Valentino Rossi

“It's a big, big advantage because understanding what changes we might make takes time and it takes time to work out settings and to understand everything about the new machine.”

“To win the Championship in the first year will be hard. We need time to become competitive and win races.”

“I race to win. If I am on the bike or in a car it will always be the same.”

“Fortunately during my career I have won more or less everything, so I need to enjoy it to have the right motivation.”

“The great fights with your strongest rivals are always the biggest motivation. When you win easily it's not the same taste.”

“I am able to ride the bike and think clearly about strategy and tyres. I also have positive thinking. I am very constructively critical.”

“I don't like being famous - it is like a prison. And driving for Ferrari would make it far worse.”

“In 2002 the Yamaha was at more or less the same level as the Honda, better in some ways, worse in others. But in the winter of last year between 2002 and 2003, Honda made a big step forward and it seemed as if Yamaha couldn't quite match that improvement.”

“My father raced bikes. He gave me the passion very early. I had my first bike when I was three or four years old.”

“I was lucky. My father raced bikes. He gave me the passion very early. I had my first bike when I was three or four years old.”

“You look at Moto3, the races are very exciting. Moto2 is fantastic, and then MotoGP is boring.”

“How do Ferrari know what I'm doing next year when I don't know what I'm doing next week?”

“Also, when I started racing he knew a lot of people and it was more easy for me to find the first bike, so I have a good chance for sure.”

“I always enjoyed myself a lot in pre-school.”

“But I could also start F1 or rallying. I love rallying much more.”

“I have won on Honda and Yamaha so maybe it is interesting to win with a third team, Ducati, who are Italian.”

“I never race for records. The motivation to try to beat the record is not enough to continue. You have to enjoy it.”

“I'm Valentino Rossi. And I want to be a person, not an icon.”

“I have a lot of energy after 2 A.M. I like to sleep in the morning. I have some problems at the start of the day.”

“It is a big problem and so I don't know for sure if I say yes or no to Ferrari.”