There are no drivers like Formula One drivers. They are engineers, in a way. They are driving manual cars one-handed at 200 miles per hour around streets in Monaco. These cars use the ultimate in technology.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Monaco is a very special event in its own right, and the atmosphere is quite crazy! As a driver, you have to stay calm and relaxed and try to do your job.
I think fans of the sport have a good understanding now of how fit Formula One drivers need to be.
I think social networks are really working for the drivers, because we're able to talk directly to fans and they get first-hand information. And I think it's great for the partners as well and the businesses that are involved in Formula One.
In Formula One, the car can make a difference in a way that a driver cannot. Whereas Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna spent their early seasons in second-rate machinery, Hamilton walked into the equal best car on the grid. His first season none the less has, by any standards, been extraordinary.
First time I looked at a Formula One car in person, I just stared at the cockpit, figuring I'd never get in there. The drivers wear the whole car like a tight-fitting suit.
And that just shows you how important the car is in Formula One Racing.
Formula 1 has to be more and more also a laboratory, a centre of advanced research for innovative technologies for tomorrow's cars. The KERS is very important in this context, and Ferrari as a manufacturer had, and has, extraordinary support in Formula 1.
Both Indy Car and Formula 1 work in the same way, although there is a greater emphasis on development and technology in Formula 1.
Monaco is quite a specialist track, and it is very difficult to say if a car will be suited to it or not. It's bumpy on the straights, and it's a very low-grip surface. All these things mean that you never know what to expect.
Every NASCAR driver watches Formula One in the morning; they are well informed.