profession it's been quite a year for
you for you hasn't it with the Spanish
Grand Prix being disqualified after one
just because your car was what was it
5/8 of an inch - why that's right yeah I
mean we've had a few ups and downs that
being the biggest up and the biggest
down of the year so far all in the space
of a couple of hours I think the the
pace of life in Grand Prix racing now is
very heavy and it is therefore difficult
to have a stable home home life I would
like to have more of a home life but as
I say you know I'm in a hurry to prove
to prove my point and do what I have to
do and I hope that when I retire I'm
obviously not gonna do sit down and do
nothing for the rest of my life because
I'm too energetic a person but I would
like to think that I would have burned
off a bit of energy and can take a
slightly more relaxed approach to life
and I hope that you know have enough
money not to have have to work like a
fiend from a financial pressure point of
view I'd like to have a business and do
something constructive but I wouldn't
like to be under pressure again and this
is why I'm doing it now because you know
hopefully when I'm 35 I can get get out
of the pressure of life you know because
I would have done my bit now it's a
question of you know how do you want to
do it you want to get a steady pace for
for 70 years or whatever or do you want
to go flat out for 10 years and then
relax and I and I rather like doing it
that way so you're planning to retired
about 35 well I'm planning to retire
when the moments right but 30 35 years
older seven years away for me now and
that's that's a lot of years and Grand
Prix racing and behind me if I can't
can't do what I've got to do within
seven years I don't think I'm gonna do
it by then so I hope I want to stop
racing by then top of is the big the one
problem is you know it's like you know
Graham Hills situation of course that I
like it I really like driving and I like
racing and so that'll make it difficult
to stop but I hope that I can stop
because I'd soon you know I would prefer
to retire on my feet than on my back are
you frightened of the idea of dying and
is it something eyes everyone must be
but is it something you actually think
about when you're driving not when
you're driving no I'm terrified of dying
because I'm having a jolly good time
down
yeah and I really don't don't want to
change it in any way I don't want to
take the risk I don't know what's gonna
happen when I'm dead you know don't take
the risk I'm happy as I am when actually
driving when it is frightening is when
you lie you know sit at home and in the
very serious saber moments and I try to
have these quite often to think about
the thing and say well you know no
emotional sort of thoughts to influence
yourself like being at a race meeting
and under pressure but just say to
yourself well look these are the odds
you know there is a chance that you can
get killed and to such and such a chance
maybe you know 40 percent or 50 percent
in your the rest of your career
is it worth taking that that risk
because when I'm racing I mean and I
have an egg then decide
I have always done so far that it's
worth carrying on because there are
things that the other yeah well there
are things no the odds are always that
they're never as good as they're as I'd
like them to be but there are things
inside me that would make me very devil
to live with myself the rest of my life
if I stop now I couldn't do that I'm you
know I'm so near yet so far and I got to
get that extra bit but you know I will
stop when I have to but when I get to
the track you know the decision is made
I've decided that I'm continuing for a
bit so there isn't any point in getting
wild or getting frightened I've got
plenty of things to think about as it is
and I got a job to do and it would be
restrictive to my driving an
unprofessional generally wrong to start
worrying about the danger elavil element
of it you know when once physically in
the car what's the closest you've been
to death well I suppose the worst
accident I ever had racing was at
Zandvoort in 1971 when I was driving in
Holland it's driving in a formula 3 race
and I'm tangled wheels with another car
in in the middle of the track in fact
and I didn't know she didn't but my car
just took off the wheels you know
guitars getting opposite directions when
they touch so one car gets flipped in
the air which was my turned over and
came crashing down that land on my head
and the skating along at about 70 or 80
miles an hour in the middle of the track
upside down and the rollover bars snap
so I was being sort of totally squashed
in the car but by
various miracles I was very lucky and I
managed to escape largely unscathed from
that I had a bit of it this is a Zen
vault yeah what are you thinking at the
time and did you have time to have any
emotional reaction to what was happening
no in the an axe well I did then I mean
in the accident you're so busy
everything's going on lots of noise and
it's all happening and you you really
don't have time to worry but at that in
that particular accident I then just
slid off the track upside down and
landed and it's all sand dunes there and
was buried upside down in the sand and
the Dutch officials obviously decided it
was wise to contemplate the car for
about 40 seconds and have a puff on
their cigarette just to make sure it
wasn't gonna catch fire and they did
that because I got photographs to prove
that they were all standing out smoking
cigarettes and looking at it in case a
blow up in case it brought before they
decided it was safe so at that forty
seconds was about it seemed like 40
minutes and what was going through your
mind what I was wearing he was gonna
catch fire I was perfectly alright if
you didn't catch fire I could stay there
you know I was happy to stay I mean I
was very uncomfortable I was being tasty
squash my hip was right down in my lap
and I had slightly damaged vertebrae as
a result and sort of torn muscles in my
back so I wasn't exactly enjoying it but
I knew nothing no further harm would
come to me so long as didn't catch fire
but I also knew and which was really
frightening that if it did catch fire
they would run in the other direction I
knew that for absolutely for sure what
about the pressures from Suzy from your
family after an accident like that is
there enormous pressure to try and get
you to stop well there never has been
of course since since I met Susie I'm
happy to say that have been fortunate
enough not to have had any sort of
serious accident and anything more than
the slight sort of bump and I've been
lucky recently in that respect because
that plays a big part in this and that's
what you've got to do it you know
believing I mean obviously one has the
skill involved not having her own
accident but the big danger in Grand
Prix racing is a failure on the car and
whilst you know I've got a very very
good team behind me the best team
probably in that from that point of view
there are racing cars are fallible but
we've talked about death James what do
you feel about the large number of
racing drivers who haven't that killed
themselves as a result is it luck is it
circumstances ever-lengthening odds no
it's mostly circumstances because the 95
percent of fatal accidents in Grand Prix
racing certainly since 1960 have been
caused by problems with the car and that
is I mean it's a straightforward
scientific fact and there's but I'm
saying that if that both drivers and
cars are being pushed beyond the safe
limit no I'm not saying that to the
limit no I don't think so I think you
see drivers can make mistakes but I tell
you I made a mistake in Belgium in
practice last weekend which was I'm but
the whole point about the mistake was I
wasn't I did not make the mistake by or
rather put like this I was trying to get
fast at the time but I wouldn't have
gone any quicker if I'd driven in such a
way that I would never have made that
mistake in the corner I had a small
accident right so with experience you
know this I mean and one makes very very
few mistakes the top drivers because you
don't going to the limit that's gonna
cause your possible accident doesn't
make you any quick around the track so
there's no advantage in driving like
that you see there's no advantage in and
plus and talking about in a race of
contact the other cars nip advantage
you're hitting in other cars you know I
would put yourself out of the race if
they're a sudden social change when you
move from one area of racing further up
the ladder and one hears about the
glamorous world apart is the pit lizards
I believe is the term for a racing group
it isn't all that is suddenly happens as
you move up yeah well the thing is oddly
enough you know it's very difficult
because I didn't I'm rather looking
forward to one of these having 40 when I
retire then I'll be able to go to all
the parties have all the fun because
they tend to have that sort of thing all
the glamour and the social thing things
mainly things that happen at race
meetings and things we're quite frankly
when one's driving when there's no way
you can get involved because I mean I
just wouldn't enjoy it anyway because my
I'm concentrating on
race and it's a total it is a total
concentration thing for about four days
in fact I'm starting building up now
already I start anew she'll about
Tuesday or Wednesday before but
Wednesday before Grand Prix I start
building up and to get back to that
James who you were talking earlier about
the odds and how they link them as each
day goes by as another mile of track
goes on do the odds against you are
getting higher do you think there isn't
an inevitable point where if you're gone
for long enough you must die well
anything you can say that but it's just
a question no as I said I think one can
only say that you know the more miles
you do the greater the odds length and
by sheer arithmetic but what they are
you know we can't really work out this
note there's really no way of producing
statistics were working these things out
so I really don't know but what I do as
I say is I'm trying to keep my innings
regional reasonably short and sensible
and I'll also as I do already try and
contribute constructively to the
improvement of safety things in motor
racing for for my own benefit and also
for the benefit of people in the future
if you got killed tomorrow what would
you miss most
hmm yeah that's tricky
I might miss lots of things actually
what would you have done that should
have been most proud of I will well I'll
miss not not having won the World
Championship that's for sure very much
said particularly you know if one's you
know cuz I feel I'm very near to it no I
didn't mean for this year but in my
career on a more overall view I feel I'm
very close to it I feel I'm very capable
of doing it and ready to do it
so that'll upset me that I didn't make
it I didn't that I was robbed
you know beaten by the clock as it were
well I shall miss all the all the fun
that I have in life I mean I have a lot
of fun I mean I enjoy my work it's all
fun to me and I enjoy being home I enjoy
my golf and all the things I do are you
proud of what you done so far
well well it's a funny thing you know
because if you really candid about it
I'm not particularly I mean I'm not
nearly I mean when I was you know so the
four or five years ago when I was
looking at Grand Prix drivers then from
like this thinking they were really
wonderful people fantastic thing I mean
you know if I could be I was seeing if I
could be half as good as them I'd be
really proud of myself and I don't know
but I don't know whether it's difficult
to get it across but I'm not
particularly because the thing is when
you can do something well which
presumably I can because of the results
right
you don't feel very clever about I mean
do you feel you're doing a very good job
interviewing me
you probably don't because it comes
easily to you see but there are lots of
people who couldn't do that well it
because I'm lucky enough to have
something that comes easily to me you
know I feel pleased with myself actually
when I when I do a really good job that
was really hard work where I really
worked for it right I feel then that
that motor racing isn't a particularly
worthy sport that it's just a quick
things to know I think this is
applicable to to all walks of life I
think people I mean I think people who
are successful and I fall into two
categories some of them get freaked out
with their success and think that
they're very clever and get
disproportionately get a
disproportionate view of their own
position and I think other people take
it in their stride and don't feel
specialty clever about it they feel a
bit grateful and I mean I think I've put
myself into that view that's not
criticizing everything
I mean I'm I take advantage of it are
you playboy define a playboy I don't
know I like playing gems very briefly
you put racing before whatever your
parents might have thought of it as a
dangerous sport you put it before your
marriage would you have succeeded if you
hadn't been quite that ruthless no
time to say thank you very much
