OCTOBER 23, 2000

Todt hints at retirement

FERRARI sporting director Jean Todt has hinted that he is considering early retirement from the sport helping the team to constructors' championship victory and Michael Schumacher to the drivers' title this season.

After winning their first drivers' championship for 21 years and retaining the constructors' crown, Todt is aware that the team are set to embark on a new era in the sport and it may be time for him to bow out and let the next generation through.

Todt said: "Yes, this is the end of a challenge for me, or at least the completion of a project, and it is a very satisfying moment for me. I came to Ferrari to do this and I am happy to have done the job.

"I love motor racing, but I don't know what I want to do. There are other things in my life and I need to reflect and have some time. I do not want to work like I have been working these past few years for the rest of my life."

Todt, 54, has been with the team for seven years after working for the Peugeot world rally team. When he joined the Italian team he was given a direct brief by the Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo to rebuild the famous Italian outfit and lead them back to glory.