Michael Schumacher dismissed suggestions on Sunday that he had already decided to leave Formula One again at the end of the season after he finished a strong 7th in his 300th race, the Belgian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion said he had spoken to Formula One commercial ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone on Saturday, but had not told him he had decided to retire - or had made any decision yet on his future.

Ecclestone had told BBC Television earlier that he was sad Schumacher was leaving this time without winning another race to add to the 91 he won in his "original" career with Jordan, Benetton and Ferrari.

Schumacher said: "I guess he said: 'If I would leave?' as I told him yesterday I had not made a decision about my future and there is nothing new."

Asked about his 300th race, in which he ran strongly among the front runners for a time and held second place, he said: "We tried to gamble and try our luck with our race strategy. It looked reasonable from the start as we did reasonable lap times in my first stint.

"I enjoyed my 300th grand prix - it is beautiful to fight for the top end positions."

Agence France-Presse