Emerson Fittipaldi Quotes

The fast, flowing parts, the high-speed corners, that's where a Formula One car is at its best - changes of direction, pulling high g-forces left and right.

To understand the intensity of driving an F1 car, you have to be in it. When you're driving a 750hp machine at 200mph, the noise and the vibrations are incredible. The G-force when you take big corners is like someone trying to rip your head off. You hit the brakes, and it feels as if the skin is being pulled off your body.

I like high speed corners, but with the F111, it is taking a little time to build up to that.

From GP3 to Formula 2, it's obviously a step, but it's only a step on driving I would say. Here from Formula 2 to Formula 1, it's a huge step on driving because we have nearly 400 BHP more, with a lot more downforce. So it's a completely different car.

There's a lot of debate on this subject - about what kind of car handles best. Some say a a front-engined car, some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car. Nothing handles better than a rented car. You can go faster, turn corners sharper, and put the transmission into reverse while going forward at a higher rate of speed in a rented car than in any other kind.

And luckily, therefore the good old days return. The traditional art of driving counts again, and it is all about good tactics, skills and reflexes instead of simple power.

Nothing's ever too fast. Maybe sometimes on the road some people are too fast if they don't know how to control the car, but in racing, the faster and more power and grip, the better it is.

To be honest, once you've driven around for about five, 10 laps, you don't notice a difference.

Yeah, well I think anyone who likes fast cars will love the Tesla. And it has fantastic handling by the way. I mean this car will crush a Porsche on the track, just crush it. So if you like fast cars, you'll love this car. And then oh, by the way, it happens to be electric and it's twice the efficiency of a Prius.

The faster you go, the shorter you are.

When you walk the track and you see a corner and realise you were going round it at 160mph, you wonder who could be so stupid to take a corner at that speed. But in the car, you don't even think about that.

When it's wet, you're much more tense on the steering wheel, you have to dance with the throttle and the brakes more. Each lap is a different scenario, so you're really on the edge of your nerves. One mistake could cost you the entire race.

I've always been attracted to cars, and driving is a completely measurable experience: if you qualify last on the grid, you're the slowest, and if you qualify first on the grid, you're the fastest. So no one can say you're slow if you're fast and no one can say you're fast if you're slow.

I'm a really good driver. I've been driving since I was very small, and I do like driving fast. I remember the first time my dad taught me that when you go into a corner you change down then put your foot right down on the way out. I'm very competitive about driving.

People ask how hard it can be sitting down for work during a 500-mile race? Well, without power steering or power brakes, holding onto 650 horses in a car that has nearly 3,000 pounds of downforce and can produce up to 4Gs vertically and laterally can be extremely tough - even sitting down.

If I get into a car on a circuit, I drive as fast as I can; that's it!

I have never driven an IndyCar, but based on everything I've heard, the characteristics and how you drive them are 180 degrees different.

The lighter the car, the faster it goes.

I just try to see what happens when you put your feet on the accelerator.

Bobsledding is like sprinting with NASCAR. You get to push these 400-pound sleds as fast as you can down a hill and hop in. How could you not enjoy that?

People say a two-man sled is like driving a racecar, and a four-man is like driving a truck. And it feels that way.

I was impressed by the braking power an F1 car has.

When you get to an F1 car and after one lap you see the pace is there, it is special emotions and I miss it so much.

You get such a visceral thrill driving a race car. You think you've driven, and then you're like, 'Oh, I was doing something for 20 years that I didn't realize I hadn't experienced the real version of.'

The car drives really really good so far. No changes on the next pit stop. It's great, I can hold it down right along the bottom here in the corners I'm just ridin' around out here just waiting until later to make a move