We were racing at circuits where there were no crash barriers in front of the pits, and fuel was lying about in churns in the pit lane. A car could easily crash into the pits at any time. It was ridiculous.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I remember my first test in F1. After five laps, I came back to the pits and tried to play it cool - 'Oh yeah, I'm fine, I'm on top of this' - but I was completely lost.
I think it was wrong to take the decision to slow F1 down. It was much better in my day, when it was already a lot safer than it had been in the '70s and '80s, but you could still drive crazy fast.
Conserving fuel is fine, and it was great in the past. The problem is that the drivers don't have to do it. It's all done electronically. You sit there, and it saves fuel for you, and that defeats the purpose.
You're safer in the race car than you are in cars going to and from the track.
NASCAR stepped up their safety concepts, and I think the drivers feel NASCAR is doing everything that can be done. So we are a little behind NASCAR in that respect. Someone in NASCAR realized there were certain things that could be done to make it safer. The same thing has to happen in football.
Again, racing for me was about energy management.
I don't mean to be accident prone, but my excuse is if you really want to get somewhere you have to go full gas.
To drive an F1 car you have to be a little mad. On the morning of a race there's a mix of excitement and fear. If it's a wet track, then it's worse as you're not in control most of the time, which is the thing all drivers fear the most.
Why do you need to drive a Ferrari to get stuck in a traffic jam anyway? How do people afford these cars?
You don't come around to the pit lane every mile; when you leave on a rally, you're gone for 500 miles in certain stages. You've got to work on your own car and fix it. It's a logistical nightmare, and it really challenges me.