"Racing is life - anything that happens before is just waiting."A look inside the top two inches of the fastest drivers on planet earth - how and what they think. "I did almost 200 races in Formula 1 and maybe only four or five times in my career did I really feel this magic experience that the car and you are as one. It s very difficult to explain and when you 're very demanding of yourself, you don't have this kind of experience very often. But at Monaco in 1986 I remember the whole weekend was like this, including the race. I was really flying and I could not see the speed. The speed meant nothing: to me it felt like I was driving at 50kmh.I wouldn' t describe it as a trance, because that implies that you're not in control of everything. In a way it was almost the opposite. Your mind is still focused; but it's really happiness. And you are fast. You know that both you and the car are really under control. Yet you are quick. Even if you decide to go a little bit slower, it doesn't make a big difference, because it is so easy. "- Alain Prost "Many sportsmen experience the Zone once or twice a year. But somebody really good can create that on a regular basis and not have to wait for that day."- Jackie Stewart "Grand Prix racing, like life itself is primarily a mental contest... it's a battle of strength of wills by the combatants and a magnificent contest to display and share unique gifts and talents."- craig *14 May 1988 QUALIFYING FOR MONACO GRAND PRIXThe spine tingling spectacle of the late Arton Senna on a qualifying lap provided some of the most thrilling moments in the history of the sport. There has never been a faster driver over a single lap - his record of 65 pole positions is unlikely to ever be broken - nor has anyone thought so deeply about it. When he talked about his memorable lap, the one that left the most indelible impression on his exceptional mind, Senna's eyes shone with a faraway look and his voice quavered with intensity..."Suddenly I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was kind of driving by instinct, only I was in a different dimension. I was way over the limit; but still I was able to find even more. It frightened me, because I realised I was well beyond my conscious understanding."- "the late, great" Ayrton SennaClick on http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeFqsWWG1qEF1 1986 Monaco - Onboard Qualifying http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYEtWoAfSIY'The aim is to be in the Zone every time you get in the car. But that day Ayrton was somewhere else beyond the Zone...heaven"- Lewis Hamilton (on his boyhood hero)"You get to the stage when your almost looking down on yourself. When you get into that state, it's the best feeling you can have... ever."- Stirling Moss "Senna is a genius. I define genius as just the right side of imbalance. He is highly developed to the point where he is almost over the edge. It's a close call."- Martin BrundleAyrton Senna: Why he's the best - Monaco GP 1984 Click on http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hUWuR2Dj78To Sean and Gareth and yes, you too Marie. I know you can't and don't understand my passion for motor racing, my "crazy" love of Grand Prix racing. Still thanks for brightening each day more than you can (and will) ever know.dad* from FORMULA 1: The Autobiography Thanks for the great gift, dad. Bet you'd love to read and take a great deal of pleasure in this new book, "a true labour of love"."I want to write the way Gilles drove and power-slid his blood-red Formula One Ferrari... with wild enthusiasm and a sense of abandonment, combined with the artists craft of a Stirling Moss, a Jim Clark, and especially that of the great Ayrton Senna"for dearest mom and dad"All the world will be happier and better, when the men and women have the souls of artists, like that of an Ayrton Senna."- craig (as inspired by Rodin's famous words)