“All in all it was a smooth race, the car was very well balanced. I’m very proud to be the first winner here in India.”

You’re traveling all over the world but to be home is something special.

Of course, you always give 100 percent, but at a home race you’re always more motivated, simply because you feel at home.

I have always watched the Race of Champions on TV every year and dreamed about participating one day.

We have reason to feel good, but it’s also a threat to feel too good and I will pay attention that that doesn’t happen.

There are a few things that make me angry. Mostly things not going my way.

I come from an ordinary family – my dad is a carpenter, a roof-maker – and we’ve always loved racing together.

We always kept believing in ourselves and our team and the car.

Qualifying is all about putting everything that you have and that the car has in one lap. It’s like a rush, I really enjoy that.

It’s a tricky place, especially the last sector. I wasn’t happy in practice. I wasn’t happy with the car and I wasn’t happy with myself. But I always thought there was more in the car.

I didn’t know Dan Wheldon, but he was big in motorsport, and then this year I got to know Marco Simoncelli, so our thoughts are with them at the moment.

All these nice people saying I’m going to be world champion won’t make me any faster, you have to believe it yourself.

The bottom line is what we do might not be the safest so there is always some risk but we are ready to take that into account because we love racing and we love motor sports and it is dangerous.

At the end of your life, it’s friendships, emotions and thoughts that you take with you, rather than what’s in your bank account.

Simply racing a Formula 1 car is an achievement.

Teams like Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are going to be very, very motivated to go for the titles.

I remember my first test in F1. After five laps, I came back to the pits and tried to play it cool – ‘Oh yeah, I’m fine, I’m on top of this’ – but I was completely lost.

Shakespeare is the happy hunting ground of all minds that have lost their balance.

You know we are made up of love and hate but both of them are balanced on a razor blade.

Adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.

Whatever you may be balancing in life right now, wherever you’re working hard to get to, you’re doing a damn phenomenal job.

Attachment has a self-centered approach to love, where you focus too much on how your partner makes you feel and not enough on treating them well. Connection has more room for balance, where you both seek to support each others happiness and communicate instead of control.

It’s okay to do whatever you need to do to feel fulfilled, balanced, and connected to yourself. 

Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life

I was definitely living fast. I was working, traveling a lot, playing. I didn’t stop. It all became unbalanced.