Mika rumours scotched

Hakkinen recently increased speculation over a possible F1 comeback when he was asked by Finnish journalists whether he had been in talks with Richards over a possible drive.

"There is no smoke without fire," he said. "At this moment I do not want to comment more on the issue, especially as discussions around the BAR team are so hot."

Richards spoke to journalists at the rally, though, where he denied he was meeting with Hakkinen during the course of the weekend and added that no member of BAR had spoken to him either.

"I know Mika is here on the rally, but I have no plans to speak to him," he said. "I know he's keen on rallying and I usually meet up with him here to say hello. I haven't had any discussions with Mika and to the best of my knowledge nobody in the team has spoken to him, certainly not with my authority."