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Tuesday, December 23
F1's he said, she said
By Dan Knutson
Special to ESPN.com
As usual, there was as much action off the track as on it during the 2003
Grand Prix season, and the F1 fraternity was there to talk about it. Read
on to hear some of the quotable quotes from the F1 ranks, including quotes
on two issues that simmered all season: the future of Jacques Villeneuve
and the dispute over whether Minardi should get financial aid.
Missing from this year's repertoire is Eddie Irvine who was always good for
some memorable quotes. Still, Villeneuve was around, and he always spoke
his mind.
"The good news is he is very, very quick. The bad news is we can't afford
him. He is a winning NASCAR driver and his earnings, I am told, are out of
sight! But I should say we would all love to have a world class U.S.
driver in a Grand Prix team."
-- Frank Williams after Jeff Gordon drove the
Williams BMW F1 car at Indianapolis.
"He (David Richards) tried everything to piss me off, to make it seem that:
'We didn't get rid of Jacques, it was him who didn't want to stay with
us.'"
-- Jacques Villeneuve in November talking to The Toronto Star.
"The press has put a lot on about this friction between Jacques and myself.
But the reality is that we have never had a cross word. We might have
differences of opinion, but we have very intelligent discussions."
-- Lucky
Strike BAR Honda director David Richards in January.
"I guess the mechanics felt I was little bit too cold and cool and wanted
to warm me up!"
-- Michael Schumacher talking about his car catching fire
during a pit stop in the Austrian Grand Prix.
"I think Ron's trying to get rid of me, and he doesn't care if he kills
Minardi along the way."
-- Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart talking about
McLaren director Ron Dennis at the Australian Grand Prix.
"We are going to follow all the new rules...but the interest of Ferrari
will always be the priority."
-- Ferrari's sporting director Jean Todt
talking about the new rule that banned team orders that affect the outcome
of a race.
"In the current climate, with the current wranglings and the current
uncertainty, I think anyone who came into F1 would either have to have
billions of dollars or rocks in their head, because it just does not make
sense."
-- Team owner Eddie Jordan on the prospects of new teams entering F1.
| |  | | | Villeneuve |
"I didn't respect him before, so I respect him a lot less now." Villeneuve
after the Australian Grand Prix talking about his feud with Jenson Button.
"He (Villeneuve) is always been outspoken about drivers, but I don't think
so many have answered back ...the things he said, it's just pathetic."
-- Jenson Button's view.
"We said a few things that were a bit pathetic really, but had to be said,
but we are working well together now."
-- Button's view two months later
after the two drivers patched things up.
"I have to say it's a very sad moment for everybody. We have to carry on
doing our job and we hope that the war finishes as soon as possible. There
are no winners, just losers."
-- Jarno Trulli on the outbreak of war in Iraq
in March.
"If I said, 'Is there something on your mind?' he is not about to break
down in tears, wait for me to put my arm around his shoulder and say,
'Come, come, talk to Frankie boy.' It's a man's world."
-- Team owner Frank
Williams talking to a London newspaper after stories of alleged scandal in
Ralf Schumacher's private life were published in a German tabloid.
"As a player, he's an excellent driver. But I was proud to play on his
team."
-- A pro Brazilian soccer player talking about Michael Schumacher
after a charity soccer game in Brazil.
"The traffic!"
-- Rubens Barrichello when asked why Brazil produces so many great racing drivers.
"Whatever the show is, the ringmaster should be whole heartedly behind it
whether it's good, bad or indifferent. And that's something I'm more than
happy to criticize Bernie for. He's the ringmaster and he should behave
like one."
-- Ron Dennis after Bernie Ecclestone criticized the new
qualifying rules.
"I said 'oh, I went off, aquaplaned out of turn 3'... and when I went to
pull the steering wheel off ... BOOM! ... and I said: 'oh, and Pizzonia just
hit me!'"
-- Juan Pablo Montoya recounting his radio conversation with the Williams team after he spun off in Brazil and then got clobbered by Antonio Pizzonia.
"I really don't think that somebody can impose on a manufacturer a price to
deliver an engine to another team. It is not the way you do business. We
won't sell an engine for 10 million."
-- Renault's Patrick Faure on the
proposal to offer the small teams an engine package that costs $10 million
per season.
"People told me that it took Ferrari eight to ten years to get from the
depths to the heights, so that seems a reasonable time frame to me."
-- Jaguar Racing boss Tony Purnell on how long it will take to make Jaguar a
winner.
"This is a tough, competitive sport and if you can't take the heat, get out
the bloody kitchen."
-- Dennis on Minardi's financial woes.
"It was bad, all this business about money, and we need to get on with the
sport and go racing. We are racers. We are not financiers."
-- Bernie
Ecclestone.
| |  | | | Montoya |
"He (the police officer) said 'Papers, papers, this is going to be very
expensive.'"
-- Montoya talking about when he was stopped for speeding on a
French highway.
"Canada is a very important market for Toyota, so we are definitely not so
happy that it is not on the calendar for next year."
-- Toyota Racing
president Ove Andersson when the Canadian Grand Prix was off the 2004
schedule.
"The technology here is surreal."
-- Winston Cup star Kurt Busch after a tour
of the BAR Honda garage at the European Grand Prix.
"Call him Doctor Doctor."
-- Jordan Ford's PR rep Helen Temple after Eddie
Jordan was awarded his second honorary doctorate degree by an Irish
University.
"I don't see any seriousness in that, honestly. I think we want to improve
our situation ..."
-- Michael Schumacher on the rumors that Villeneuve would
join Ferrari.
"I have got all the pieces but there are a lot of pieces."
-- Barrichello
after an airport luggage trolley smashed the glass trophy he received for
winning the British Grand Prix.
"We are expecting substantial revenues from F1. Even if two in a thousand
of the 1.5 billion people watching the race on television choose to come to
Turkey for a vacation, it would mean three million tourists."
-- Turkish
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after his country becomes the latest to sign
a deal for a Grand Prix in the future.
"Right now the only option is BAR. Hopefully it will be a real option."
-- Villeneuve in mid-September about his F1 future.
"Too much bull****."
-- Kimi Raikkonen on life in F1 outside the cockpit.
"I think all the suggestions of Machiavellian plots is just the normal
paranoia that runs in F1."
-- Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn on
stories that Ferrari summoned FIA president Max Mosley to Italy
specifically to discuss Ferrari's allegations that the Michelin front tire
was illegal.
"Why did you wait for 38 races before raising this point if you had this
view all the time? It seemed an odd time to raise it, Ross."
-- Williams
technical director Patrick Head talking to Ross Brawn about the front tire
issue.
| |  | | | Alonso |
"I know I've said this a lot this year, but this is the best day of my
life. The weekend was fantastic, pole position and now the victory for me
is a dream comes true."
-- Fernando Alonso in Hungary after winning his first
Grand Prix.
"I raced against my brother in bicycles all the time. He is the first guy
I want to kick his ass! If I finished behind a lot of people but ahead of
him it is okay for me. And he feels the same way about me."
-- Cristiano da
Matta on what would happen if he had to race against his brother in F1.
"It was a great event here. If you look at the atmosphere, I think it was
outstanding."
-- M. Schumacher on the atmosphere of the U.S. Grand Prix at
Indianapolis.
"You never really see the (F1) drivers, so I thought it was a good thing to
do."
-- Montoya on why he went out to sign autographs during the pit
walkabout for fans on the Thursday prior to the U.S. Grand Prix.
"The team has not lived up to anyone's expectations and under those
circumstances you have to change things. It is insanity to do the same
thing year after year and expect different results. Quite frankly we had
to shake things up."
-- David Richards in October on why BAR Honda decided to
hire Takuma Sato to replace Villeneuve in 2004.
"I still think that he (Villeneuve) has that ability. I see him in a very
positive frame of mind. He was very positive about everything. I have a
feeling that you are going to see the best of Jacques Villeneuve this
year."
-- Richards in January.
"This man is much higher than I see myself. There is not the slightest
comparison. I have a lot of respect for what Fangio did."
-- M. Schumacher,
who now has six world titles, on five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
"Bernie (Ecclestone) is putting the money in out of his own pocket and life
goes on."
-- Paul Stoddart in June on the news that Ecclestone was going to
invest in Minardi.
"Bernie's influence has helped the team, and I think I can make it very
clear today...although he hasn't invested any actual money."
-- Stoddart on
the same subject in October.
| |  | | | Webber |
"My mother and father and family would definitely bring me down to earth if
I got off my station."
-- Mark Webber talking about if he started to act like
a spoiled brat F1 driver.
"I bumped into him the other day and told him how far I'd cycled. He was
like absolutely sure that he had done the right thing in stopping because
he doesn't have the commitment to do the training."
-- David Coulthard after
seeing ex-McLaren teammate Mika Hakkinen in Monaco.
"I love this sport. I really love it. There is no reason for me to quit,
especially as I am still competitive. Why shouldn't I have fun?"
-- M.
Schumacher again denying rumors that he will retire.
Dan Knutson covers Formula One for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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