Schuey retires againposted in F104 | 10 | 2012

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER CONFIRMED his retirement from Formula 1, then admitted he feels a sense of 'relief' having made the announcement.

The seven-times world champ, who has been replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for the 2013 season, admitted he felt some excitement and could now look forward to a rest after his three years back in the sport.

"If anything, it's relief," he said. "We had a three-year agreement and already it was hard work for me to keep the motivation and keep the energy and always go forward.

"With all that I have achieved, it is natural that you think about it a little bit more than maybe being young. So in a way how things have developed, I am actually very pleased.

"I have always been informed by the team, so I knew what was going on and I am quite happy that things have developed in this direction and I am free to get back the freedom I had before.

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"I told you at the time of my first retirement in 2006 that my battery was empty, and now I am on the red zone with my batteries.

"I was not sure if I could recharge them with the time we have available or not, and I felt it is time for freedom again.

"The special moment in a way was obviously that the team found an option with Lewis, and that sort of helped me find that decision.

"Obviously there was an option for me to do so at an earlier stage and I was in the picture when the negotiation going on, but I didn't want to decide.

"I wasn't sure about myself, so it is like this. Sometimes in life your destiny will develop by itself and so it did. But without any hard feelings and without any regrets."

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Jim McGill