Schumacher still rules out return

The seven-time Formula One world champion showed he had lost none of his speed in retirement as he made it through to the final of the Race of Champions at Wembley, losing out to DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom in a tie-breaker.

But despite the competitive showing, Schumacher made it clear that his primary motivation for any return to a cockpit is only to have fun.

"We come here to enjoy ourselves, to be here for a good reason, the ICM charity, and finally to race and do this as professional as we can and as good as we can," said Schumacher, who beat Jenson Button and Sebastien Bourdais en route to the final.

"Mattias has done it twice in a row so obviously he is twice as good as the rest, but we can all live with this because it is not a championship, there is no pressure and that is what is good about it."

When asked if his strong showing, which included helping Germany to the Nations Cup, had fired up his competitive instinct enough to make a return to full-time action, Schumacher responded swiftly: "No."

However, he made it clear that taking part in future 'fun' events like the Race of Champions was definitely of interest.

"Honestly this is the first time of my retirement," he explained. "In previous years you have to see that this is a period, if you race in F1, that you have a lot of pressure. You need to be determined, you need to be focused, and then you have to handle it.

"I also have a family. So at this stage of the season I like to switch off completely. In 2004 I was able to match it with some other reasons and I could do it, but afterwards I was just so empty at the end of the year that I didn't want to do it any more. Now I am relaxed, open for any fun events such as those."