If you are for a long time at the top you've basically achieved everything you wanted to. Then the ball's breaking stuff starts to be too much: it's not what you do in the car, it's what you do outside the car - the press conferences, the interviews, the sponsorship commitments, the marketing appearances - that sadly go up to a level that the whole package, including the risks you take, the workload you do to get the car to work and for you to be quick in the races, it becomes too much.

You appreciate that it is very easy to die and you have to arrange your life to cope with that reality.

Giving up is something a Lauda doesn't do.

The alliance with air Berlin is attractive for me. I can use the whole sales network of the air Berlin and 24 percent of my own airline at air Berlin sold.

To make a decision you need to be in a perfect environment: you have to be motivated and surrounded by the right people.

When things change a lot, some guys handle the change better than others, but that doesn't mean the guys that take longer to get the hang of things are suddenly slow drivers!

When you have something in black and white, you can deal with it quicker.