Schumacher to return to retirement after season

Michael Schumacher on Thursday announced he will return to retirement at the end of the season.

The news, announced by the seven time world champion at Suzuka ahead of the Japanese grand prix, follows Mercedes’ decision to replace him for 2013 with Lewis Hamilton.

Schumacher, 43, had been linked with a move elsewhere, but with his voice creaking with emotion he said in Japan: "I still feel I am capable of competing against the best but the time sometimes comes to say goodbye and this time it might be forever."

"During the past month, I was not sure if I still had the motivation and energy which is necessary to go on. It is not my style to do something that I am not 100 per cent feeling for. With today’s decision, I feel released from those doubts and in the end my ambition to fight for victories and the pleasure of driving is nourished by competitiveness."

"I would obviously like to thank Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, the team, the engineers, and all my mechanics for all the trust that they put in those years in to myself. But I would also like to thank all of my friends, partners and companions who over many years in motor sport supported myself."