126 replies to this topic

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

I love good quotes in general, and one day I want to be a quotemaster.
My favourite motorsports-related quote is Enzo Ferrari's "Italians forgive assasins..."
Another good one is McQueen's "...everyting else is waiting"

Please post good, favourite or all-time classic quotes from every discipline of motorsports:

[wawawa]

I like these two - don't know who they are attributed to though

- Wide open until you see God; then brake!
- The floor's the limit.

But my favourite is one of Scudetto's lines:

When Lauda said he wanted Jag to have more flexibility in their design department, I didn't think he was refering to the monocoque itself.

[Randy Martin]

I forget who said it- Stirling Moss?

" I could have passed him if he hadn't been in front of me!"

[Vilenova]

I heard this one during a skip barber race. I still chuckle everytime. Crew chief talking to driver before qualy.
" Just drive like your hair's on fire"..


or was it Jock talking to Sato?;)

[Exar Kun]

Was it Fangio who was asked by his teammate as to how he went so fast and replied:

"More throttle, less brake". ??

Pretty cool, whoever it was.

[The First MH]

Not the exact quote, just off the top of my head:

Motorsport, cause football, cricket and rugby use only one ball - Eddie Irvine (I think). It's someone's sig

"if the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts" - Albert Einstein.

[tifosi]

I like the one from Cannonball Run something like"First rule of Italien Driving (as he throws off the rear view mirror ) "Whatsa behinda you dont matter".


I also like DCs in Indy that someone has used as there sig " I was ready to go, everyone else wasn't".

[polendo]

On Pedro Rodriguez wet racing abilities (paraphrasing), "...could someone tell Pedro that the track is wet "

[McLarenFormula1]

Spa is a good race I would have enjoyed to be in myself. Pure skill. I would like to be racing now. It is the safest and best paid time to be racing . If I lived in America I could sue my mother for having me too early- for the loss of income! - Niki Lauda

Life is strange, but F1 is simply crazy. - Irv the Swerve

And of course, the now infamous: You're not racing! You're driving like a ****ing idiot. You're not a racing driver, you're a ****ing idiot! - Ayrton Senna

[SpeakerGuru]

Forgot who said it, but it goessomething like this:

"The only true sports are mountain climbing, bullfighting, and auto racing. Everything else is just a game"

,,,or something like that.

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

Originally posted by SpeakerGuru
Forgot who said it, but it goessomething like this:

"The only true sports are mountain climbing, bullfighting, and auto racing. Everything else is just a game"

,,,or something like that.

Hemingway I think?
Actually for sure, ->bullfighting<-

[SpeakerGuru]

That's also what I thought, actually. But not sure.

[AndreasF1]

Reporter Heinz Prueller asked Niki Lauda what he thought of returning to the Nuerburgring in 1984.
Lauda: Its nice to be back, after the barbeque party I had here 8 years ago.

[AndreasF1]

Old but a true classic:
Policeman after pulling over a famous speeder on a Highway: Who do you think you are? Nigel Mansell?
Answer: No Ayrton Senna.

[AndreasF1]

Heinz Prueller asked Bernie Ecclestone if he rather had 1000 dollars or 1000 friends.
Bernie: I rather have a thousand friends that pay me a dollar each.

[AndreasF1]

At some GP Lauda forgot his trophy. After he received a phone call about where his trophy should be sent, Lauda responded:
Why the hell would I need another paper weight.
Classic Lauda

[hard_rock_miner]

"I am paid to drive the **** out of the car" - Jacques Villeneuve

'nuff said

->hrm

[random]

"It's good to be young and drive very, very fast".





I recall Danny Sullivan saying it, although he could have been quoting someone else.

[Schuperman]

"He's wrong. Most opinions drivers express are wrong ."
-Ron Dennis
A retort to Eddie Irvine's implication that McLaren should have been farther ahead, at Silvertsone 1998.

Quotes

[100cc]

some good ones:

"Winning is everything. The only ones who remember when you come second are your wife and your dog" -Damon Hill

"I had a little wiggle coming off Turn Four, which could have developed into a wobble" -Mark Blundell

"Follwing Keke through the traffic, he was unbelievable! He'd see a gap, and immediately he'd be through it. Judgement perfect, no hesitating. Was a great lesson for me today. I hope I can be like that" -Ayrton Senna

"When I look fast, I'm not smooth and I am going slowly, and when I look slow, I am smooth and going fast" -Alain Prost

"The princple is the same, one man is Champion, the others aren't" -Niki Lauda

"The real joy of winning is something to be savoured at the precise moment of victory" -Niki Lauda

"In F1, there are two types of people. Winners and wankers, and I'm not a wanker" -Flavio Briatore

"Physically, I feel fine. The only time I feel any pain is when I look at the time sheets" -Dario Franchitti

"You always see gaps in motor racing. The trick is to make sure they are wider than your car" -Mario Andretti

"You must always believe you will become the best, but you must never believe you have done so" -Juan Manuel Fangio

[100cc]

Originally posted by AndreasF1
At some GP Lauda forgot his trophy. After he received a phone call about where his trophy should be sent, Lauda responded:
Why the hell would I need another paper weight.

I don't rate trophies. They take up space and drivers only keep them to impress themselves.

[Torx]

"If you want to win, take a Finn"

[longford68]

Frank Gardner " One day a rooster, next day a feather duster"

[Thunder]

I will not retire loosing. Ron Dennis.

[Cheetah]

"You broke my f***ing head!" -- JPM

Although, the Hemingway quote is my true favi

[PhilKerr]

All drivers have balls unfortunately none of them are crystal ones - David Coulthard

2nd place means nothing, its just the highest paid LOSER - Ron Dennis

Edmund Irvine: 'I didn't call him a ******, I said he should stop acting like a ******!'

Paul Belmondo's quote from the other night but too rude to post here

[Rene]

"Only my modesty allows me to deal with my perfection" - Eddie Irvine

[pippin]

"To finish first, first you have to finish" thats my favourite.

Others that made me laugh:

Martin Brundle saying of one of the Jags last year "that cars sick, take it to the vet"

Also when he said recently, when talking about Michael and Rubens having different tyres in a race - "Michael isn't a six times world champion because he chooses the wrong tyres".

Eddie Irvine on Jenson Button a few seasons back "Jenson Button you are the weakest link - goodbye"

[mikabest]

"The fact is, we're all whores, aren't we? If the money's right we'll turn up anywhere and do our stuff."
-Keke Rosberg

and another one is already here below...

yours,

ever so biased
mikabest

[Tigershark]

"The princple is the same, one man is Champion, the others aren't."
~ Niki Lauda

I like this one, I think I saw it here but not sure anymore.. anyway, one of my favorites!

“These are the only corners where, even though you know you can do it flat, your foot comes off the throttle by itself. So it is exhilarating to force yourself to control your foot and to tell yourself 'No, it’s OK' and to actually go against what your body is telling you. It is quite an interesting feeling.”
~ Jacques Villeneuve, on Eau Rouge - Belgium

Also one of my favorite, probably cause JVi said it ;)

"And there's a dry line appearing in the tunnel!!!"

"Obvious really as it has a roof"
~ Murray Walker

No good quote-post without Murray eh? This one is fantastic

[mikabest]

Not so bad this either:

"Gilles was the hardest bastard I ever raced against, but completely fair."
- Keke Rosberg

yours,

ever so biased
mikabest

[mikabest]

"One of the great things about being World Champion is that you can be late for appointments."
- Keke Rosberg

yours,

ever so biased
mikabest

[cspet]

"Even if the Ferrari as slow as a Volkswagen Beetle, I still want to be driving it on my last start, on my last lap, on my last race.
Ferrari is the myth of Formula One. The tradition, the soul, the passion." Ayrton Senna

I think it isn't the best quote but interesting.

[lustigson]

I've always liked Eddie Irvine saying:
"Only my modesty enables me to cope with my perfection."

Not really motorsport, but, hey, who cares...;)

[ensign14]

NASCAR spear carrier Delma Cowart:

"I ain't never won a race, but I ain't never lost a party."

---

Lloyd Ruby, after a tyre blew - and remembering instructions from tyre supplier never, ever to blame the tyre for a crash:

"Well, Jim, I blew a wheel."

---

Perhaps the ultimate quote (along the lines of Pele's 'Football - it's the beautiful game') is Mario Andretti's comment on Ronnie Peterson's death:

"Unfortunately, racing is also this..."

[LuckyStrike1]

"It ain't over until Norbert Haug sings" - David Coulthard

[Garagiste]

"In a word, well two words really - that's motor racing" Nigel Mansell

"Don't have a committee meeting about it - stick it on and send him out!" Brundle as the Ferrari mechanics debate the merits of putting the fourth wheel onto Irvines car.

"I won't be running, no" Ecclestone when asked if he'd take further action after Father Fruitloops Kilt-swinging protest.

[F3000]

Ron Dennis speaking to a group of journalists:

"We make history, you bastards only write about it."

[Gemini]

Originally posted by LuckyStrike1
"It ain't over until Norbert Haug sings" - David Coulthard

[Gemini]

My all time favourite is:

"to finish first, first you have to finish..."

[Henri Greuter]

Lauda '77, when asked if Reutemann was a teammate or opponent: "Neither"

1979: Jody Scheckter when asked how motor racing could contribute to save energy and fuel:
"Spectators could come to the races by bus instead of taking their own cars."


Team owner Andy Granatelli after one of his cars returning in the pits at Indy telling a journalist who asked what was wrong:
"We have loss of power"
And then the driver adds:
"Yep, through a hole in the crankcase."


I don't know who once said: "If you can't win, then be spectacular"


Henri Greuter

[Henri Greuter]

Ja Lammers in '79 when being interviewed and asked about his hometown.

"I live close to the police station. Handy: I don't have to drive far when I have to pay speeding tickets another time."


Henri Greuter

[indian]

I've read that a driver once explained the difference between understeer and oversteer as "Understeer is hitting the wall with the front of your car. Oversteer is hitting it with the rear." Don't remember who it was.

[skinnylizard]

Originally posted by indian
I've read that a driver once explained the difference between understeer and oversteer as "Understeer is hitting the wall with the front of your car. Oversteer is hitting it with the rear." Don't remember who it was.

DC?

[babbel]

Verstappen was quite funny on the radio sometimes.

Like one year in Monaco his team told him that Nick Heidfeld was out of the race and he simply replied: "yeah that's because of me".

[Christos Koukides]

RACING IS IN MY BLOOD


NEED TO WRITE WHO SAID THIS?


AND I ALSO LIKE ALL THE MURRAISMS, SOME OF THEM ALREADY MENTIONED

[confucius]

Originally posted by babbel
Verstappen was quite funny on the radio sometimes.

Like one year in Monaco his team told him that Nick Heidfeld was out of the race and he simply replied: "yeah that's because of me".

I also remember a conversation in Hungary where his engineer was telling him to push and he replied with a very curt "whaddya think I'm doing??!"

[cathexist]

"There is always something to learn. One never stops learning. Particulary when one is losing. When one loses, one knows what has to be done. When one wins, one is never sure." - Enzo Ferrari

"At some stage of your development you may have to overstep your known capabilities. I strongly urge you to pick that spot carefully." - Jim Clark, 1966

"To do something well is so worth while that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. Life is measured in achievement not in years alone." - Bruce McLaren

Jackie Stewart came up with some incredibly lyrical descriptions of driving an F1 car on the edge (the sharpening of the senses, the heightening of experience- colours brighter, sounds clearer, the smell of cut grass) which I've got somewhere- will try to post later.

And of course there are all Senna's quasi-mystical pronouncements...

[philhitchings]

And it's go go go! Murray priceless!

But Mika has one of my favourites, when asked in the press conference (he was on pole IIRC) about tyre choice for the next day's race he answered "Round ones!"

[cathexist]

"..the last qualifying session. I was already on pole, then by half a second and then one second and I just kept going. Suddenly I was nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team mate with the same car. And suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel. Not only the tunnel under the hotel but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was just going and going, more and more and more and more. I was way over the limit but still able to find even more.

"Then suddenly something just kicked me. I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are. My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down. I drove slowly back to the pits and I didn't want to go out any more that day. It frightened me because I was well beyond my conscious understanding. It happens rarely but I keep these experiences very much alive inside me because it is something that is important for self-preservation." - Ayrton Senna da Silva

And an extract from an interview with Simon Barnes, recently republished in The Times:

“I still don’t know how far I can go,” he said. “It is all a learning process, something I work very hard to keep clear in my mind. I aim to have a really realistic clear understanding of what is going on, and what I am doing — and what I can do. I can only try what I believe I can do, but by trying I often find I can do more. Then I have to readjust.” There in Canada, a man in fireproof shoes telling me about his approaches to the infinite and a greedy tape recorder gobbling every precious word.

Another question: another long, long pause. “On many occasions I have gained most satisfaction from beating my own achievements. Many times I find myself in a comfortable position and I don’t feel happy about it. I feel it is right to slow down, but something inside of me, something very strong, makes me try to beat myself.

“It is . . . an enormous desire to travel beyond my own limits. Of course, you are always compared to other people’s limits — but when I establish limits that are higher than any one else’s, then I want to beat them. I want to beat myself.”

A follow-up question: wondering what more this extraordinary man had to say. People just don’t talk like this, least of all to a journo who has been kept hanging around in a car park for an hour. “Every time I have an idea about where my limits are, I go to check it and most of the time I am wrong. So I have to adjust myself to going even further. It is very exciting and it is a non-stop process. You set a record, and OK, it is gone.

As I achieve it, so I have to do something else, another step.”