always a chance that McLaren might turn to Hakkinen to ask him to try out the cars and see how they can be developed. Alexander Wurz was an established testing expert with an engineering background and so his move to Williams was definitely a loss to the team. Perhaps Hakkinen might be called in to do occasional tests to sort out problems - and at the same time keep the regular drivers on their toes.

It may not even be as complicated as that. Ron Dennis and Mika Hakkinen have enjoyed a very close relationship for more than 10 years and it may be that Mika just wants to try a Formula 1 car one more time and Ron is happy to do it for old time's sake.