``I will quit everything when I am 50``
Aguri Suzuki, the former Formula One driver whose new team Super Aguri will join the premier motorsport circuit from this season, said Wednesday he will retire in five years.
The Japanese star reiterated his resolve, however, to see his drivers stand on the Formula One podium in a few years.
"I am tired," the 45-year-old Suzuki said with a smile in an interview with a small group of journalists ahead of the F1 season.
"I will quit everything when I am 50. I will retire when I am 50," he said. "I want to spend my time doing other things."

His team is preparing to join the 2006 F1 championship with the first race set for March 12 in Bahrain.

Suzuki started in the 1988 Grand Prix and was the first Asian to stand on the Formula One podium in Suzuka in 1990 when he finished third.

Having finished his F1 driving career in 1995, he has shifted focus to developing his team Super Aguri, with selected drivers now competing in Japanese and US races.

Suzuki launched the Formula One team late last year under his Super Aguri project and signed BAR-Honda reject Takuma Sato and newcomer Yuji Ide, forming the first all-Japanese driver line-up in the history of the sport.

His drivers "will be on the podium in two to three years," Suzuki said, when asked whether he expected Super Aguri drivers to take such honors before his planned retirement.

Suzuki said he was long set on retiring at age 50, even when he was driving in Formula One.

"I always thought about what I would do next," he said.

Tags: grand-prix,