For the Record: the 2007 season in quotes

March

Spyker lodge protest against Super Aguri; Raikkonen wins on Ferrari debut in Australia; BMW reassign chief designer Zander; FIA acts on movable floor controversy; Businessman in Silverstone buyout bid; French GP put in doubt for 2008; Turkish federation escapes FIA fine; Traction control banned from 2008; FIA abandons plans for wider cars, slicks; Ascanelli new tech boss at Toro Rosso.

"I've known Hamilton for a long time and I think he's showed good performance and good style. And I think he's going to be quick and maybe the surprise of the year."

Felipe Massa - Ferrari driver, on Lewis Hamilton.

"He definitely has to win half a dozen races this year. If not he'll be falling back to the teams down the grid, he won't be getting another top line drive."

Mike Gascoyne - Spyker technical chief, on Giancarlo Fisichella.

"Lewis is almost certainly going to win a Grand Prix this year."

Damon Hill - former world champion.

"I definitely count myself among the three strongest drivers in the world. Certainly (Fernando) Alonso and (Kimi) Raikkonen are fast, but I don't have any reason to hide behind anyone. If I weren't convinced of my abilities, I wouldn't be in Formula One."

Ralf Schumacher - Toyota driver.

"I really am more than ready now, as a rookie coming in I feel incredibly prepared."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"Ron Dennis has found in Fernando a new Senna. I know he loves him, but also that Fernando has been in love with McLaren for several years."

Adrian Campos - Fernando Alonso's former manager and former F1 driver.

"You need to be realistic: he did almost everything wrong. Of course he's a rookie but so is Hamilton so in these two weeks before the next race he needs to change his attitude and try to do better, because he has the capability to do it."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss, on Heikki Kovalainen.

"I do not think we are the fourth power on the grid, we are the world champions."

Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault driver.

"I think we have to set ourselves the target of being up there with Renault and BMW by the start of the European season."

Nick Fry - Honda team boss.

"Lewis was pretty impressive in Australia. He handled the pressure well and raced well, but Fernando won't go away. What happened is going to push Fernando on and I think Lewis is going to have a hard season from now on."

Mike Gascoyne - Spyker technical chief.

April

Spyker lodge protest against Toro Rosso; Alonso leads McLaren 1-2 in Malaysia; Massa storms to Bahrain GP win; Name row leads to return of European GP; Ex-Ferrari employees guilty of espionage; Tomita to leave Toyota in June.

"I think there is a huge safety issue racing on the streets. We are trying to develop tracks to make it safer. We are changing corners in Barcelona for safety reasons and now we want to go to the streets. Something is going wrong there."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"At the moment we are miles away compared to Ferrari and McLaren especially, so we cannot fight for victory in a single race. For that we cannot fight for the championship."

Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault driver.

"He has made a fantastic contribution - and there's rightly huge acclaim for what Lewis has achieved. But Fernando is a great world champion and a very experienced guy. He is someone who has given us a lot of insight. He's a thoroughly motivating force in the organisation. He thinks about his job and the jobs that we all do."

Martin Whitmarsh - McLaren F1 CEO.

"The competition is those cars in front of us. We don't worry about each other. We just concentrate on beating anybody that sits in front of us on the grid or on the race circuit."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"We plan to win our first Grand Prix next year. We will have our best chance then."

Daniel Audetto - Super Aguri managing director.

"I have been pushed very hard all my career, especially at the start of the season. This year has been the same. It is a very close fight with teammates and I think this is helping the team to improve and to develop the car. It creates a good atmosphere in the team because we can both fight for big things, not only one driver."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"I thought after we got rid of Michael, 'now we've got a chance again.' But then another superhuman turns up. Michael was many things, but he was also a very, very simple human. Hamilton is a different character I think, but purely in terms of calibre or quality of skill, what I'm seeing so early in this man's career is remarkable."

Frank Williams - Williams team boss.

"It's obviously too early to analyse but if the trend continues there is no reason why he could not be the greatest driver ever."

Martin Whitmarsh - McLaren F1 CEO, on Lewis Hamilton.

"My compliments to Ron for seeing something remarkable in Lewis 10 years ago, easily five years before I did. He certainly bucked the McLaren trend, putting his rookie in a race seat: that spoke volumes. But Lewis is good enough to stay focused. He doesn't need nannying. Ron should have let us have our piece: we're entitled to get to know him."

Eddie Jordan - Former team boss.

"That's how racing goes sometimes. You saw in the TV interviews afterwards he was smiling and happy to give interviews, he is a great guy. He has the full support and the full trust of us."

Norbert Haug - Mercedes motorsport boss, on Fernando Alonso after Bahrain.

"I live a good life,. I'm very close to the racing, I'm involved with almost everything that's happening. I'm not missing driving at the moment, and I'm a pretty happy man."

Michael Schumacher - former world champion.

"At the moment the rules for 2008 completely allow customer cars."

Max Mosley - FIA president.

"I don't care who wins but I want it to be the last lap of the last race."

Max Mosley - FIA president.

"Our job is racing, not testing. We must have more Grands Prix, we must change qualifying, and the races too. We must try to adapt. Maybe we can change the times of races. I think we should seriously think what F1 should be like in the future."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss.

May

Valencia confirms seven-year F1 deal; Agathangelou leaves Red Bull Racing; Spyker delay introduction of B-spec car; Singapore confirms F1 race for 2008; Barcelona renews GP deal until 2016; Massa cruises to Spanish GP win; Rossiter joins Super Aguri as tester; Alonso heads dominant McLaren 1-2; FIA introduces tougher flexi-wing test.

"Lewis will find that whatever he's currently encountering will be multiplied by a factor of five when he starts winning races. You can't turn it off, so you need a strategy for coping."

Damon Hill - former world champion.

"I sympathise with you - it's a very frustrating business to watch F1 on British TV."

Ross Brawn - former Ferrari technical director.

"I can't see a chance to win a race: the aerodynamics are wrong. It's better to start working right away on the 2008 car, rather than waste time fixing a car born badly."

Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault driver.

"I think he is going to rewrite the book. We will see a new generation of what I call properly prepared professional racing drivers. I don't think there is one who is that."

Jackie Stewart - former world champion, on Lewis Hamilton.

"In his career, he has always been comfortably faster than teammates, and now he's got a guy who's his equal, if not maybe a little bit quicker in the races as we've seen so far. And I think he'll be questioning himself, deep down inside, as to whether he is really quicker than his teammate, and I think that will give him a lot of self-doubt."

Steve Nielsen - Renault team manager, on Fernando Alonso.

"He doesn't seem prepared to make the sacrifice of reducing that style of life because he enjoys it. It's possible he will not win a world championship and that would be a considerable loss to Ferrari and the sport."

Jackie Stewart - former world champion, on Kimi Raikkonen.

"I don't know if I particularly believe that 'win at all costs' is the way forward. For sure, we are here to win, so you prepare yourself and you work as hard as you can, but I don't particularly agree with win at all costs."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"I am amused at how some magazines have tried to position the team as having some [internal] conflict. You can see from the body language and the way they compete when playing video games, you realise that yes, they're competitive, but not to the detriment of the relationship that they have with each other or the relationship with the team."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"I don't feel comfortable with regulations designed to favour manufacturers who at any time can stop because it is not their core business. History shows they do choose to stop at short notice for different reasons. So, to construct therefore F1 for the manufacturers is fundamentally wrong."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"Both of these drivers are role models for young people. People relate to the fact that good guys can win. There are drivers that are prepared to do anything to win, they've been in Formula One and left, but [Lewis] isn't one of them. That's the sort of focus and approach that he has to his motor racing, and I think people relate very positively to it."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"We are not going to be here to say 'me too, I am also in Formula One'. We don't want to do that. But ups and downs, we are used to it."

Carlos Ghosn - Renault chief executive.

"I don't like to slow drivers down, don't like them to be frustrated, don't like these things to happen, because I am an absolute racer. But that's what you have to do to win the Monaco GP and I'm not going to make any excuses for it."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"Being fifteen points behind he's entering a risk zone. The next mistake will leave him out (of the championship fight). He's still in the battle, but he's risking losing touch."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver, on Kimi Raikkonen.

"Monte Carlo is a joke. It's not even a race, it's just a TV show."

Luca di Montezemolo - Ferrari president.

"We should not have gone there in the first place. And we only did so because of former FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo, on Magny-Cours.

June

Ecclestone closes deal for Valencia GP; Hamilton takes maiden win in chaotic GP; India offered place on 2009 calendar; Vettel replaces Kubica at Indianapolis; FIA tests night racing at Indy; Hamilton leads McLaren 1-2 at Indy; Stepney faces criminal enquiry.

"I won't cry because I took Jacque's seat. I think it's life and it happens sometimes."

Robert Kubica - BMW driver.

"When will these chopping moves stop? Lewis is not getting penalised for these things ­ and his behaviour off the startline has started to look the way Michael [Schumacher] used to."

Jacques Villeneuve - former world champion.

"In the end Kimi is a friend, and I've seen him struggle with his problems. I see him as a friend and not a competitor, and I don't spend any time thinking about 'what ifs'. The reality is I don't spend any time thinking about it, other than seeing a friend in pain gives me no pleasure at all."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"The team give me the exact same car as Fernando. I have got a fantastic group of guys working on my car, who are as good as Fernando's guys, if not better. I have got a real strong belief in them, and all the guys here want to win. No one is biased; they are very, very level and very equal."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"It's always good to bear in mind that I'm still a rookie and this is my first season. There are going to be some hard times."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"Now finally people will believe what I said before: that next year we are going to win our first Grand Prix."

Daniel Audetto - Super Aguri managing director.

"Right from the start I've never felt totally comfortable. I have a British teammate in a British team, and he's doing a great job and we know that all the support and help is going to him and I understood that from the beginning."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"Unfortunately he did not get results so I'm sure he himself is pushing. But even if I push him, he's the driver. I cannot make him faster. We communicate very well and I do push him. But I hope he will show better performance soon."

Tadashi Yamashina - Toyota's vice chairman, on Ralf Schumacher.

"I think Alonso is missing being the centre of attention. He has been the centre of attention at Renault and in Spain but obviously he's not anymore. He feels that because he's in a British team Lewis is getting favouritism. That's bollocks. It's not Lewis' fault he's doing well and Alonso isn't. He just has to stop, take a breath, move on and grow up."

John Watson - former GP driver.

"Sure, now I'm 21 points behind Hamilton, but I'm certain that there will be difficult moments even for him."

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari driver.

"It is not vital to Formula One to be in the United States. There are bigger markets for us to be in other parts of the world. We could be in India soon instead of the United States. We don't have a lot of sponsors from the U.S., no American teams and only one driver."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo.

"I am happy; I am happy with everything. My life is fantastic, and with the team as well. I know that this week has been quite difficult after the comments in Spain, but I think those comments are quite normal. I said that I am not totally comfortable with the team, and I understand completely the position. But there are no complaints."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"We in the past very often were criticised that we tried to steer the drivers to tell them what to tell the outside world. We have a situation where they speak their mind, but there is no friction in the team. It is very, very balanced and I cannot see any of these frictions."

Norbert Haug - Mercedes motorsport boss.

"They haven't done anything to really get behind it have they? We arrive in town, what do we get? We get banners saying the Indy 500. Not really the way to promote Formula One. They haven't got behind it, full stop."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo.

"I think now having two equal cars within the same team is a mistake. In the end it will hurt them because it generates too much tension."

Alain Prost - former world champion.

"Fernando will win, I'm 100 per cent sure. He knows what he needs to do. Last year there was a moment when it looked like he would lose the title. Everybody thought he was going to lose it. But pushing together we ended up winning."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss.

"I have confidence I'll be cleared by the legal process that is now taking place. It is just part of a dirty tricks campaign and everything is in the hands of my lawyer, so we'll wait and see what happens."

Nigel Stepney - former Ferrari engineer.

"It is good (for GP2 drivers), yes. But if Lewis was in Heikki's position he would be doing the same, making a mistake here and there. He would be in a car that's not the quickest and he would have to push more to obtain results. It is a lot easier to drive a car that's already fast and that allows you to grab pole or finish second."

Nelsinho Piquet - Renault test driver.

July

Raikkonen leads Ferrari 1-2 in France; Stepney dismissed by Ferrari; Ferrari confirm action against Coughlan; FIA begins probe on Ferrari espionage case; Coulthard confirmed at Red Bull for 2008; Honda confirm Stepney, Coughlan approach; Raikkonen storms to British GP win; Spyker confirm Albers split; IMS confirms no US GP in 2008; De Ferran leaves Honda Racing; Honda confirm unchanged 2008 line-up; Alonso wins chaotic European GP; Ecclestone agrees to keep French GP; Yamamoto confirmed at Spyker; FIA imposes no penalty on McLaren; Vettel replaces Speed at Toro Rosso; FIA sends spy case to Court of Appeal.

"We relish competition. If that remains within a sporting and fair frame, it pushes the team forwards. If on the other hand one driver knows right from the start the he will have the upper hand on his teammate, then he will not go as much to the limit. So I firmly believe that every team aim at having two equally strong drivers, but perhaps only half of all the teams managed to find them."

Norbert Haug - Mercedes motorsport boss.

"McLaren has completed a thorough investigation and can confirm that no Ferrari intellectual property has been passed to any other members of the team or incorporated into its cars."

McLaren statement.

"I'm fed up with having these terrible starts to the year and having to battle back - we make it hard for ourselves and we've really got to get out of the habit."

Nick Fry - Honda team boss.

"If it (the information) was used, did it affect in any way the performance of the car and, if so, where?. In that case they (the FIA) could take away constructors' points from the team. But there is no way it would affect the driver. It is nothing to do with the driver. He's got the car, he gets into the car, he has no idea."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo.

"You go to the factory and it is perfect the way things are run, the people there the mechanics, I love everyone at the team and enjoy working with them. I couldn't imagine working anywhere else."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"I live and breathe this team. And there is no way anything incorrect would ever happen in our team. Thanks."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"I categorically deny that I copied them [the documents], or that I sent them to Mike Coughlan. I knew I was being watched all the time at the factory and that everything I did or said was being reported back and that people knew whenever I accessed files on the computer."

Nigel Stepney - former Ferrari engineer.

"I think you see this occasionally in all different sorts of sports. You get somebody who is a phenomenon. You go back 40 years and you look at someone like Muhammad Ali for example and people like that. It is great for any sport. It broadens the appeal. It is good. We are delighted and we just hope he can keep it up."

Max Mosley - FIA president, on Lewis Hamilton.

"In 2008, we need to be fully competitive. With the resources at the disposal, our technical team has no excuses."

Nick Fry - Honda team boss.

"I came here completely sick, had one of the biggest crashes I ever had, then got a puncture, went into the gravel, it started to rain - it was really a great weekend in terms of learning."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver, after the European GP.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read the press and know that Franz and Gerhard are pushing like hell to get rid of me and Tonio."

Scott Speed - Toro Rosso driver.

"I don't think anyone's going to make a decision on the world championship without really looking into everything. Please God, [I hope] nothing's gone wrong and it will all be a lot of nonsense."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo, on the spy affair.

"The WMSC is satisfied that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code. However, there is insufficient evidence that this information was used in such a way as to interfere improperly with the FIA Formula One World Championship. We therefore impose no penalty."

FIA verdict.

"Today's decision legitimises dishonest behaviour in Formula One and sets a very serious precedent."

Ferrari statement.

"A unanimous decision has been taken by the FIA which in McLaren's opinion is very balanced and fair."

McLaren statement.

"I don't understand what happened, because to begin with you would only gather the World Council if you had proof. Otherwise, if you don't have proof, you avoid such a meeting. So I don't understand what happened: if the FIA admits to have established possession of Ferrari material by McLaren, then why is there no retribution? This verdict reminds me of Pontius Pilate."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss.

"I wonder what would have happened with the roles reversed. I wonder if they had found in the house of a Ferrari chief designer 780 secret papers, 780 classified documents of another team... There would have been cries of a scandal, an exemplary punishment would have been demanded. And it would have been granted, I have no doubt."

Jean Todt - Ferrari team boss.

"I think he (Ron Dennis) is using his experience with Fernando and Lewis to the maximum level that he can. I don't think it will become a problem. The best driver will win at the end of the day, that is what is going to happen."

Mika Hakkinen - former world champion.

"I did not take any designs away from Ferrari. Someone passed on the designs but it wasn't me."

Nigel Stepney - former Ferrari engineer.

"Ferrari finds the decision of the FIA President to be sensible. The FIA has correctly found that Ferrari, as interested party, must enjoy all the rights of a party in a trial, which is what didn't happen in the WMSC hearing."

Ferrari statement.

"Following a thoroughly misleading press campaign by Ferrari and pressure from the Automobile Club D'Italia, the FIA has asked the FIA International Court of Appeal to consider the unanimous decision made by the World Motor Sport Council on 26th July 2007."

McLaren statement.

August

BRDC gives green light to Master Plan; Vettel to race for Toro Rosso in 2008; McLaren stripped of potential points in Hungary; Hamilton beats Raikkonen to Hungary win; Toro Rosso confirm Bourdais for 2008; BMW Sauber retain Heidfeld and Kubica; Malaysia extends GP deal until 2015; Massa leads Ferrari 1-2 in Turkey.

"Were it not for Mr Stepney drawing this illegal device to the attention of McLaren ... there is every reason to suppose that Ferrari would have continued to race with an illegal car."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"It's not true that I revealed those irregularities. You only needed to take a look at the car to realize what was wrong, it was obvious for people who work in F1. At McLaren they knew without the need for whistle blowing."

Nigel Stepney - former Ferrari engineer.

"The team always decides when I have to get moving. I know it looks that way because he lost the opportunity to do his lap, but even if I had left those five seconds earlier he wouldn't have made it anyway. I think the calculations were wrong. I'm sorry for him but I leave the pits when I'm told to."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver, after Hungary qualifying.

"I really don't understand why I was held back. So I guess you should ask the team and I definitely will do when I go back and have a debrief. It definitely needs a good explanation."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver, after Hungary qualifying.

"He certainly showed he's not prepared to play a team game if it's at his expense. I think it was a very selfish thing to do. But sometimes selfish guys win."

Damon Hill - former world champion, on Fernando Alonso.

"They told Hamilton what to do and he didn't listen. That was the only problem the team had. Ron's anger was because he (Hamilton) didn't accept an order that the team repeated several times over the first lap."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver, after Hungary qualifying.

"We're not disagreeing. I just told you my side, he's telling you his side. I'm not disagreeing with him. That's his opinion."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver, after Hungary qualifying.

"I think it's very funny. The penalty is not related to any specific rules. It's just one of those strange things that happen. The race result is determined by last night's decision."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver, after being penalised in Hungary.

"I am in a lot of trouble with my boss. I probably am, but that's the way it goes."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver, after Hungary qualifying.

"Jenson should have won more races, he has under-performed and that is down to him. He had the opportunity and he didn't take it; there won't be any more."

Nigel Mansell - former world champion.

"Nico will become ... not necessarily a superstar, but the next big thing. Which he would have been if he'd been in a Ferrari or a McLaren last year or this year."

Frank Williams - Williams team boss.

"We run our team in a certain way and we expect from every member of the team certain behaviour. They subsequently spoke, have an understanding between themselves, and they are completely communicating. Neither has a problem with the other."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"Things are looking better, a lot better than you would imagine after the last race. Everything went as bad as it could ever be. A lot of that is from the press who are always writing stories about me and Fernando being at war. It obviously sells a lot more papers, but we are not at war."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"When I arrived in December, I remember the car I drove; I remember the results they had in 2006. And now, you know, I brought to the team half a second, six tenths, whatever, and I don't see anything giving me back."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"There are not many options (for next year). I have a contract with McLaren so the possibility for the near future is around here and driving for McLaren. As far as I know that is the only possibility."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"Instead of complaining, moaning and bitching, which is what Alonso is doing at the moment, all he needs to do is concentrate on driving quicker."

Niki Lauda - former world champion.

"We are in F1 to win. But the most important thing is not just winning, it is how we win. If we do not come out of that Court of Appeal with an unblemished reputation then the results of this season will be tainted."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

September

Dassas to leave Renault F1 team; Stepney linked to Ferrari sabotage; Fuji and Suzuka agree to share Japanese GP; Alonso dominates the Italian GP; McLaren lose 2007 points, fined $100m; Raikkonen takes third straight Spa win; Richards unhurt in own helicopter crash; India to host F1 Grand Prix in 2010; McLaren drop Hungary appeal; Spyker confirm F1 team sale; McLaren won't appeal WMSC verdict; Hamilton wins chaotic Japanese GP.

"Following receipt of new evidence, the World Motor Sport Council has been reconvened for a hearing in Paris on September 13."

FIA statement.

"I've been unfairly treated by the papers. I did not accuse the team, I just replied to the FIA with honesty and professionalism. It's stupid to think that I might have replied to the FIA in order to damage the team, as I would do nothing but damaging myself. You must not forget I'm fighting for the championship."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"He doesn't like it there? There are many people who don't like where they are, but they must stay where they are anyway."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss, on Fernando Alonso.

"I think there's a few people around who would like me to (go). If it's something that I thought would further the interests of the company, if I thought it was the right thing to do, then I wouldn't hesitate to do it. But I don't think it is the right thing to do."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"We told the FIA what we had, so there's no problem. I don't know what Dennis refers to, he's throwing stones a bit everywhere. We are calm, no problem at all. Everything we had to say we told the FIA and now we wait for Thursday. I've just learned that Ron Dennis accuses us too, he's throwing stones in the lake."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss.

"If the conditions for an off-track victory were met then we would deserve it, because it would have originated from the presupposition that the winners won through illegal, unsporting, and unfair means. That's why it would be a deserved victory."

Luca di Montezemolo - Ferrari president.

"I do not accept that we deserve to be penalised or our reputations damaged in this way. We have never denied that the information from Ferrari was in the personal possession of one of our employees, in his home. The issue is, was this information used by McLaren? This is not the case and has not been proven today."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"I think we all hope that this is the end of it, (although) obviously there is a danger it won't be."

Nick Fry - Honda team boss, on the spy row.

"It came very close to McLaren being thrown out, it really was a genuine possibility. A few of us sort of battled on and campaigned for the fine instead," he added.

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo.

"Once I became aware that new evidence might exist, which I did on the morning of the Hungarian Grand Prix (August 5), I immediately phoned the FIA to keep them informed."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"We have an agreement. We are not negotiating with anybody and our plan is to continue here."

Luis Garcia Abad - Fernando Alonso's manager.

"If we do not appeal this, it will be because we want closure. The other teams I hope will understand the financial penalty we will swallow in the interests of the sport."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"It is a very modest penalty indeed, and they are extremely lucky that we didn't quite simply say: you have polluted the championship in 2007, you have probably polluted it in 2008 because we have no way of knowing what information you are using in your 2007 and 2008 cars, so you had better stay out of the championship until 2009 if you are still around, so that way we know it is completely fair."

Max Mosley - FIA president.

"No matter how beaten up I am, and no matter how kicked around I am, the fact is that I love Formula One."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss.

"I would have taken all the points away from Hamilton and Alonso on the grounds that there is a suspicion they had an advantage that they should not have had."

Max Mosley - FIA president.

"We have all worked hard this year and the way I feel, the team have done absolutely nothing wrong. I have taken the opportunity I have been given and just done as good a job as I could with it. I don't see why people will say, if I win, it is a tainted championship."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"I want to dedicate it to our fans who believe in the fairness of the sport and to this English gentleman who in the month of June wanted to inform us that someone linked to an opponent team entered into his shop and asked him to copy dozens of pages containing technical information about our car. Without him it would never have been possible to shine the light on to one of the worst pages in the history of motorsport."

Luca di Montezemolo - Ferrari president.

"It's very difficult to say we are happy. We are unhappy. Something which was very important after the hearing of 26th of July, if you are guilty you must be penalised. If you get deeply into all this sad story, you realise that it's a very soft sentence which we respect."

Jean Todt - Ferrari team boss.

"Mr Alonso is not here because he does not want to be here. He does not speak to anyone much. He is a remarkable recluse for a driver. He is not here by choice. Moreover, he said he had other things to do by previous arrangement. I cannot force him to come. We asked him to come."

Ron Dennis - McLaren team boss, during the spy hearing.

"Then he went to McLaren, and when (wife) Connie and I heard that Lewis was going to be his teammate, we said 'Oh my God.' We immediately felt sorry for Fernando because Lewis is Ron's baby. Ron paid his whole career, so Ron wants him to win and not Fernando. He would rather see Lewis win, who is like his own child to Ron. Fernando is nothing to him."

Juan Pablo Montoya - former F1 driver.

"In this situation, I was a rookie and he was the two-time world champion coming into the team. He is the one that was looked at to bring it home, but eventually I have earned more respect from them. And since what's gone on in the last few weeks they've realised who the real people are in the team and who they really should back."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"I could stay not all my life in Formula One, but why not the next five years? I will stop when I feel I'm happy to stop, which is a fantastic privilege because I can decide that I can stop now if I want and I could live the way I live until the end of my life with the people I love. Or, I can more forwards."

Jean Todt - Ferrari team boss.

October

Ralf Schumacher to leave Toyota; Wurz announces retirement; Raikkonen win the Chinese GP; Williams confirm Nakajima for Brazil; Massa to stay at Ferrari through 2010; Raikkonen wins race and title in Brazil; Interlagos deal to be extended to 2014; Engine development frozen for ten years; Night race and 2008 calendar confirmed.

"I told Fernando that the moment he is free from McLaren, we would be pleased to have him back. It would be stupid to deny that."

Flavio Briatore - Renault team boss.

"I still think that in the spying affair it was a big mistake not to disqualify the McLaren drivers as well. It means that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will also win it thanks to Ferrari because there is a lot of Ferrari in his car."

Luca di Montezemolo - Ferrari president.

"Lewis Hamilton has been a real breath of fresh air and has resurrected Formula One. I have been in motor racing longer than I care to remember, but I have never seen anyone like him. He has been nothing short of a miracle worker."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo.

"I was expecting a lot more, we all were. From the outside, the team had a different image: serious, but very professional. And I arrived here after two titles; I improved the car as much as I could. Last year they were fighting to make it into Q3 and this year they are going to win the championship, and the truth is that the treatment has not been very good."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"I'm not thinking of this championship anymore, it's been decided off the track."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver.

"Yesterday was an interesting day for me, I sat in the drivers' briefing and everyone basically had rifles ready to shoot me. It was a strange feeling but I've had it various times in my life for obvious reasons. It was a bit disappointing because I knew a few of the drivers there and I didn't expect them to say certain things."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"Ironically, for me, this is Jenson's best season yet. He's driven the best, he's acted impeccably, and I think he has impressed everyone in the paddock with how determined he's been in what is admittedly not a good car."

Nick Fry - Honda team boss.

"I can only reaffirm the obvious fact that it is not my job to be loved and never will be. Sanctioning a team as prestigious as McLaren for bringing the sport into disrepute is not one I, nor indeed any member of the World Council relished, but we will never shrink from our responsibility to do so if required."

Max Mosley - FIA president.

"As far as I am concerned, it looks as if we are shooting ourselves in both feet, not with a pistol, but with a semi-automatic rifle, and the governing body is damaging the reputation of the whole sport and bringing it into disrepute."

Jackie Stewart - former world champion.

"He's a figure of fun among the drivers. He goes round dressed up as a 1930s music hall man. He's a certified halfwit."

Max Mosley - FIA president, on Jackie Stewart.

"Ron Dennis has made a fundamental error in not having established the hierarchy beforehand. He should have hired Alonso in the role of number one driver in a clear and indisputable way, and have Hamilton racing after having told him he would have been the number two driver."

Alain Prost - former world champion.

"Whoever is champion is a champion because that is what they are. But I think Hamilton deserves to perhaps hold the crown."

Bernie Ecclestone - Formula One supremo.

"We were surprised at and don't really understand the stewards' decision. Therefore, we feel that if we hadn't lodged our intention to appeal we would surely have been criticised by fans and Formula One insiders alike for not supporting our drivers' best interest."

Martin Whitmarsh - McLaren F1 CEO, on the Brazilian GP appeal.

"It would be a joke, and we've had too many already. If something like that happened, it would end up burying the sport."

Fernando Alonso - McLaren driver, on his team's appeal following Brazil.

"For me, I want to win it on the track. You want to do it in style, you want to win the race, you want to win battling it out for the lead or something in the race. Being promoted after some people have been thrown out is not the way I want to do it."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"If you asked me what I would do in Alonso's shoes, I'd obviously say I'd stay at McLaren, because they have demonstrated to be a competitive team and Fernando is a born winner."

Pedro de la Rosa - McLaren test driver.

"It wasn't a great feeling when the gearbox went in the last race, but I still thought I could win. Overall it was a fantastic season."

Lewis Hamilton - McLaren driver.

"If it wasn't him, it would be either [Nico] Rosberg or [Robert] Kubica or one of the other new stars, a [Sebastian] Vettel, would suddenly be the big one. So I think there is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of Lewis Hamilton."

Max Mosley - FIA president.

"It seems I can't stop smiling. This year was really special to me. I can say that I fell in love again with this sport."

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari driver.

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