Quotes Roundup - Week Ending 30th Nov

The very best from the mouths of those in the know.

Toro Rosso Buyout

In which Dietrich Mateschitz regains full control…

• “Dietrich’s interest will focus on Red Bull Racing, therefore the support for STR will become smaller and prevent the team from improving further from sixth. I don’t want to decline, that is not in my nature.”Gerhard Berger
• “I am very grateful to Gerhard for his huge input. Together we turned Toro Rosso into a team that qualified on a regular basis in the top 10 and collected world championship points.” Dietrich Mateschitz
• “I will be out of STR, but the split with STR and Dietrich is completely amicable and there was no rift between us.” Gerhard Berger

The Medal Proposal

Bernie says it will be introduced in 2009…

• “All the teams are happy. The whole reason for this was that I was fed up with people talking about no overtaking. The reason there’s no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuit or the people involved, it’s to do with the drivers not needing to overtake.” Bernie Ecclestone
• “The points are necessary. I was one of the team principals in the team principals’ meetings who advocated that the points should go down to eighth place, because one point to a team down there is as important as a win is to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, and we must never forget that.” Eddie Jordan
• “There are a lot of people who have ridiculed this suggestion, and honestly I have to admit at first that I thought the stress of divorce had got to him. But I think he actually has a point. Like him, I think the winner of the most races in a season should automatically be the world champion.” Jos Verstappen

Circuits Planning Ahead

Although many are pulling out of the calendar, some are thinking to the future…

• “This will be the first public transport Grand Prix. We are not bringing cars here. We are looking to use public transport from all the major conurbations, the airport and the Parkway station.” Simon Gillett, chief executive of Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd
• “With Bahrain at the start of the year and Abu Dhabi at the season finale there are many projects on which we can work together to attract more spectators, corporate clients and sponsors to both the region’s races.” Zayed Alzayani, Bahrain circuit boss
• “We think Formula One is a very good product, a very good event for Shanghai city so at least from our company’s point of view we want to continue promoting and building the event. Research shows there are more and more race fans in China, so I don’t think we will say no to the Formula One Grand Prix.” General Manager of Event Management at Shanghai