Somebody who is unique - and this will get me into trouble - by definition cannot be replaced.

When you go back to the above names it was a very much narrower situation - the alternatives were far fewer. Today there is much more competition for the 'hero stakes'! And if you think about all the alternatives you have today to spend your time on, the pool of heroes is much broader. It was very much less back then.

Monaco was my first race of the season and I spoke with a number of people and all seemed to be very optimistic.

It is always easy to criticize, as Bernie Ecclestone is somebody with extreme opinions.

If you run a country and want to put it on the global map you don't have so many choices. You can get the Olympics, the World Cup or a Formula One race. And the first two are only every four years - and you have them only once.

[Formula One] is entertainment and it competes with other entertainments - and not with other racing formats. It competes with people's time on a weekend. So you have to deliver.

If you look at the rights situation - what media companies pay - then you see that the rights prices continue to rise for powerful sports. Now what does that tell you? It tells you that the demand amongst global and local sponsors for these kinds of sports is immense, even if there is controversy attached to them like FIFA - who would definitely be number one on that list, though F1 has also been somewhat controversial.