McLaren will not issue team orders and will enable David Coulthard to race against Mika Hakkinen, despite their collision at the Austrian Grand Prix last week. "The situation is completely unchanged," said Mercedes sporting director, Norbert Haug, in a press conference held at Hockenheim today. "We have a philosophy which led us to the world title and that philosophy is that basically we want to have two number ones.

"A balanced team has everyone with the same material and the same chances. How can you keep the motivation up among the mechanics if you tell one group that the other one is the favourite?" And referring to Coulthard's mistake, which saw Hakkinen lose out on a rather safe win, Haug said: "It was all sorted out after the race and now this thing is over. One mistake is okay. If it happened on a regular basis, it would be different but it's not the case. Mika and David work perfectly together and will continue to do so."

He also added that the two are indeed likely to continue racing for McLaren next season, as was speculated earlier last week. "An announcement on this will come shortly but I can't tell you if it will be in two or in 20 days," he said. "The plan is to stay as we are but I can't tell you anything more until the contracts are signed."