In attendance for Schumacher's last raceMika Hakkinen, 1998 and 1999 world champion, has told reporters at Interlagos that he flew to Brazil in order to watch
Michael Schumacher compete in formula one for the last time.
The Finn, who retired in 2001 and today races
in the DTM series, was named by Ferrari's Schumacher as his most memorable title rival when the retiring seven time title winner addressed the world's media on Thursday. Schumacher said driving against Hakkinen was 'pure racing'.
"The best fights were with Mika," Schumacher said. "I remember 2000, and also 1998 and 1999, with a lot of good memories."
Hakkinen told Eurosport: "It was fantastic. It was pure racing. It was not about crashing, not complaining after the race in the press.
That's one of the biggest reasons why there is such a high respect from Michael to me. And vice versa."
Hakkinen, 38, was also asked if he would ever consider returning to the cockpit of a Formula One car, perhaps for a McLaren test.
Hakkinen, a guest of the Mercedes-powered team in Brazil, said: "I'm sure Ron Dennis would give me enough time to test in F1 but it would be only for fun."
