Hakkinen retirement rumour dismissed
McLaren has strenuously denied rumours that Mika Hakkinen wants to retire at the end of the season
The double champion got his 2000 season back on track with victory in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, but paddock gossip suggested that he had already decided to walk away from Formula One at the end of the year.
A McLaren spokesperson ruled out this possibility however: "There's absolutely no element of truth in it. We have a long-term contract with Mika. Sometimes we wish we knew where these silly stories originate from. This is just some people being bored and having nothing else to write about."
Hakkinen, who has raced in F1 since 1991, has a McLaren contract until the end of the 2001 season.
If Hakkinen did quit, Jacques Villeneuve could be in line to replace him. The BAR star has already been linked with taking David Coulthard's seat for 2001, but the Scot has been extremely impressive this season and his replacement would be difficult to justify at present.
Share Or Save This Story
How McLaren picked up each of its record 12 Brazil F1 wins
What history tells us about Verstappen’s F1 title race turnaround
Why criticism of Monaco is often wide of the mark
Trackhouse Aprilia set to finalise Raul Fernandez 2027 MotoGP deal
Acosta points out the major flaw in MotoGP's plan to ban front holeshot device mid-season
The bold Ferrari turnaround that enabled Hamilton's Barcelona win
Vital step made towards USA's WRC return
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments