Family man Hakkinen
confirms retirement

Former world champion Mika Hakkinen confirmed his retirement from Formula One on Friday, ending all speculation about a possible comeback.

The Finn, champion with McLaren in 1998 and 1999, announced his decision in a video filmed at his lakeside summer home in Finland and shown by his former team at a news conference confirming their 2003 driver line-up.

"Now it's time to retire, it's time to stop," said the 33-year-old, who was Michael Schumacher's great rival at the end of the 1990s.

Hakkinen announced last year that he was going to skip this season and on Friday his young replacement and compatriot Kimi Raikkonen was confirmed by McLaren alongside Briton David Coulthard for 2003.

The elder 'Flying Finn', who won 20 Grands Prix in his 11-year and 161-race career, said he had decided to quit at last year's Monaco Grand Prix but was persuaded by team principal Ron Dennis to take time to think it over.

The sabbatical had failed to change his mind and the Finn said a visit to this year's Monaco Grand Prix only strengthened his original decision.

"I went to see Ron and said 'I do want complete retirement,'" Hakkinen said. He was seen relaxing with his wife Erja and their young son Hugo.

"I would say the decision was more about the time I want to spend with the family, to see Hugo growing and spend time with my wife.

"And simply also I didn't want to hurt myself. I've been through so much in my career in Formula One, particularly in 1995, and I did achieve so much that I thought that it's not worth it any more to push your luck further."

LAST WIN

Coulthard and Hakkinen spent six seasons together in the longest Formula One partnership to date and the Scot wished his old friend well.

Retirement meant that the 2001 U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis will go down in history as the Finn's last victory as well as one of his most satisfying.

His first came at the 1997 European Grand Prix, when Canadian Jacques Villeneuve won the title and made no attempt to prevent the McLaren passing his Williams.

Many teams might have given up on the Finn long before that breakthrough win, with Hakkinen completing six seasons before first sighting the chequered flag.

But Dennis stood by him, their friendship cemented after Hakkinen's recovery from a near-fatal crash at the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide when the Finn speared into a wall at speed in practice.

Hakkinen's first win opened a floodgate and he took eight victories in 1998 to beat Ferrari's Schumacher to the championship by 14 points.

He repeated the feat in 1999, beating Ferrari's Eddie Irvine to the title by two points after Schumacher had broken his leg at Silverstone.

It was the last time any driver has got the better of Schumacher in the championship and the German, who always rated Hakkinen as his most competitive opponent, beat him comfortably in 2000.

In his final season, the Finn's thoughts were clearly elsewhere and he finished fifth overall, despite wins at Indianapolis and Silverstone.

Both victories came after he had made his mind up.

"Once I had spoken with Ron a huge weight came off my shoulders," he said on Friday of his 2001 decision.

"Those two Grands Prix made me even stronger and more comfortable about my decision."