Finn Hakkinen, who won the world championship with the McLaren team in 1998 and 1999, decided to take a season's break from the sport to spend more time with his family - wife Erja and young son Hugo.

Hakkinen has refused to directly answer questions about a return to racing in 2003, but has said his time away from the car has made him think about the dangers in the high-speed sport.

"There are always reasons for decisions that anybody makes and my reasons made me think in the middle of last season more and more about motor racing," said Hakkinen.

"I thought about myself, my family and everything. So it makes you a little bit afraid. Inside, mentally, when you know you are going to take a break it makes you think."

Hakkinen will be replaced for 2002, and possibly beyond, by fellow Finn and vastly improving Kimi Raikkonen, who took the sport by storm in his first season this year with the Sauber team.

Raikkonen will team-up with British driver David Coulthard, who led McLaren's title charge last season after a dismal, and luckless, campaign for Hakkinen, who never troubled the title leaders and eventual championship winner Michael Schumacher.

Coulthard is apparently missing Hakkinen already and has asked his team-mate to return in a testing capacity next season, to help boost the ranks and keep his eye in with the developments of the car before a potential return in 2003.

"David has asked me already to come and test," added Hakkinen. "It was a little surprise for me, but I think the question was very serious.

"But at the moment I'm in a situation that I'm taking time off and spending time with my family as much as I can and haven't been thinking about going testing. I don't want to test and there's no contract."

Hakkinen knows that if he does return in 2003 he will have a lot of catching up to do with the inevitable developments on the car. But he is confident he will keep up to speed.

He added: "There are so many complicated issues that can make a return very difficult. I want to race in the 2003 season and I will have to be very focused on all the developments of the car."

Whether Hakkinen returns to race in 2003 or not is still up for debate, but he is aware that another impressive season from Raikkonen and Coulthard will not make his decision any easier. Hakkinen may need to rely, in some part, on his close friendship with McLaren team boss Ron Dennis.

"Anything can happen," he said. "It could be a situation that they will dominate next season. It will be a difficult decision for Ron, but let's wait and see what happens."