Dennis: McLaren Not Future Option for Heidfeld

German Nick Heidfeld will not drive for McLaren in the foreseeable future, McLaren team chief Ron Dennis said today.

27-year old Heidfeld has yet to secure a drive for next season, with his Sauber contract expiring at the end of this year and Ferrari test driver Felipe Massa expected to join Italian Giancarlo Fisichella at the Swiss squad.

Heidfeld is one of several drivers under contract from McLaren, but Dennis said there will be no seats available for the German in a near future.

"We have seven drivers under contract at the moment; The sort of contract we have with Nick is a legacy of his involvement in the team," said Dennis. "Yes, we do have an option [to hire him] but I think this option falls into a period of time for which we've already decided the future drivers line up, so it will just fall away.

"Of course we are very supportive of him - he did a good job in Formula 3000 and we have always tried to be nurturing to drivers, so if there's something we can do to help, we will certainly help him."

McLaren announced recently that both Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Scot David Coulthard would drive for them in 2004.

Heidfeld was the Formula 3000 Champion in 1999 and served as a McLaren test driver before making his debut with the now-defunct Prost team in 2000.