Race Car Drivers

"Man is a moral creature. The moral sense is so deeply rooted in human beings that no thief, no murderer has ever asked the abrogation of the penalties against theft and murder. All the laws that have ruled human organization in the past and rule them at present are based on the moral sense: on what is right and wrong. And no religion, no legislature has ever deemed it necessary to define right and wrong, because no one has any doubt as to the meaning of these terms. Only the worshippers of the pseudoscience of modern times regard morality and immorality, justice and injustice, good and evil, as anti-scientific concepts, since it is not possible to reproduce them in a laboratory. … The reasonings of the vivisectionists are unscientific because they don't take into account the intangible realities of life. The moral law is one such intangible reality: And it is the incomprehension of this reality that marks the inescapable failure of experimental science when applied to living beings, with its inevitable sequence of tragic errors."

"It is difficult to become familiar with animals without becoming fond of them, provided one doesn't wish to domineer them. I have never heard that love for animals has changed to hate, but many cases where the opposite happened. Many hunters, obliged to observe the animals while stalking them, in time grow increasingly reluctant to kill them, and finally wish to become wardens in the national parks, to help protect them. Very few vivisectors seem to be hampered by this natural evolution that leads to the love and respect of the animals through a deeper knowledge of them."

"Many of the medical men who have denounced the practice of vivisection as inhuman, fallacious and dangerous have been among the most distinguished in their profession. Rather than a minority, they ought to be called an élite. And in fact, opinions should not only be counted — they should also be weighed. The first great medical man who indicated that vivisection is not just inhuman and unscientific, but that it is unscientific because it is inhuman was Sir Charles Bell … At the time the aberration of vivisection began to take root in its modern form, he declared that it could only be practiced by callous individuals, who couldn't be expected to penetrate the mysteries of life."

"I honesty thought it was over."

"It has been easy to settle in."

"Newey's a fantastic guy. His knowledge of car preparation is uncanny. He's a total engineer, not simply a guy who can draw lines. He's great out in the field because he totally understands setup; and he understands both oval and road courses. I'm amazed at his knowledge, especially when you look at his (relative lack of) experience."

"Adrian is the best engineer I`ve ever worked with."

"Adrian is the one that makes the car so fast. He really makes a difference."

"I love the drawing board because most of the work I do is of half scale, so I can have the complete car in front of me, whereas the CAD system limits you to the size of the screen."

"I have to say that I had the best car, but James drove incredibly well towards the end."

"Monaco is a silly event, not a proper Grand Prix at all. It ceased to be a real race many years ago when wide tires and wings came to be used on Formula 1 cars, making them entirely unsuitable for the absurdly confined spaces in the streets of Monte Carlo... The Monaco Grand Prix is really just an exhibition in which the unfortunate drivers are asked to perform and it still exists only for the benefit of the sponsors who want to show off in the 'glamorous' atmosphere and for the people who want to preserve the 'image' of Formula 1. They should have a parade instead. Then all the cars could parade around like the idiotic 'jetset' poseurs who are thicker on the ground at Monaco than anywhere else in the world."

"Most people think I have a lot of fun and that I'm a pretty good driver but they don't take my driving all that seriously."

"In a straight fight I think James was more than Niki's equal. Our car was fairly ordinary and James just gave it a hell of a drive."

"I don’t think anyone can take Michael’s place. Michael is Michael and he always will be. To the sport he’s a legend, like other legends, like other great champions – Prost, Senna – you know, he’s in the same league and there’s no way you can replace someone. [...] For sure Michael is the one that everyone is looking up to in Germany and that won’t change for quite a long time. I think the records he has set are quite unique, so even though at the moment he gets a lot of shit, he probably knows what he’s doing. I think if you look at his face, he seems relaxed, so he knows what’s going on and I think that’s also a quality a champion has to have."

"I think we lose and we will miss a great champion on the track. He beat all the records so he has the best numbers in Formula One but I think maybe F1 will focus more on sport after that."

"It is a pity for F1 to lose such a great champion, but the time to stop comes to everyone."

"I've always believed that you should never, ever give up and you should always keep fighting even when there's only a slightest chance."

"Just being a mediocre driver has never been my ambition. That's not my style."

"With the car we had, getting a pole was sort of obvious."

"I'm Michael Schumacher. I don't need to test my driving ability"

"First, you have to finish."

"He will be missed as a friend and colleague and as the ultimate professional. It's the end of Michael's career in Formula One so in that sense, it is the end of an era. When you look at his record, that's going to be difficult to beat."

"He has everything to lose and nothing to gain, so it's very logical and sensible to retire while he's on top of his game, but knowing Michael, everything he has been able to do, I think he would still have the energy to continue."

"I am sure he has thought long and hard about his decision and I respect it. I've enjoyed racing with him and I wish him all the best both for the championship and the future."

"If the best guy in the world retires it is certainly a sad day. You can say whatever you want, he won seven world championships and he might win another one. There is nobody like him in the world, he is unique. It's sad that he retires. But I know you have to retire one day and I respect that."

"People have said to me that F1 is boring because he wins everything. So presumably when he's not here, people will be happy. But we'll miss him, because he is a superstar."

"He is incredibly professional. If you had to go for a heart operation you'd want somebody who was the Schumacher of the heart surgery world to do the job, because you can rely on him.... He laughs as he considers the dominance of his old enemy. Fortunately Michael wasn't like that in 1996! The fact he is still winning makes me feel a lot better. It's not so bad to be beaten by the best driver who's ever lived. Nobody really knew that then. I was first into the arena, the first Christian thrown to the lions"

"It's a brave decision to stop doing something he loves.... We sort of know how he'll be remembered but over time his successes will mark an era when his dedication to winning gave the championship colour. I think he'll be doubly motivated to win the championship. He's certainly capable of winning races. I think it's hard to give that up. I think he's doing the right thing for himself."

"I always said that the decision to retire would be his alone but now that decision has been taken I feel a sense of sadness. We have lived through some unforgettable times together, some good and some bad, achieving results that will be hard to equal."

"Michael has been the author of a unique chapter in the history of Formula 1 and of Ferrari in particular. It has yet to reach its conclusion and what he has achieved extends over and above the results obtained. He is an exceptional man and will become a legend as a driver."

"I'm looking forward to F1 without Michael and hoping that we will see some real competition again between drivers within teams as well as drivers against each other in other teams."

"I'm not making any money doing this, I'm purely doing it out of ego."

"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."

"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."

"官方一会说转基因食品无害，一会说要严禁在世博园区里出现转基因的食品以免外国人误食，这是一种自己对自己的歧视么？"

"評論《阿凡達》說，「野蠻強拆對於其他國家的觀眾來說，的確是一件超乎他們想像力的事情，也就是外星球和中國才可能發生。」"