Motor racing: McLaren ponder Coulthard and Hakkinen's handshake

McLAREN will discuss whether to continue the controversial agreement between the Formula One team's drivers, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, before the Brazilian Grand Prix.

A McLaren spokeswoman said Hakkinen and Coulthard's first and second place at the Australian Grand Prix, after Coulthard had waved his team- mate through, was a "freak occurrence and is unlikely to happen again".

"We will try to avoid a similar situation and hopefully [the agreement] will not be necessary," she added.

The two drivers, on the front row of the grid, had agreed before the race that whoever led at the first corner would not be challenged by the other driver.

Hakkinen reached the corner first but made an unnecessary pit stop, leaving Coulthard in the lead. However, the Scot decided to let his team-mate through in light of their agreement, a decision which angered race organisers and punters.

The agreement was due to cover the Brazilian Grand Prix on 29 March, but the team will decide if it should continue.

"When we get out to Brazil we will have to discuss it. The objective for the team must be to come away with as many points as possible," she said.

The sport's ruling body, the FIA, announced on Monday the team would not be punished for the agreement. The McLaren team principal, Ron Dennis, said other teams were embarrassed that they had not followed McLaren's lead in developing their brake system.

Six teams made an official complaint on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix, asking the FIA to look into the system which they claimed gave the McLaren cars illegal traction control and power steering.

McLaren said the system had already been used in a race car at the end of last season and the team had kept the FIA informed throughout its development to ensure it was "perfectly legal".

"Some teams complain, they do not have the money to develop something like this but it's more accurate for them to say: `We do not have the brains'. And that's not my problem," Dennis insisted.