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

How do Ferrari know what I’m doing next year when I don’t know what I’m doing next week?

I feel 100% a Yamaha rider in my heart. I had a long career and raced with several factory bikes, but the highlight of my career is undoubtedly with Yamaha.

I have so much respect for my opponents; many of them watched the races as little children and were supporting me!

If I test the car for a year I can be quite competitive the next season.

In my opinion we are at the limit now, and 17 races is really too much. With all the testing that we do now, it means we’re always on the bike and it’s quite difficult.

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

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

Maybe if Graziano make another work or another sport I wouldn’t have had this passion to be a rider.

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

My approach to the races hasn’t changed in my 20-year career. If I have the chance to attack and to pass, I do it, trying to get the best possible result.

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

I’m lucky because I don’t feel too much pressure – it’s only in the last hour before the race, and even then it’s good, positive pressure.

In 2009, I didn’t like that Yamaha signed such a young and competitive teammate [Jorge Lorenzo]. But now everything is different. We are more mature. Everyone knows his role and position. Things are clear.

I’m very happy because I won a lot. I’ve won races and lived in a world that just gave me joy, so I remember it very positively.

I’m done with F1 unfortunately. I’m too old, the train has passed.

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

In the end you have only you.

Be like a flower that gives its fragrance even to the hand that crushed it.

You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now.

Let’s not close our eyes to those with special needs. Instead, let’s be a pillar of support and empower them to achieve everything they seek.‬

I am willing to be my biggest, bestest, most powerful self.

Heaven is a state of mind, not a location.

Desire nothing for yourself, which you do not desire for others.

Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.