On his helmet design - 'I just wanted to have my own helmet that I would keep for my racing career. I wanted it to look nice and not be overly colourful with colours that wouldn't shock, but when I got to Italy people noticed that there was pink on it - they didn't like it and they were making fun of it.'

On the 1997 season - 'You have to know what you want, and being champion is my target. I think the nearest rivals will be Frentzen and Schumacher (but) you never know what to expect with Ferrari - they could have a great car or a terrible car.'

On that passing move at Estoril - 'The car was sliding on the limit at over 130mph. You are on the ragged edge. Michaël could have driven me off the track, but he is a racer and I'm sure that he recognised that if he did that to me I'd get him back one day. It doesn't mean you are dirty; just that you must pay back or else they'll keep on doing it.

'It's fun when you race against a driver like Michaël. It's something almost better than a win. Without moments like that racing would be boring and winning would lose it's spice. It's what gives you your big grin.'

On the head shaving in Japan - 'I was especially grateful to all the guys who worked on my car (throughout 1996), and my race engineer Jock Clear deserved special thanks. In fact, I was so grateful to Jock that after the race I helped put him out of the misery he suffered from losing the bet we made earlier in the season (in Belgium). To pay his debt he had to have his head shaved in Japan. This made poor Jock look so ridiculous that I had my head shaved in sympathy. Misery loves company so I persuaded David Coulthard and Mika Salo that having their heads shaved would make them even faster!' (That's his story - I bet he was just really, really drunk one night!!)

On the Senna trial - 'I think the idea of putting Frank (Williams) on trial is ludicrous. I have the utmost faith in the cars I drive for Williams, but every season I have been racing there has always been a mechanical failure of some kind. That's just tough - just the way it is. You cannot have a car that is 100% safe when you are pushing it to the limit all the time. As a racing driver you accept that.