Racing Season Quotes

My family is the No. 1 priority. Next is the motor-racing season.

Portland is a permanent road course built in a beautiful state, which is for me a fantastic area for many reasons. The downside is that the weather is so unpredictable that it's not uncommon to start the race on the dry and end with the rain as it happened to me in 1996 when I won my first Champ Car race.

Maybe next season we can race.

If I test the car for a year I can be quite competitive the next season.

I wanted to sign. We scheduled a meeting for the final race of the season in Japan but Frank Williams wasn't there and then he suddenly pulled the offer. On a human level I'm very disappointed with him.

The Worlds was great, Masters was great, but that was sort of mission accomplished with the Triple Crown.

I've enjoyed winning races in both 500cc and MotoGP and enjoyed leading the world championship and contesting it right up until the end.

The National is about however long it takes to run that race - eight minutes of fame - but champion jockey is about racing 365 days a year. I actually wouldn't swap any of my winners for the National.

Regardless, we are a two career household, and it's Dario's season, and I'm really excited about going racing.

Before they go to the race, people want to think four or five guys could win, but now... Normally you'd say, "One of those two, and I think it's going to be Lewis [Hamiltom]," because that's what had been proved up to now - thank God that Nico [Rosberg] has won some races.

I am a family man, and I have to find my priorities. During the season, it is to race. During the off-season, it is to spend time with my family.

The main factors in terms of how tiring a season can be are governed by the number of races and the length of time between the first and the last.

In my opinion we are at the limit now, and 17 races is really too much. With all the testing that we do now, it means we're always on the bike and it's quite difficult.

I think there is no defending a title. You don't go into a season with a points advantage over anyone. So I don't think it's ever a title defence. I think you've got a different number on your bike, if you choose so, but everyone starts at zero again.

To win on a mile-and-a-half is big for me.

The Sauber F1 Team has put its trust in me for 2015, and it makes me proud, as Sauber is known to be one of the best teams in developing young drivers. It will be a great challenge.

I know I won't be the first one to say this, but Suzuka is definitely my favourite circuit of the year.

From where started, I think it is too far down to try and win a championship at the end of the season, although we had a very good first race at Mondello and scored some good points.

Winter testing is essential but there comes a point where you have had enough of all the rehearsals and the pretend racing. You just want to get down to the real action.

Obviously being third in the Formula 1 world championship would be crazy.

People might not know, but F1 drivers have new helmets made throughout the season. Usually, the design is the same, but I like to do something special for Monaco.

I was invited to a couple of races, but I was doing a play in New York.

The fact is that I've got a contract with the BMW Williams F1 team until the end of 2004, and that the team will naturally be my number one negotiating partner for the following period.

I enjoyed my first season with Sauber, for sure.

I'm with McLaren, I'm contracted to McLaren. They might wish to continue, they might not, but before they take a decision I can't really do anything. So I'm patiently waiting for them.