Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Because I believe in God and have faith in God, it doesn't mean I am immortal. It doesn't mean I am immune, as has been claimed. I am as scared as anyone of getting hurt, especially driving a Formula One car.
I wanted to make a film that wouldn't just appeal to Formula One fans. That's what the great sports documentaries do - 'Hoop Dreams,' 'When We Were Kings' - they're human dramas first, sport second, if at all.
The people in the grandstand just want to see good driving, good overtaking. But inside the sport everything is about money and politics. It's stupid. And I'm not just talking about Formula One. It's every sport.
I don't think I ever thought of growing up to be anything other than a musician. There really wasn't a plan B. Well, a kind of a distant plan B was to be a Formula One driver, but there really wasn't an entry point.
There are many young talents in Brazil. There is a lot of hope in Felipe Massa. It is very difficult to judge him in his first year, but by the end of the end we are going to have a better position how he does in Formula One.
Those who have come into Formula One without experiencing cars devoid of electronic aids will find it tough. To control 800 horse power relying just on arm muscles and foot sensitivity can turn out to be a dangerous exercise.
I have always been very calm on the outside. I'm not too stressed now just because I'm in formula one. For me, tomorrow will be another day whether I finish first or last. I have to do the maximum and I cannot ask any more from myself.
Nothing can really prepare you for when you get in the Formula One car. Knowing that you're driving a multimillion-dollar car, and if you crash it it's going to cost a lot of money, and they might not give you another chance, is scary.
I'm an extremist so I'm either hated or loved. I think it's down to when I first got to Formula One not always knowing what I was saying, saying things that mean one thing but people were taking the other way and then people don't forget.
I think that's a very good point they're bringing into Formula One at the moment, to get rid of all the electronics. And I think that's what a Formula One driver needs. That's why they are a Formula One driver. They need to drive themselves.
It's all very well to talk about how it would be great to have a woman driver, a woman with sponsors and marketing, that's all great but to get into that drive you have to perform. That's what I realized early on when I got into Formula One.
Corporate America doesn't really have an interest in Formula One because there is nothing American in it at this point. It is European and all made by Europeans. Until that changes, the interest isn't going to be at the level it needs to be.
I think social networks are really working for the drivers, because we're able to talk directly to fans and they get first-hand information. And I think it's great for the partners as well and the businesses that are involved in Formula One.
Around 16 years old, when I was in Formula 3 and looking at potential options for the future, that's when I realized that Formula One was in the picture. But to be honest, I really just took it year by year throughout my karting years and stuff.
My son understands a lot and he's pushing me really hard. He always tells me 'you need to win, you need to be good.' He's happy to see that his father is racing and I think he understands step by step more about Formula One and he really likes it.
When I was given the opportunity to direct 'Senna,' I decided the film had to work for audiences who disliked sport or had never seen a Formula One race in their lives. It had to thrill and emotionally engage people who had never heard of Ayrton Senna.
I never really looked at Formula One like that was the long-term goal. I obviously dreamed, and my aspirations were to get to Formula One, but I really started thinking about it in Formula 3 at 16, 17 years old, and I saw that it was right in front of me.
I can't remember what made my dad take us karting for the first time, I can't remember really. I was into motorsport by then and I knew everything, and every driver, it was around 2009, 2008. That's when I first properly knew about Formula One. Those were the days.
Millions around the world see Formula One as the pinnacle of motorsport, and I firmly believe that we should do whatever it takes to keep this accolade. Traction control, automatic gear changes, and launch control isn't my definition of the 'pinnacle of motorsport.'
You arrive at Formula One being very skeptical, how far can your talent deal with all this, and then you understand those guys are human and pretty reasonable, and finally succeeding in winning your first race, in circumstance as such, it was just an amazing moment.
A lot of people think Formula One isn't a sport because everyone drives a car when they go to work in the morning. But we're pulling up to six G on a corner or during breaking, which is almost like being a fighter pilot. So we have to do a lot of work on our neck muscles.
Just competing in the Brazilian GP is a dream for all Brazilian racing drivers. I remember sitting in the grandstands when I was a kid, watching Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet and even Rubens Barrichello. After that, to race there in Formula One is a feeling that is hard to explain.
Perhaps future space probes will be plastered in commercial logos, just as Formula One cars are now. Perhaps Robot Wars in space will be a lucrative spectator sport. If humans venture back to the moon, and even beyond, they may carry commercial insignia rather than national flags.
I understand when people think dressage is boring. But while your standard horse is like driving a Fiesta, our horses are like driving Formula One cars. I can't breathe without the horse reacting. You are training another being to become really responsive and athletic and powerful.
I have been waiting to win a world championship since 1985. I've had three cracks at a world title - in karting, I finished third at Le Mans; that hurt because it was very close, but then in Formula One there wasn't really an opportunity to finally crack it, so it's third time lucky.
Every day you are in the media for good or for bad and sometimes this is not helping the driver or the team to control the driver in the best way as well. But Ferrari is Ferrari and the biggest, most famous team in Formula One, so you have a lot more pressure there than at another team.
I've never been bashful to say that I'm not really interested in Formula One. When I lived in England, it's all I wanted to do and I thought that anything else would somehow be a compromise to my dreams. But then when I came back to the States, I realised how much I loved being back in the States.
In Formula One, the car can make a difference in a way that a driver cannot. Whereas Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna spent their early seasons in second-rate machinery, Hamilton walked into the equal best car on the grid. His first season none the less has, by any standards, been extraordinary.
Formula One was just cool. I loved racing, all types of racing, but from a young age, Formula One was the noise and everything, and that's what I was drawn to. I already knew when I was younger, the coolest guys are in F1... not that NASCAR drivers aren't cool, but that was always what I had in my head!
I think one thing Liberty finds frustrating is a lot of this business is conducted through the media. That's something they're not used to with American sport. There's that constant comparison of America sport and franchises verses Formula One - American sport works in America, it doesn't work globally.
I still wanted to race in Formula One, for a correct team, a nice team, one that is professional, where you would feel important. But there was no position for me to carry on, so I felt if that opportunity wasn't there, then it would be better for me to stop, and start thinking about doing different things.
I think as a 20-year-old you expect life to always be easy. You get given a good hand and the chance to race in Formula One. You think the driver can make the difference, can make up for everything else within the team. But that is not the case. You are racing in such a competitive sport so that doesn't happen.
Le Mans takes the best out of everyone. Winning is important but it's not everything. It's such a big and great event in motorsport. You do more kilometres in that one race than Formula One do in a season, and probably a higher average speed. We average about 220km/h including pit stops and cover nearly 5000km.
I'm not here for anything other than world championships. I don't want to be here driving around and finishing races and scoring points. I only want to win and if I can't do that - if I can't see that I have a future with wins and championships - then I'm not up for Formula One, I'll do something else where I can win.
People enjoy watching sports at the weekend and watching motor racing and whatever sports, and Formula One is the number one global platform which is competing regularly - not like the Olympic Games or the World Cup - so the macro case was this is something that we should be part of because it's going to grow, and it does.
You've got different governments and manufacturers saying, 'Oh, we'll be electric and autonomous by 2030 or whatever.' In my view Formula One is at a crossroads. What is its purpose? We have Formula E, and a lot of manufacturers are morphing into that area. But the emotion, the entertainment, the excitement of those cars just isn't there.