Mika Hakkinen has this week dismissed wild rumours that he could be part of the solution to McLaren’s current driver discord.
The Finn, who since retiring from F1 in 2001 has returned to competition in Germany’s DTM touring car series, was the Woking based team’s last world champion.
He even tested a Mercedes-powered single seater in the 2007 pre-season at Barcelona, but on Thursday was quoted as rejecting speculation that he would be the ideal replacement for disgruntled fellow double world champion Fernando Alonso.
“I enjoyed my career in formula one but the right time arrived for me to stop and find something else,” Hakkinen, who is 38, told the Spanish news agency EFE at an event in Caracas, Venezuela.
He added: “By all means there were rumours, it is true that I did a test and it was a great experience that I do not regret.
“But that was it. That was the end.”
Hakkinen, still linked with McLaren as an ambassador for the team’s sponsor Johnnie Walker, said he did not really want to comment on the current “difficult” situation between teammates Alonso and rookie Lewis Hamilton that reached crisis point last weekend in Hungary.
As a double world champion, though, he speculated that rookie and championship leader Hamilton had caused a significant “headache” for Spaniard Alonso this year.
“I can imagine it is difficult for him to accept; he was the number one and the champion.
“For Ron Dennis the situation is troublesome, but he is absolutely the right person to be able to deal with it.”
Hakkinen said 26-year-old Alonso was clearly not counting on Hamilton being so competitive in his rookie year in formula one.
“But whoever wants to participate in a race must respect the idea of ‘fair play’ and be honest,” he stated.
