Hill admits he may retire early

Damon Hill yesterday said he will consider stepping down from the Jordan team early if his performances do not meet the team's requirements.

Hill has until now said that he will retire from Formula One and the Jordan team at the end of the season, but yesterday, despite reiterating his wish to complete the remaining 10 races on the calendar, he admitted that things may change if he continues to underperform.

While Jordan have made no demands of the driver, team boss Eddie Jordan last week hinted that the British Grand Prix in two weeks' time would possibly be a good time for Hill to go, leaving the team to consolidate its third place in the constructors' championship with a fresher driver.

Speaking in a radio interview, Jordan said: "But if Damon did decide if things didn't work out at some future time, such as after the British Grand Prix for instance and said: `look Eddie, I'm not helping the team as much as I want to', I think he'd step down."

And yesterday, as Hill arrived in Magny Cours to begin preparations for Sunday's French Grand Prix, he admitted that the possibility of an early departure can not be discounted.

"One of the reasons I made my announcement was to make it clear where I stand," Hill said.

"I wanted to make it plain to Eddie, everyone in the Jordan team, the sponsors and the public, that I see an end, at the end of this year. I do not want to damage in any way Eddie's hopes of securing his highest ever constructors' championship position. If my performances are not up to it then of course we will have to discuss it, but that is certainly not my intention."

Hill made his decision to quit motor racing after crashing out of the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the fourth time in six races he had failed to finish. He had also been comprehensively out-performed by new team-mate Heinz Harald Frentzen in each race but yesterday denied the German's superiority had anything to do with his choice.

"I think Heinz has been absolutely brilliant this year," he said.

"But for him, Eddie would not be where he is in the championship. I have never really been outpaced on a regular basis by my team-mate in the past and so I look to myself more than to what Heinz is doing. Heinz is doing what is expected and I have done less than that, so I'm more disappointed with my own performance."

When Hill does leave Formula One he admitted he hoped not to retire completely from the circus.

"I would love to be involved in F1 in some way. It is an amazing spectacle. But I would like to spend more time at home. F1 is an area where I believe I have a lot of expertise and a lot of experience to put to good use."

The Jordan driver denied, however, that he would make any move toward the Champ Car or Indy Car series in the US.

"There is no chance of that," he said.

"I regard F1 as the pinnacle of motor sport. The strength and depth of talent and professionalism is greater than in any other category of motorsport, so it's difficult to do something less when you have done something like this. That's how I regard F1, it is not to be rude about or denigrate F1. Also, logistically, I don't want to move the family again."

Meanwhile, world champion Mika Hakkinen admitted that he had been surprised by Hill's decision.

"Damon actually started racing in F1 after I did, so it is quite a surprise to me that he is retiring now. But he is a lot older than I am and he has four kids, so I suppose he feels he has done his time in F1 and he wants to concentrate on something else in life."

Hakkinen is back in control of the world championship, overtaking arch-rival Michael Schumacher with victory in Canada two weeks ago when Schumacher crashed out. Hakkinen now believes that McLaren have now shaken off the reliability problems that plagued them earlier in the season and are ready to stretch that lead at Magny Cours this weekend.

"Testing here last week went really well," he said. "We were able to do three good days, with the car running reliably all the way through the test. We were also able to develop the car, which means we can come here for the race feeling comfortable and with a clear mind. In development work there are always pluses and minuses but we were happy about it."