Dennis says no to McLaren team orders

Mika Hakkinen's manager Keke Rosberg last week called on the team to back his driver by making the off-form double world champion unequivocal number one. But with his team mate David Coulthard second in the championship, six points ahead of Hakkinen and 12 behind points leader Michael Schumacher, Dennis ruled it out by refusing to change team policy.

While Ferrari has given Schumacher top dog status, Dennis has always refused to favour one driver over the other, and in the build-up to this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix - round 10 of 17 - he said that nothing has changed.

"We have a rule in our team that we do not have team orders until it is
mathematically impossible for one driver to win the championship," he said. "I guess that will not be until there are only three or four races to go."

Dennis's comments were echoed by Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug in this week's Autosport magazine.

"I'm not saying that our philosophy of having two number one drivers will guarantee us a third drivers' world championship in a row at the end of the year," said Haug, "but our team wants to win because they have deserved it, not because of team orders."