Jos Verstappen Quotes

I drove long distances like the 24 hours of Le Mans for years. But even this racing is now over. I retired.

I love the role of being the experienced driver and that is definitely the case next year - I think I am the most experienced guy in F1 next year.

You tend to think that there is a big gap between F1 and everything else. F1 is where all the fantastic drivers are, so you just don't know how good you are until you get there.

In my city of Maracay, there is a go kart circuit about five minutes from my home. When I was about three or four years old, I said I wanted to race, but I was too young; then, when I reached the age of seven, my father gave me a kart and we started from there.

Winning in Monaco is always special. That track has always been good to me. I won there in Formula 3000, battled for the victory with Williams in 2006 and now I've won two of the last three grands prix there.

Being team-mate to Michael Schumacher at Benetton in my first year of Formula One was certainly a high pressure situation.

Around 16 years old, when I was in Formula 3 and looking at potential options for the future, that's when I realized that Formula One was in the picture. But to be honest, I really just took it year by year throughout my karting years and stuff.

As a racing driver, everything you do is to get to Formula 1 and one day it stops.

There's obviously a lot of drivers that are in F1 because they're one of the best drivers out there, so I can learn from everyone.

I didn't know if I would get the chance to return to F1.

It will be a dream to come back to F1.

When I said I wanted to get back racing my dream was to be an F1 driver. I didn't know how realistic that was going to be until I'd driven again.

I retired and came back in '97. Woo! I mean, come on! I don't know, man. A six-year layoff? That was crazy! My career was relatively short, whether you look at either its length in years or the number of fights I had. But it was brutal.

When I entered Formula One in 2002 basically all I had was my talent, but now I also have the technical knowledge which enables me, together with my engineers, to fully exploit the potential of the car.

It's been 23 years since the last Swede in Formula One, so for me to be the next F1 driver at all these races around the world has been amazing.

As has been the case with Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, we're always going to draw upon the talent pool we have.

I wanted to be a professional motor racer. It was only due to lack of sponsors that I could not do it.

The debut season in F1 is obviously very tough but it's been OK. The aim for me is to stay in Formula One for many years and that's what we're working at doing at the moment.

It's been my dream to race in F1 since I was eight. I don't see why that should change just because I've changed. It's a big challenge but I like to push myself. The accident has toughened me up and made me realise what's important. It's spurred me on to get to F1.

When I think about it, it is quite crazy to race against people like Fernando Alonso, when I remember watching him from the balcony in Monaco.

If you haven't really raced a lot in lower categories, and you make the jump to Formula One, you have to learn in Formula One, and a lot more people are watching.

If somebody asks me to choose a biopic, it would be Narain Karthikeyan because I love racing.

I'm asked to drive touring cars, I'm asked to drive IndyCar, but I think Formula One is much more hi-tech and that's where I want to be in as long as I can.

In December 2005 I had a very good opportunity to test Renault's world championship-winning car at Barcelona, and after 30 laps I was setting really good times, so I know what it's like to drive a really good car.

Being an F1 driver is a crazy job but not what everyone expects. My year consists of 20% driving and 80% media, marketing, and travel.