Grapevine: McLaren to Announce a 4-Driver Line-Up Soon

Mika Hakkinen has already signed a one-year extension to stay at the McLaren team for one more year, according to latest claims in the F1 paddock.

Hakkinen's future has been subject to all sort of rumours due to his poor 2001 season, where the Finn two-time World Champion has scored only one win and has only 24 points to his teammate David Coulthard's 57. McLaren's delay to make an announcement about their driver line-up for 2002 has also increased the rumours about Hakkinen's future, who admitted earlier this year he had been thinking about retiring.

However, The Daily Grapevine recently learned that the Finn has already agreed to stay at McLaren for a record tenth season with McLaren, and that the announcement will be made soon. Despite reports indicating that the Woking team were to announce it at the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, it is believed that the reason for the delay is that team boss Ron Dennis is aiming to sign two test drivers for 2002.

With the new testing ban coming into play at the end of the season, McLaren team chief is looking to maximise the testing period of January and February, running three and even four cars consecutively in every session. Therefore, Dennis is believed to be looking for two test drivers and once he finds them, the team will announce their full 2002 line-up.