Ron: Heidfeld may still get McLaren shot

Heidfeld, who has a long term contract with McLaren, spoke of his disappointment when it was announced that Raikkonen had been chosen to get the vacant seat at the Woking team for 2002.

However, despite missing out to the young Finn, Dennis has left the door open to the possibility of Heidfeld bagging a drive with the Mercedes-powered outfit in the future.

"We will always use the best drivers available to us," said Dennis. "It may be a difficult decision to take, but we'll take them when we have to. Nick has more than a chance of driving for us. His contractual position was different [than Raikkonen's, who was not tied to a major team].

"We're looking at developing the best series of options for the future. We have several drivers contracted to this team. Not three, not four. We're spoiled for choice maybe. It's a very nice problem to have."

Dennis says that he is a fan of the recent trend of taking on younger drivers. Raikkonen and Jenson Button have proved, in recent years, those with less experience are capable of competing at the highest level. According to Dennis, it is important to keep a flow of talent coming into F1 in order to keep wages down and offer the teams a wider selection.

"There is a need for all the GP teams to be stimulating the driver market because if there's more demand than supply, the price goes up," Dennis added. "The way to keep stability is to make it a more competitive system, so more good drivers are getting through and you have more choice."

For the full story, see this week's Autosport magazine out tomorrow (Thursday).