Hill pulls out of last grand prix

The 1996 world champion climbed out of the car confessing his thoughts were more with his wife and his family than bowing out on a high note in the 115th and last race of his career at Suzuka.

He was given another stark reminder of the dangers that lurked around every corner when he made a fast and lurid trip across the grass at 150mph on lap 16.

That meant an unscheduled stop for new tyres, fuel, a nose cone and a dash back into the race near the back of the field in 18th.

Five laps later it was all over and he pulled into the pits.

In a typically honest assessment of his reasons he said: "At this point in my career I have to think of Georgie and the family. There's no point in continuing.

'After the 'off' I lost the nose cone and that meant a pit stop which cost me lots of time.

'After that I decided there was too little to gain and too much to lose in carrying on.

'I am sad to be leaving and would loved to have finished on a higher note, but Formula One for me is a thing of the past and that I have made the right decision to retire.

'I have lots of good memories to take with me.'

Among them are 22 victories with Williams and Jordan, 20 poles and 19 fastest laps.

Of the current drivers, only Schumacher has scored more than his career total of 360 points.

He is seventh in the all time list of poles in a season: nine in his championship year, 1996.

Only seven drivers in history have scored more points. And his total is better than that of Emerson Fittipaldi, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Jim Clark and Mika Hakkinen.

This season, though, he has admitted the fire has died - doused partly by age and partly by the new generation of cars which are far different to drive than they were even three years ago.

He has finished in the points just four times: fourth in San Marino, a brief resurgance with fifth place at his home Grand Prix at Silverstone and then two sixth places on the trot in Belgium and Hungary, scoring seven points while team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen has scored 54.