He finished as runner-up in the Drivers' Championship in 2000, behind Michael Schumacher and secured two more victories in 2001 before announcing a sabbatical from the sport, which became full-time retirement in mid-2002. He currently works in driver management and is a brand ambassador for various companies.
For 2000, Häkkinen set himself new limits along with physical and psychological preparations for the upcoming season. He also believed that he along with Schumacher and Coulthard would be the key drivers of 2000. He endured a bad start: at the opening round in Australia, both McLaren cars retired with engine failure after completing less than half of the race distance; and in the following race in Brazil, Häkkinen was forced into retirement when his car's oil pressure became problematic. However, this marked a turning point as Häkkinen took consecutive second-place finishes in the next two rounds, and later reached his first victory of the season in Spain.
Häkkinen finished in second position at the European Grand Prix, having traded the lead position with Schumacher throughout the race. He followed up the result by taking sixth place at Monaco, fourth in Canada and a podium finish with second position in France. The day after the French Grand Prix, it was announced that Häkkinen would remain at McLaren for 2001. Häkkinen won the following race held in Austria, although his team were stripped of constructors' points due to a missing seal on the electronic control unit in Häkkinen's car.[86] He took another podium finish with a second place in Germany, and later had another victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he took the lead of the World Drivers' Championship from Schumacher.
Häkkinen raced to his second consecutive victory in Belgium, which included a simultaneous pass on Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta in the Kemmel straight.[88] Häkkinen later took second place in Italy, and retired with an engine failure in the United States. He rounded off the year with a second place in Japan where he conceded the World Championship to Schumacher, and held fourth position in the season closing race held in Malaysia.