Hakkinen ends retirement speculation
Mika Hakkinen has laughed off speculation he is set to retire at the end of the season
The 31-year-old was rumoured to be tiring of the frantic pace of Grand Prix racing and the constant strain of competing at the very front, weekend after weekend.
The Finn was also reported to be under person pressure from his wife Erja to leave the sport behind.
But as he prepared for the European Grand Prix on Thursday Hakkinen said he would be seeing out his McLaren contract which runs until the end of 2001.
"Maybe the stories were started by Michael Schumacher," he joked.
"There is no truth in them at all. I will retire one day - everyone has to.
"But at the moment I still love getting in a racing car and driving and I am in no rush to walk away from it all.
"I can't promise I will be racing next year because you never know what's going to happen in life, but at the moment it is my intention to carry on racing."
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