“I like him very much because he’s a little bit different in the way he thinks and speaks. Even in Las Vegas he was focused on racing and winning. People can like him or not, but at least you must recognise you are not obliged to have the same approach. For me it’s good to see a driver like him. I was very pleased to listen to what he also said about not liking the sprint races. At least he says what he thinks and is not afraid by the political game. I like that.”
Fernando Alonso
“He really impressed me in the first year he came to Alpine [in 2021]. Not only on the track but outside, by the way he was handling things. I was very worried before he came and he really surprised me in a good way. He was really good, no problems, no politics. This past year at Aston Martin for sure he did a fantastic season.”
Gilles Villeneuve
“Could he have been a world champion? That is a question I ask myself. First of all on the human side he really was a fantastic person. I loved him. We were really close. I don’t know. He was very spectacular, his driving skill was unbelievable, but I don’t know if he would have been consistent enough to be a champion. Maybe he was not a driver for Ferrari. [It has been said had Villeneuve survived 1982 he would have joined McLaren for ’83.] Maybe he was more of a driver for McLaren at that time which was more organised, less up and down. It would have depended on who was his team-mate.”
Damien spent two spells as editor of Motor Sport – at nine issues, his first was short. The second was longer, rejoining in 2007 until 2016. Between he spent two years as editor-in-chief of Autosport, a magazine he first joined in 1996. During his time on the weekly, Damien covered everything from club racing to Formula 1, via Formula 3000 and sports car racing.
