I have been waiting to win a world championship since 1985. I've had three cracks at a world title - in karting, I finished third at Le Mans; that hurt because it was very close, but then in Formula One there wasn't really an opportunity to finally crack it, so it's third time lucky.

To be a racing driver it's essential you have very good eyesight, and that's especially relevant at night. Your senses are heightened, you're travelling over 200mph, you need to focus on that 110-metre braking point and you have to have absolute faith and commitment in your driving.

I don't do much driving - about 5,000-6,000 miles a year. And most of that is to the airport and to the racing circuits.

Especially with sports cars, when you have got so many cars on the track with various degrees of competitiveness, then something will happen. It's the nature of racing, the law of averages. If you want to be a front-runner then you are going to have to push very hard, and collisions can happen.

What I like is when you can hear the heart and soul of music and can feel the energy coming out of it, because that's what it's like when you drive.

It was not until I started racing for car manufacturers that I found a car I could really get attached to. I am the son of a car dealer, so up until then, cars just came and went.

It is hard to be number one, and it is even harder to stay there because everyone is trying to knock you off the top.