The helmet has a special meaning for many drivers. How important is it to you? - It protects my head.

When I did some NASKAR races this year I noticed that I was increasingly missing the racing side - to race against each other - because in rallying you really race against the clock.

Driving is the only thing I love about F1.

You always want to have a winning car, but there is no guarantee that it will be.

In rallying every curve, every hill may be different than you thought. That makes it interesting.

When I was a kid, I would watch the grands prix. Everyone dreamt of becoming a race driver, while I only started thinking about it when I was 18 or 19. Only at that age did I seriously start thinking about this job. Before then, I would change ideas from one second to the next.

For sure, sometimes I don't know what I am doing.

I’m not interested in what people think about me. I’m not Michael Schumacher.

Since I started in motor racing I've worked with people from all over the world. We are all here to go racing and prejudice will never play any part in that.

Formula 1 would be a paradise without the media.

Be yourself. If you try to be someone else, it won't work. Whatever you do, you are not going to make everyone happy.

If I could throw my phone away, I would probably do it. It's always on silent, and I don't like when it rings and people are calling. We could live without those things in the past when we just had a phone on the street somewhere, on the corner or at the house. I have no interest in telling all the people what I do every day and where I am.

I just love the American spirit of racing. It feels just great to get involved with that.

Im winning races, Im still challenging for the world championships, the team is fantastic and I have a great relationship with everybody here - so why would I want to even consider changing?

Ha, some days ago the same people were one hundred per cent sure that I'd signed for Red Bull! So much for that.

Do you have any ambitions outside racing? My main ambition at the moment, whether inside or outside racing, is to become Formula 1 World Champion.