“The speed is something dangerous but very exciting.”

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

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.

We had no choice. Sadness was a dangerous as panthers and bears. the wilderness needs your whole attention.

It is a dangerous thing to ask why someone else has been given more. It is humbling – and indeed healthy – to ask why you have been given so much.

In the beginning there was faith – which is childish; trust – which is vain; and illusion – which is dangerous.

The warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences.

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

Human existence is so fragile a thing and exposed to such dangers that I cannot love without trembling.

One thing I gained in my life is just the need for more Jesus in my life. You never come to a place in your walk with Jesus where you feel like you’ve had enough. That’s a dangerous feeling to have.

Delay always breeds danger.