As part of our season review, here is the 2013 Formula 1 season from the mouths of those involved in the sport: the humorous, the memorable, the radio messages, and those, with hindsight, that some surely regret...
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“That competitiveness is going to keep growing and I guess we'll see more of it this year. But I'll try to contain it so I don't come across like a dickhead or something!” – Daniel Ricciardo reveals his intentions to improve in 2013.
“This year's car is the best we've ever made" – Jenson Button, speaking at the launch of McLaren’s MP4-28 in January.
“If you don't expect to win you should go home. I am here to win the championship. That is the target” - Sergio Pérez reveals his 2013 ambition during his first media session as a McLaren driver in January.
“I'm German but I didn't say that. I have no moustache” – Sebastian Vettel when asked about ‘world domination’ at the launch of the Red Bull RB9.
“No. That was last year and nothing to do with this year or this win.” – Kimi Räikkönen asked following his win in Australia on whether Lotus would produce more T-shirts featuring his famous quote.
“Stay off the kerbs, Adrian. Stay off the kerbs.”
“No KERS?”
“No, KERBS. KERBS as in the side of the track” – Adrian Sutil’s conversation with race engineer Bradley Joyce during practice in Malaysia as the German confuses his KERS with the trackside scenery...
"Good job, Seb. Looks like you wanted it bad enough. Still you've got some explaining to do," Vettel's race engineer Guillaume Roquelin anticipates a hostile atmosphere on the cool down lap in Malaysia.
“Remember this guys” – Nico Rosberg after adhering to team orders during the Malaysian Grand Prix.
“Multi 21, Seb, Multi 21” – A furious Mark Webber during the pre-podium room in Malaysia
“In the end Seb made his own decisions today and will have protection and that's the way it goes” – Mark Webber on the Sepang podium anticipates Red Bull to back Vettel after the German ignores team orders
“I think I did a big mistake today. To sum it up, apologies to Mark, obviously now the result is there but... yeah, all I can say is that I didn't do it deliberately” – Sebastian Vettel in the post-race press conference in Malaysia.
“The bottom line is I was racing, I was faster, I passed him, I won” – Sebastian Vettel changes his tune during Red Bull’s pre-race press conference in China, a week and a half later.
“You watch Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer play each other and it's playing with the lines, it's playing with precision for a five set match and we all enjoy watching that but at the moment we're driving at eight and a half tenths” – Mark Webber compares the current state of Formula 1 to the intensity of a Tennis match.
“The whole category is geared around tyres at the moment. Everything is around tyres. Tyres, tyres, tyre, tyres, tyres” – Webber’s attitude remained the same two weeks later in China.
Mercedes AMG Petronas
“Yeah, I just did a Jenson” – Lewis Hamilton on entering the McLaren pit box in Malaysia, citing the example of when former team-mate Jenson Button erroneously entered the Red Bull pit box in China in 2011.
"Calm him down!" - Jenson Button vents his frustration to his McLaren team after Sergio Perez clips him in Bahrain.
“I'm not used to driving down a straight and your team-mate wiggling his wheels at you and banging wheels at 300kph. That's things you do in karting but grow out of. Not the case with Checo” – Jenson Button on battling team-mate Pérez in Bahrain.
“So, I’m Sebastian from Red Bull Racing” – Sebastian Vettel mocks a journalist after he fails to adhere to the 'name and publication' procedure during the pre-race press conference in Spain.
“I have just been passed by a Williams... I can't drive any slower” – An exasperated Lewis Hamilton explains his predicament to his Mercedes team in Spain.
“But for me, in terms of all the small dogs and the handbags and that sort of stuff, it's not really my thing mate” – Mark Webber on his attitude towards Monaco.
“CVC have done an absolutely awful job. They are the worst thing that has ever happened to Formula One” – Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley hits out at Formula 1 shareholders CVC in Monaco.
“You can probably guess the driver. Looks like he probably misjudged it. Went over the top of me” – Daniel Ricciardo informs his team after being hit by Romain Grosjean in Monaco.
“Maybe someone should punch him in the face” – Kimi Räikkönen suggests punishment for Sergio Pérez after they collide in Monaco.
“There was a lot of thoughts going through my mind, definitely, but not about the roads to school” – Nico Rosberg on winning in Monte Carlo, his childhood home.
“That you have to ask, you have to ask Pirelli about all this, about this issue. I’m not going to comment. I’m not going to comment on that. You have to ask Pirelli” – Nico Rosberg bats away questions about Mercedes’s tyre test, having just won in Monaco.
“Please just let me drive man” – Lewis Hamilton voices his frustration at his race engineer in Canada.
“I've never been so pleased to get out of a car. It was quite painful out there. We got lapped, easily lapped. It was like we were in a different category” – Jenson Button after finishing in 12th place in the Canadian Grand Prix.
"We do not come under the jurisdiction or authority of the FIA" - Pirelli lawyer Dominique Dumas explains the position of the tyre company to the International Tribunal.
"Our motivation was safety. We should be applauded for that, not to have it held against us. If there is to be any sanction, it has to be a minor one, such as a reprimand, as the procedures have not been clear to anybody" - Mercedes lawyer Paul Harris QC on the team's position in the young driver test. Mercedes was later handed a reprimand and banned from the young driver test.
“It is somewhat perplexing to say the least to see that the guilty party can get away virtually scot free for having derived “an unfair sporting advantage”" – Ferrari’s anonymous Horse Whisperer gives its verdict on the outcome of the International Tribunal.
“At the end of the day I’m here to fight for my team and do the best for my team. If that means upsetting the other drivers then I really don’t care” – Sergio Pérez responds to criticism of his driving style ahead of the British Grand Prix
“He’s decided to take things into his own hands” – Red Bull team principal Christian Horner about the timing of Mark Webber’s announcement to retire from Formula 1.
“I’m just a beast, I’m just an animal and I’m waiting to get let out of that cage!” – Daniel Ricciardo explains why he should get the Red Bull seat.
“There are pieces of steel coming at 300km/h so it would be like a knife and probably enter the helmet and come out the other side. It's not nice” – Fernando Alonso voices his concern after the tyre failures during the British Grand Prix.
Sauber F1 Team
“I read it on my Twitter page where people can write to me, and there was a whole bunch of people having a discussion and I was like 'Where has that come from?'” – Nico Hülkenberg discusses rumours that he was set to leave Sauber imminently, ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I might have front wing damage! Er, idiot in the Lotus” – Jenson Button radios his McLaren team after contact with Grosjean in Hungary.
“All the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own” – Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, post-Hungary, after Fernando Alonso jokingly asked for a Red Bull RB9 for his birthday.
“He is not able to speak – maybe he is scared of me, I don't know. There is a time when people have to grow up and he hasn't done it.” – Adrian Sutil gives his opinion of Lewis Hamilton in Belgium.
“To win the championship with Williams before going to another team is my mission” – Pastor Maldonado prior to the Belgian Grand Prix. He moved to Lotus three months later.
“Obviously Romain is a father, so maybe he can comment on what made him think he's ready or not. I think in the best case it doesn't take too long to get the job done! I think in that case we are all ready!” – Sebastian Vettel when asked whether he was ready to have children, during the pre-race press conference in Belgium
“I think when Seb does [have] one he will have a nice boy or girl with the same hair” – Giedo van der Garde mocks Vettel’s newly dyed blonde hair.
“I’d like to say I’ve missed you guys but I haven’t!” – Lewis Hamilton greets journalists in Belgium, following the sport’s summer break.
“Oh, Nasty question!” – Nico Hülkenberg when asked whether he could do a better job at Ferrari than Felipe Massa.
“Believe you me I’m working my arse off to make it happen!” – Paul di Resta on securing a seat for 2014.
Scuderia Ferrari
"Quindi bisogna farlo lasciarlo passare..veramente siete degli scemi eh..mamma mia ragazzi." - Fernando Alonso vents his frustration during qualifying at Ferrari's home race in Italy. Alonso expresses his frustration at having to allow Rosberg through, calling his Ferrari team 'geniuses', in an incredibly ironic tone...
"I don’t see the reason why it wouldn’t work. We are all old enough to know what we are doing and for sure the team is working for the right things to make sure. If there is something, I’m sure we can talk it through. It’s not like we are 20-year old guys any more." - Kimi Raikkonen responds to suggestions that his partnership with Fernando Alonso at Ferrari in 2014 will not be friendly.
"The contract is done but we are just finalising the final dots. Obviously I cannot give much details about them but everything is pretty much done." - Sergio Perez reveals how contract negotiations with McLaren were progressing, ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. He was replaced by Kevin Magnussen seven weeks later.
"The reasons why I left from the team is purely on the money side, that they haven’t got my salary so it’s an unfortunate thing" - Kimi Raikkonen reveals Lotus's financial problems ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
“They are on a tour - they go around on a bus” – Sebastian Vettel responds after being booed on the podium in Singapore.
“I just hope we just don't fall off like bananas at the end of the race” – Nico Hülkenberg airs his concern about tyre management in Korea.
“When you gonna call me in man, these tyres are f*****!” – Lewis Hamilton wants a fresh set in Korea.
“The car's f****** slow. I can't go faster. It's a piece of s***” - Adrian Sutil is less than complementary about his Force India in Korea.
“F*** sake. I worked my f****** arse off for this” – Daniel Ricciardo expresses frustration via the radio after pulling off the circuit late in the race in Korea.
Red Bull/Getty Images
“It's music, yes, but it's more like melodies. No singing. So no Justin Bieber” – Sebastian Vettel, India, on what he listens to before qualifying.
“Kimi, get out of the f****** way” – Lotus’s Alan Permane tells the Finn to cede position to Romain Grosjean in India. One can only assume he didn’t say ‘Frenchman’s…’
“Good job, Seb. Just so you know, Raikkonen pitted on the last lap. He's now on brand new tyres and he's going to obliterate your lap [time]” – Guillaume Rocquelin congratulates Vettel on winning in India, but delights in telling him that his charge's customary late-race desire to set the fastest lap will be for nothing as Raikkonen sets the fastest lap time.
“Sometimes it's not very nice when you hear that you don't have the interests of the team and then you've been paid zero euro the whole year” – Kimi Räikkönen reveals in Abu Dhabi that he has not been paid in 2013.
“I still have all my teeth” – Fernando Alonso on how he was feeling after his ride across the kerbs in Abu Dhabi.
“Let me quote, ‘yeah yeah yeah, I know what I’m doing’” – Sebastian Vettel paraphrases Kimi Räikkönen after taking victory in Abu Dhabi.
“I think on my car somebody is playing with the pressures or the temperatures” – Pastor Maldonado hits out at his Williams team after failing to progress through Q1 in Austin.
Sahara Force India
“There's like an emergency area around him, you have to give room for two cars, not just one” – Adrian Sutil on Pastor Maldonado after the duo collided on the opening lap in Austin.
“I think I accumulated energy and exploded” – Pastor Maldonado, having reflected on his attitude at the United States Grand Prix.
“Ross says you’re the only one dumb enough to be out there at the moment” – Race engineer Jock Clear tells Nico Rosberg of Ross Brawn's thoughts during a wet practice session in Brazil.
“Back to the U.K. Sunday night, walk the dogs on Tuesday morning” – Mark Webber discusses his post-race plans ahead of his final Formula 1 event in Brazil.
“They believe they have all the power, they believe they know everything they're doing and normally they are doing a lot of things which are not right, which are not correct” – Felipe Massa hits out at the stewards in Brazil.
“When I’ve got less hair and chubby then it’s probably something nice to look back to” – Sebastian Vettel's thoughts on matching Alberto Ascari’s record of nine successive wins, having claimed victory in Brazil.
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