 Jaguar Deny Hakkinen Talks Wednesday July 18th, 2001
According to a report published on German tabloid Bild, Jaguar's Niki Lauda has contacted Hakkinen's manager during the British Grand Prix last weekend to offer the McLaren driver a two-year contract starting next season, thought to be worth around $16 million each year. However, Jaguar have denied the rumours, confirming their driver line-up for 2002 will be Irishman Eddie Irvine and Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa. "There is absolutely no truth in today's story in Bild which states that Jaguar Racing has offered Mika Hakkinen a contract for next year," Nav Sidhu, Jaguar Racing's communications manager was quoted as saying by Autosport.com. "We have said time and time again that our 2002 driver line-up will be Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa and nothing has changed on that front. "Just as the case was a few weeks ago with the Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve speculation, it seems that absolutely any discussion we have with other drivers about their long-term contractual status is automatically being positioned by some media as firm contract negotiations for the 2002 season." Hakkinen, who won the British Grand Prix on Sunday nearly a year after his last victory, is yet to announce his plans for 2002 but has admitted he is currently talking with the McLaren team.
Published at 13:22:07 GMT
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The Jaguar Racing team have denied they are holding talks to Finn driver Mika Hakkinen in order to sign the two-time World Champion for the 2002 season.
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