Jos Verstappen Quotes

We share the emotions of driving race cars. It's cool to have a dad who understands what you mean when you talk about oversteer or traction. But it's not a help at the race.

I mean, you've kind of got the track down, especially with ovals. The only thing that improves is that when race conditions come, you know what to expect slightly more from the track and from your car.

In sport there is never any moment that is the same as the other. I have been in Formula One for 12 years, and out of that I had one year with the perfect car.

The driver of a racing car is a component. When I first began, I used to grip the steering wheel firmly, and I changed gear so hard that I damaged my hand.

That's what race fans love to see. That's what they bought this ticket for. That's what they're sitting in the grandstands rooting on their favorite driver for is to see him get out there, mix it up clean and bring it home just like we were, third and fourth.

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.

I have been in Formula One for 12 years, and out of that I had one year with the perfect car.

I don't think that American drivers going to NASCAR are taking the easy way out because as I said, the racing is amazing; it's just that it's easier to adapt to what you grow up with. American drivers grow up with NASCAR, they know NASCAR, and that's where they want to go.

Firstly the cars aren't too complicated. They have no traction control, for example, which means you can spin if you try too hard and damage your tires if you're not careful with your driving style.

The first race is really just something that we will all need to get through. Until people see the cars in action I don't think they will understand how quick they will be, which means they are going to be tiring to drive.

When you're doing Sebring in the back straight at 185 or 187, and the car's moving, you gotta know what to do with it, how to read it. Just the science of understanding shocks - forget spring rates - is mind-boggling.

When you drive a car, either you manage it and feel it with the grip of the car, or, like me, you fix it on visual speed. If you do it through the grip, you lose it very quickly - because when the track changes, you can have scares. I do it visually, so if I am going too fast I fight to get the car back, but I do not do it by feeling the grip.

I think I've explained earlier on in the year that I kind of underestimated how important experience was in this series, especially when you're up against such good quality drivers.

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.'

People say that F1 is blessed with the 'best drivers in the world,' but I want to witness the 'total best drivers in the world,' and this means taking away the elements that make their job easier.

I adapt my driving style more or less to anything, from go-kart to motorbike to wet, more downforce, less downforce, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin, V8, V6, whatever.

You can always figure if it's a Busch race then I'm going to be at the front.

I'm very happy to work with Prema and work in F2 because I have the feeling in some ways, it's a bit more difficult to drive and to work with the tyres than F1.

When I joined Formula One, I knew that what I found is that the cars are so much faster, and it took me a little while to understand where to always put the car.

And I'd get back to the cars being physical challenges to drive - to tame the beast. The cars we have at the moment are fantastic bits of engineering, but it's a little too comfortable, a little too easy. I think I'd go back to making the driver a bigger variable.

When I'm doing longer runs I can be very consistent on the lap times because I know what the car is doing all the time.

I think what I've found is that in IndyCar, the balance is a bit more all over the place compared with Formula 1! You have to get used to that and work around it. Again, as a driver, you can help the situation by the way you brake and apply the throttle to make the balance better.

I think I did a pretty good job - particularly when I was racing with Hakkinen. It was maybe the first time that I have been challenging with the big boys, and I really enjoyed it.

In World Series, everything is a bit slower than F1. But each time I sit in the car, whether it is World Series or F1, once I am in the cockpit, I am mentally prepared for what the car is. I don't have to physically drive it to remember what it is doing.

Basically, it is always good for a team if both drivers are very quick.