In July 2002, nine months into his sabbatical, Häkkinen announced that he would be retiring from Formula One. It was later revealed that Häkkinen approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis during the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix and agreed a sabbatical, then returned to Monaco the following year to discuss and agree full-time retirement with Dennis. In October, Häkkinen made his first appearance as a commentator for pay-for-view channel Canal Digital at the United States Grand Prix.