Max Verstappen strolled his way to his third world title in a row last Sunday. Where do you think he currently stands amongst the all time greats in Formula One?

I've seen a couple of them! I think the easiest way to answer that is what the stats say from a personal point of view. I think he's done the most incredible job this year with the equipment that he's had. He's demonstrated that he's been on it from the get go. He's improved through the year because Sergio Perez in the beginning of the year was right close to him and now Sergio is really struggling to keep the pace. But I think Max Verstappen is awesome. And if he keeps going like this, obviously he can be challenging lots of the goals that everyone else has set.

Verstappen secured the title with five races to spare, tying your achievement from 1992 and sitting behind only Michael Schumacher with six. How proud are you of that achievement and do you think Verstappen could even set the record outright in the future?

I don't think there's anything to hold Red Bull and Max back other than Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes, who've done an incredible job for Lewis to get the cars as competitive as what Red Bulls’ are. I think next year should be a very close season compared to what this year has been. I certainly hope it is for Formula One fans. In answer to your question, Mercedes came up with a car, Lewis can do the job again, and yes, I believe he can win another World Championship. So, you know, it's all open there for the taking. I think McLaren and Zach Brown and the team have done an incredible job to get to know both their cars now being on the podium, and literally a hair's breadth away from being as quick as a Red Bull. Such a fantastic achievement.

What do you think Lewis Hamilton's F1 legacy will be and where do you think he ranks among the greats?

I think Lewis has an opportunity, which is almost cemented in place already. In my opinion, that is one of the greatest ever. And I think if you give him another world championship you know, that will set the benchmark so high, it'll be very, very difficult for anybody to achieve that again.

We had the situation where Lance Stroll claimed he was passing out behind the wheel, Esteban Ocon vomited in his helmet and other drivers complained of severe dehydration and heat exhaustion. Do you think the F1 schedule needs to be looked at and adjusted for events when extreme heat plays a massive part?

Well, it is a difficult question to ask, and I have tremendous sympathy for the drivers. I drove there, if you remember, it was 2000, 2005, 2006, and we actually drove a Grand Prix Master's car there in September-ish or whenever it was. And it was so hot. It was incredible. And we didn't have power steering. We didn't have the aids on the car, and I specifically remember having to pre hydrate so much to get the fluids in, but it's a tough track.

It's a tough track to remember. It's an incredibly tough track to keep your concentration. But you know, I mean, the drivers, the physicality for me driving the Formula One car was the steering wheel and hanging onto it when you're going round corners. I think power steering should take some of that physicality away. I actually have to say I'm surprised a little bit that a lot of drivers had the problems that they had. Some were obviously a lot more acclimated than others but it just goes to show that driving a Formula One car is not an easy thing, is it?

After the Qatar Grand Prix was hit with track limit chaos, with grid positions being shuffled around as well as the raft of in-race penalties being handed out, do the track rules need to be clearer for all the host venues, because a lot of people didn't really seem to know what was going on?

You know, it's a very, very good point you're making there. And something as an FAA steward years ago, we were told to ignore in some ways, and it was wrong because in our day, track limits were track limits and, you know, it'll make you laugh, but some of our track limits on the edge of the circuit were on barriers, so you couldn't overstep it because if you did, you hit a barrier and you had a bad accident. And there were other track limits where the curbs were so steep that if you went across the curb, it would actually damage the tub and could write the car off. Our motivation was to stay on the track, and because they've anaesthetised some of the circuits and made them incredibly safe, it is so easy for the cars to drive off at even 200 miles an hour and drive back on, is it the fault of the driver or not?

In some ways it is because they're taking the chance, then you have to have the clerk of the course enforcing and recommending to the stewards there should be a penalty. I honestly think that some of the curbs should be raised up a bit so that they don't damage the car, but it upsets the car enough that if they go over it, it slows them down a lot. And if being slowed down doesn't give them motivation to stay on the circuit, then there's nothing to police. So it's a paradox, isn't it? You make things a lot safer but then you make it more difficult to police because you shouldn't be able to drive off the circuit as many times as they do and drive back on. I think every fan will agree that's not showing a skill level being able to do that, is it?

Some saw the punishment handed down to Red Bull for breaching their financial cap as too lenient. Where do you stand on it and do you think more teams could be tempted to break it if the punishment is that loose?

Well, I think the complexities of actually proving that any team has actually breached the price cap in any way is so difficult. But, you know, if the rules are set and anybody, regardless of the team's name, breaches it, then there should obviously be a penalty. Whatever that penalty is, it should be agreed before these rules are put into place. But I think, you know, without opening Pandora's box here, there's so many ways of getting around some of these rules and some of the developments and certainly the multinationals that can have all sorts of things going on all around the world. How do you keep track of it? It's quite extraordinary really, isn't it?

Formula One's attracted a lot of young fans in recent years. What do you think that's down to?

Oh, look, you know, Formula One has always been the pinnacle of motorsport worldwide. It is the most incredible race car. It's a grand stallion. And nowadays, the race cars don’t try to kill you on every corner. Now the cars are sexy, they're quick. The amazing work that the FIA has done with the manufacturers in making the car safe means you don't have horrific accidents anymore. You rarely, if at all, have anybody being injured in the sport due to an accident. You have unprecedented drivers now that are doing over 300 Grand Prix in their career, whereas before, in my day, if you had anything over 150 races under your belt before you died, or you're invalided out of the sport, or you're too old or too slow, that was a miracle back then.

So, you know, things are so dynamic now, and I have to say, I think Liberty taking over from the incredible job that Mr. Ecclestone has taken it to a new level, especially for the fans in America and different countries around the world. And look at the explosion. I don't need to tell you the explosion on the internet, the explosion with media worldwide. And Formula One is reaping the benefit of all that.

There's been a few changes in F1 in recent years, including a focus on sustainability with a net zero target for carbon emissions in 2030. Do you think that's genuinely achievable?

I found out in my life in Formula One that the impossible just takes a little bit longer to achieve. So you're seven years away, if they want to achieve it and have an appetite for it, and they have a budget for it, the answer is yes. I think they can achieve it. If they go full electric, I think it'll be incredibly sad because I think part of the legacy of Formula One is the noise of the engines, the V8s, the V10s, the V12s. I mean, obviously we're in the turbo era again now, but I'd like to think that they can achieve things in a different way. You know, for instance you use a different fuel, which just produces water and it's there now to use if you do it properly. So yeah, I'll answer your question quickly. I think they can do it if they want to.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell clashed over the weekend. Do you think there's potential for some friction on the Mercedes team and do you have any experience of friction yourself with teammates?

No, I don’t. You know, I think the Mercedes team is a fantastic team. I think the partnership with George Russell and Lewis is brilliant. It's amazing and compliments Mercedes having two nationalities of the same country racing together, because that's rare. Mercedes will bounce back, I'm sure. And you know, Lewis I believe put his hand up and said, look, I was a bit overzealous, or whatever words you want to use. I think they're both racers together, and it's full marks for Mercedes doing the best they can. I think it's unfortunate regardless of drivers and teams, again, that one of the drivers in the same team gets taken out in the first corner. It's unfortunate. And then the other word to use, it's really unnecessary. It's a long race but they'll learn from it. But no, I think Lewis and George are great teammates.

At the Qatar Grand Prix, McLaren set the world record for the pit stop breaking Red Bull's 2009 record lowering it to 1.8 seconds.

Awesome, awesome. Absolutely incredible. 1.8 seconds, it blows your mind. I mean, back in the eighties, I remember I came in for tires, four wheels and tires and 28 gallons of fuel, and it was 4.6 seconds I think. And I thought, ah, there's no way anyone can beat anything like that. I mean, forgetting the 28 gallons of fuel, which almost broke my back when it came into the car under pressure of 120 PSI, but to change four wheels and tires in 1.8 seconds, really? That's sensational. McLaren, full marks for everything. Just absolutely brilliant. I mean sensational.

How important is a good relationship between the driver and the crew?

Oh no, absolutely everything. I mean, you know, you're going around the world, you're racing every other week pretty much now. If you don't have a good relationship with your crew and the people, then it becomes very hard. And then that reflects on the speed you do on the track. The great thing for McLaren at the moment with both their drivers, their confidence will be building and building, and they've got a win around the corner. They're definitely going to have a win, hopefully before the end of the year.

What do you think Formula One can do to make the sport more competitive? At the moment, it's a lot about who spends their money the wisest?

I think what they didn't appreciate was they gave too much of an advantage and they had to catch up with Red Bull. Max was on a mission, and I think they've caught up. Look, you know, just take McLaren as an example and actually take Mercedes as an example as well. At certain races they close the gap a lot. It's just that, and you only have to look at Singapore, what went wrong with Red Bull there? It's such a cliff hanging thing to get the car set up properly. And anyway, what I'm saying really quickly is that Red Bull had too much of a jump, but everyone's closed it a little bit. And I just hope, you know, with different things that are going to happen going into 2024, the four big teams, I hope will be very close.

On that point, if we were to talk about a level playing field with all the drivers having the same car, who would win?

Well for a level playing field, what you need to do is retire Adrian Newey. He is a genius. Adrian Newey is a genius. It is fantastic. And, you know, to have him tied up with Red Bull for, you know, his whole career now and everything else is a genius move as well. And I mean, I have to say dynamic team, brilliant team, professional team, and everyone's gotta do the same thing. It's just like when John Todd was with Ferrari, with Michael Schumacher and the team and expertise they had there, it happens. And just like Mercedes did with Lewis Hamilton for a period of time with all sorts of people working there, they kept the same team together and they were unbeatable. You know, they were for a whole number of years. And what's gotta happen now is that Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and everybody else has got to hopefully dig deep to catch up and it can be wide open for 2024.

Do you think the increase in promotional activities like the Netflix series has been good for the sport?

Yeah, spot on. I think definitely in America, because obviously I spend an awful lot of time there, people come up to me and say, you know, how fantastic, and we had no idea some of the things that you must have gone through because you were a driver years ago. So it's made it immensely popular and yeah, I think it's been actually brilliant for the sport.

Would you have been willing to go on something like that if they'd approached you back in the day?

Yeah, there's no question. I mean, to give people the inside track as to what's going on, some of it's incredibly fascinating. I mean, some of it is a little bit off, but that's only because we know what the business is all about. But yeah, no, it would be very, very good.

Motorsport can obviously be risky. And you yourself had that crash in practice in 1987, so was that something that was tough to come back from and regain confidence after that wipe out?

Yeah, you know, we used to say years ago, because there were lots of accidents years ago because the tracks were dangerous, the cars were not built as strong. I think the race you're referring to was maybe Japan. When I broke my back, that was probably my hardest accident to come back from because I lost the use of my legs for about three months or more. I didn't feel my legs for three months. And that was because of a spinal injury. I'm pleased to say the current race car drivers never have to suffer anything like that because the seats in the cars now support your body really well. We had smaller cars and we were cramped in there, and there was normally foam in there, but the foam was very thin, so it didn't cushion your body when you had a big impact.

But you're right, your confidence gets knocked because you can't walk properly, you can't train. It's a really tough year, 1988. In some ways it was a very difficult year because we lost the Honda engine, but I only finished two races in the whole season. And that goes to show you, the reliability of the current Formula One car is absolutely phenomenal. I mean when you look at my stats in 1988 and any other year, as a matter of fact, there's always going to be 20, 30% of races minimum that you're not going to finish because of mechanical failure. And if you're a number one or number two driver years ago, the number one driver would finish at least 20% of races more than you would and maybe more. So yeah, there's all those factors to consider and now you don't have to because the cars are so reliable.

Is there a current track that exists that didn't in your day, that you just would've loved to race on?

Yeah, I think there's a few that they race on now, which would be nice to go and visit. They certainly go to a number of different countries, which I've, I've not actually raced in. Is there one particular one? Not quite sure. I raced in Qatar. I liked to race the Formula One car in Qatar because as you know, I was deemed as being quite bullish and strong. I would like to have seen how I would've fared under the same conditions as what some of the current drivers do. But I can remember being there and racing with the Grand Prix masters, and I remember it being very tough then.

Your victory in 1992 came when you were 39 years old. Do you think we'll ever see an older driver win again, or do you think it would be more the young guns now?

I'd like to think so. I think you've just touched on an area which I'll go off on a tangent for a little bit. When we were racing, sometime in the eighties, we were having 43 to 46 cars pre-qualifying, and then we had 30 cars one week at Monaco qualifying for 26 places on the grid. And the point I want to make here, there were so many drivers trying to get into Formula One, there was pre-qualifying on qualifying and then qualifying where four drivers got sent home then. Sometimes we were sending home something like 20 drivers and teams before the race started because there's 26 cars allowed on the grid. What's the point in saying that we had a lot of more mature drivers as well then back then. So in all honesty, because there's only 20 cars on the grid and because now the longevity of a race car driver can be 300 Grand Prix’s, the opportunity to get into Formula One and be there like we were in our day, the odds of doing it are less now. I would like to think that, let's look at Fernando Alonso, brilliant driver, brilliant world champion, and if he's given the goods, then he can win another couple of world championships.

Did you find it almost difficult to balance the needs of the team with your own personal ambitions?

The whole thing is always a balance. But the answer is no. You have to prioritise what is the most important thing. The great relationship I had, for instance, with Enzo Ferrari and Colin Chapman, which was the most incredible relationship. When I was asked to do something, it was, yeah, let's go and do it. I mean, the word no didn't exist. The relationship was just a totally good one. And if you can be as one with the team, you're going to get the best out of the driver, the best out of the team. And it's brilliant.

You've had rivalries throughout your career, notably with Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. Were they friendly rivalries or do you think there was something more deep seated in any of them?

Oh no, there's a number of deep seated ones that, you know, certain drivers wanted to actually put you in the war and kill you at times, and they told you so. So, you know, there's nothing to hide behind that. I mean, it was a hell of a business, there were some drivers that would not leave any stone unturned to try and do whatever they needed to do to beat you.

So Bernie Ecclestone tempted you back into Formula One, after a bit of back and forth. Is he a particularly tough man to negotiate with?

I think this is quite funny. I think you're negotiating with someone like Bernie, but basically you're not. He's set the parameters and you know Bernie was amazing. And it was an experience never to be forgotten.

Who was the greatest driver you came up against in your career?

In my career? Four sorts of different reasons. I like the flamboyance of Gilles Villeneuve. Gilles was incredible, obviously not to be crowned world champion, but Gilles was a special friend when I got into Formula One and mentored me in a few ways, so I'll never forget that. Other drivers, I mean, I've gotta go back to Fangio when those guys drove without helmets and sometimes without goggles and the things that they did, without seat belts, it blows my mind to think they're racing at the speeds they're racing and there's no seat belts holding them in the car.

Were there any tracks and venues you had a particularly difficult time on?

I think every track and every country throws up challenges you’re not really at ease with. I mean, I remember going to Mexico for the first time, not being able to breathe well with the smog. The circuit was very bumpy. You go to certain countries and you can have stomach bugs, which I think the whole team had at one time. And when we used to go to Rio, mechanics used to have a pool of money and said, we'll all put $20 or whatever it was in the hat, between 30 people. The winner was the last person who got Montezuma's. And the thing that's funny is that someone won the money all within three days. So it is a strange bet, but it just goes to show the difficulty of working in different countries back then, because obviously it was tougher back then than it is now. You’ve got to understand what I'm talking about. The guys are working till 11 o'clock in the heat, mosquitoes biting them, and the garages were just open, to what the facilities are now, you just can't compare.

You won four British Grand Prix throughout your career. Which one do you think was the most special for you?

Well that's a good question itself because I actually won five, but one doesn't count because it was a European Grand Prix. So they're all so special, the first one in 85 winning, the next one there in 86, Silverstone in 87 overtaken Nelson Piquet down the straight was just absolutely simply amazing. And then winning in 91 and 92 with the track invasions of Silverstone, to pick one out of all those, it’s pretty tough. I think the fans were sensational in 87 and the fans in 91, 92 were unbelievable. I guess for selfish reasons, just winning my first race in 85, I would have to say wins the day for me, only because I felt I started to belong. And that was a mammoth momentum change in Psyche because then a week later we were in South Africa and I won again. I was up and running then, which was fantastic. But all of them are just beautiful wins.

Throughout history, who do you think is the greatest pairing of drivers?

Oh wow. I can't answer that quickly. Yeah, I mean it's a difficult one that, because I think Keke Rosberg and myself in Williams, although we didn't have a winning car in 85, we were a great team. Looking back, I enjoyed when Niki Lauda was partnered with John Watson in McLaren. Going back before then, you can say without question McLaren dominated like crazy, when they had the Honda Engine back in 88 and you had Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna that was probably a dream team right there other than the infighting. Before that there's loads of different scenarios you could come up with.

You retired before making a comeback. What do you think influenced that decision and did you find it harder to get going again?

No, I never found it hard to get going again because the motivation was having the opportunity to win a world championship while you retired. So I retired, won the World Championship in Formula One, then retired again and then won the World Championship in IndyCar, which was a sensational little bit of freak history really. So that was truly wonderful to be able to do that. Oh, I think all the above. All the above. I mean, the biggest regret I have, which is a strange regret, is one of the saddest days of my life when I heard that Colin Chapman had passed because I know my whole career would've been totally different had Colin not had died so prematurely. Colin was not only a mentor, he was like a father to me, and he was one of the most brilliant men I've ever known in my life.

Do you have any regrets from your career or things that you'd do differently if you were racing today?

So I regret, sometimes you make some decisions, which if you'd thought about them a little bit longer, you might revise that decision a little bit more. But instinctively being a great race car driver, you have to make the decision and go with it, right or wrong sometimes. So for the most part I would say I was very, very comfortable. The only thing I wasn't comfortable about is I didn't realise how much politics there was in Formula One at the time I was racing and how much happened behind closed doors. And that was naivety. I wouldn't call it a regret, but I should have been a little bit wiser as to what was going on.