Ron Dennis, the McLaren team manager, admits he hates to see former driver Kimi Raikkonen "in pain".

Since winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on his Ferrari debut, little has gone right for the Finn, who left McLaren at the end of the 2006 campaign after five years working for Dennis.

McLaren's dream team of reigning world champion Fernando Alonso and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton relegated Raikkonen to third place in both Malaysia and Bahrain before the problems really kicked in on Formula One's return to Europe.

First, he was forced to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix and then a crash during qualifying at Monaco gave him an uphill battle as the McLaren duo romped home in the principality.

Having crossed the Atlantic for this Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Raikkonen is 15 points adrift of drivers' championship co-leaders Alonso and Hamilton. Yet Dennis still feels for the Finn.

"Drivers who have previously driven for our team are just that," Dennis said. "Without exception I would say everyone of them is still a friend, even Juan Pablo [Montoya] who sought a career in America and there was a difficult end to the relationship. But it was not one that was painful enough to damage the friendship.

"In the end Kimi is a friend, and I've seen him struggle with his problems. I see him as a friend and not a competitor, and I don't spend any time thinking about 'what ifs'.

"All the guys that have driven for McLaren have given their best, and we've tried to give them their opportunity. But the past is the past, the future is the future, and now is now. The reality is I don't spend any time thinking about it, other than seeing a friend in pain gives me no pleasure at all."