I  would  like  to  announce  today  my  decision  to  retire  from  racing  in  Formula  One  at  the  end  of  this season. I will remain actively involved in the sport as a consultant to Red Bull Racing focusing on testing and development of the cars. I have an open mind as to whether or not I will compete again in the future, in some other form of motorsport, so I am definitely not hanging up my helmet!

My  decision  to  retire  was  taken  earlier  in  the  year  and  is  based  on  a  desire  to  stop  while  I  am  still competitive  and  enjoying  the  immense  challenge  that  Grand  Prix  driving  represents.  I  also  have  the desire to look for new challenges within the sport.The  decision  to  make  this  announcement  at  the  British  GP  should  be  an  obvious  one  for  all  to understand, as I have achieved two of my thirteen F1 victories at Silverstone and I am a member of the British Racing Drivers' Club, which hosts this event.

I am proud of my work at Red Bull Racing and will continue to race with the same focus until the last lap in  Brazil.  Thereafter  I  will  continue  to  help  the  team  develop  and  move towards  their  ultimate  goal  of winning races.

There are many people who have played a part in my career and I would like to list a few of them below;

-    My parents whose energy and encouragement through my entire career has been amazing-    Dave Boyce who guided me through Karting-    David Leslie Senior and Junior for teaching me how to set up and race a car-    Sir Jackie and Paul Stewart for putting me through their "staircase of talent"-    Sir Frank Williams and Williams Renault for having the faith to promote me from test driver to race driver, which lead to my first GP victory

-    Ron Dennis and the McLaren team where I spent nine seasons and achieved the majority ofmy success.

-    Norbert Haug and Mercedes for being racers through and through-    Dietrich Mateschitz and his Red Bull Racing team for providing me with the chance to contribute to the development of a new team, while continuing to compete and add to my tally of podiums

-    Christian Horner for his open and professional management style in association with Helmut Marko-    Bernie Ecclestone for providing such a strong platform for us all to develop our skills and be able to call  ourselves  professionals.  In  years  to  come,  my  future  family  will  still  be  thanking  him  for  the financial success of F1

-    My  management  team  of  Martin  Brundle  and  David  Cawthorne  in  association  with  Annette Hutchinson and Iain Cunningham for providing their valued opinions.

-    There have been three teams but only one designer, so Adrian Newey deserves special thanks for all the champagne that I have sprayed

-    And  last  but  not  least,  all  the  media,  officials,  marshals,  medical  support,  mechanics,  engineers, sponsors, lawyers, accountants and back room staff that I have worked with during this period.