Sebastian Vettel

"The chequered flag is really just a stupid wooden stick and a piece of cloth. It's a small thing, but it means so much when you cross the line at moments like that. It was unbelievable."

"It will take time for this to sink in. It was my dream to one day drive a Formula One car and even if my target now has been to fight for poles and race wins, I didn’t expect it today and it feels fantastic. Doing it here in Italy is also amazing."

"The lap back to the pits and the whole podium ceremony was just unbelievable. I think for sure this is the best day of my life. These pictures, these emotions, I will never forget. It is unbelievable. It is so much greater than you might think it is. It is great. Again, I can just say a big, big thank you to all the guys working in the team. I think they did a fantastic job. Who might have thought about that at the beginning of the season. We had a poor start but then it got better and better and in these conditions we can make a bit of a gap by staying longer on full throttle. It is great, fantastic. I am speechless."

"At the first test I really started to go through a couple of names and I like the name Liz and Luscious Liz fits quite well, I think. It’s an attractive car, it’s quick and successful. But the main attribute naturally should be that she’s bloody quick."

"The three Michaels - Michael Schumacher, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. I wanted to become Michael Jackson when I was young. It was painful to realise that I didn’t have the voice…"

"My new car's called ‘Randy Mandy’, which we decided on this morning. We all liked the name immediately - a good sign I guess, but no, it’s not actually named after a real girl."

"Yeah, I’m not afraid of him. As far as I remember, he fell off a bike a couple of years ago or last year, so his leg is still a bit unstable, so I can always run away, plus I’m younger, so there are good chances for me."

"Germany will clearly win the match as Australia is the weakest team in our group, so winning should be imperative, even though Mark (Webber) has a different opinion on that. But as we know, the both of us have lately had some different opinions on things anyway."

"Well, I think as far as I understood if you said to Red Bull I think we are still selling cans, so not much has happened in that regard."

"It’s all different. He’s Australian, I’m German. He has car number six, I have car number five, so I think there’s lots of stuff for you to write again."

"I can only say that Red Bull gives you wings. It’s as simple as that."

"We have a saying - I don’t know if it makes any sense in English - but where I come from we say ‘if the dog wouldn’t have gone for a shit, he would have got the cat’ which is basically would, could, should."

"I'm mad at you, I'm mad at you. You said you're not a Ferrari fan. Everybody is a Ferrari fan, even if they're not, they're a Ferrari fan. Even if you go to the Mercedes guys, even if they say, 'Oh yeah, Mercedes is the greatest brand in the world', they are Ferrari fans. I'll tell you what though, the two seagulls I avoided into turn one some lap when Lewis caught up more than half a second in the first sector, they were definitely not called Alesi and Berger. They were maybe, I don't know… Nico and Lewis, trying to commit suicide. But I was braking for animals, Lewis didn't. But yeah, I know that has nothing to do with your question, but err… I am still mad at you."

"I was one time in Mauritius on holiday and Michael Schumacher came to me. He said 'Gerhard, you have to look. There is this guy in go-karts, the name is Vettel.' I said 'Who?' 'Vettel, he is very quick.' And that was many years ago."

"You have to pinch yourself to remember how young he is, to be honest, because in the way he presents himself, the way he drives the car and then tells you about the car in his feedback in the debriefs and so forth, he has a much older pair of shoulders on him than is apparent."

"If I could design a superstar, the result would be Sebastian Vettel. He's just what F1 needs - young, supertalented, intelligent, but with no trace of arrogance. And he's popular with the public and good with the media."