Makinen to retire at end of season

"In my mind I am already thinking about retiring," said Makinen. "This is not going to have any effect on the way I drive this year, though. I will be pushing hard and giving everything 100 percent effort to make sure I go out on a high and win this year."

Makinen admitted that his performance last season wasn't his best - he won one rally and finished eighth in the standings in his first year with Subaru. But the Finn is determined this year will be different and has high hopes for the team's new Impreza WRC, which makes its debut on next week's Monte Carlo Rally.

"I feel good about the new car," he said. "From the testing we've found some very good performance for this year. I lost a little motivation in Finland last year, that won't happen this time around. I want to win the championship again."

Makinen won four consecutive world titles between 1996 and 1999 and currently lies second in the WRC wins table, with 24 victories to his name - one less than 1995 world champ Colin McRae.