I was looking at the history of the sport and I couldn't understand why there have been so many good South American drivers, especially Brazilians.

I was very interested in that. It is very important to have confidence as well as to build up experience.

People don't understand that it was maybe my biggest pleasure to drive an F1 car when it's wet.

Maybe I am not French, maybe I am from nowhere.

When I test I never go right to the limit. Only because when you are below the limit you can go at the same speed all day, and that's the only way you can be absolutely sure about what you are testing.

When you win a race like this the feeling is very, very good. There have been times when I have been flat-out to finish sixth, but you can't see that from the outside. In 1980 I finished three or four times in seventh place. I pushed like mad, yet everyone was gathered around the winner and they were thinking that I was just trundling around. But that's motor racing. So in fact the only thing you can judge in this sport is the long term. You can judge a career or a season, but not one race.

That is an important part of my success. Another big part of my success is that I hated not to finish a race.