McLaren sights on a third title

Michael Schumacher has been told to forget any plans to regain the World Championship title next season. Schumacher insisted that had he not missed seven races through injury then he could have succeeded where outgoing team-mate Eddie Irvine failed. But the 30-year-old was warned by McLaren boss Ron Dennis that Hakkinen will be a far tougher proposition as he searches for the hat-trick in 2000.

"Mika dominated the race from the first lap to the end. He drove it perfectly, probably the best race I have ever seen from him," said Dennis after Hakkinen's Suzuka triumph from the Ferrari duo.

"It just goes to show that Mika only makes mistakes when he is not under any pressure. "People say Michael not being there made it a lot easier but I think Mika would have done a lot better had Michael been there.

"Eddie was relying on Mika not winning the race. He was almost a lap down and one-and-a-half seconds off the pace and though I quite like Eddie I think the world champion should be just that.

"The world champion should have won a few poles, the world champion should not be running one and a half seconds off the leaders."

Schumacher, who finished second ahead of Irvine to help Ferrari to their first Manufacturers Championship in 16 years, was sidelined after breaking his leg in two places at the British Grand Prix.

But he claimed pole on his comeback in Malaysia and dominated the race before gifting victory to Irvine and he was in prime position only to surprisingly allow Hakkinen into the lead.

"I am not frustrated because of the injury," said Schumacher, the last man to previously win back-to-back titles in 1994 and 95. "Everyone knows what happened there and you cannot plan for these things.

"For me it is clear what kind of results I could have done had I carried on.

"I believe I can win the drivers championship again and that is what I'll be looking to do next year even though there are still things we can work on improving."

But Dennis also warned Schumacher that McLaren would provide Hakkinen with an even better machine next year, having learned a valuable lesson this season in losing the constructors title by four points.

"We've changed our approach to next year. We will start to run most of the critical parts of the car over the course of the next few weeks."

Hakkinen, only the seventh driver to retain the title, will be bidding for a hat-trick which has only been achieved by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio.

Disappointed Irvine left for a holiday in the United States yesterday, knowing that he is unlikely to get a better chance of claiming motor sport's most wanted prize.

"I am really looking forward to going to Jaguar because they have got great potential," said the Ulsterman. "But I need two months off first.

"But I'll be shedding no tears over the defeat. I gave it my best shot but unfortunately it just wasn't enough."