"He will be missed as a friend and colleague and as the ultimate professional. It's the end of Michael's career in Formula One so in that sense, it is the end of an era. When you look at his record, that's going to be difficult to beat."

“Michael has been the author of a unique chapter in the history of Formula 1 and of Ferrari in particular. It has yet to reach its conclusion and what he has achieved extends over and above the results obtained. He is an exceptional man and will become a legend as a driver.”

“I'm looking forward to F1 without Michael and hoping that we will see some real competition again between drivers within teams as well as drivers against each other in other teams.”

“If the best guy in the world retires it is certainly a sad day. You can say whatever you want, he won seven world championships and he might win another one. There is nobody like him in the world, he is unique. It's sad that he retires. But I know you have to retire one day and I respect that.”

“Just being a mediocre driver has never been my ambition. That's not my style.”

“I've always believed that you should never, ever give up and you should always keep fighting even when there's only a slightest chance.”

“I don’t think anyone can take Michael’s place. Michael is Michael and he always will be. To the sport he’s a legend, like other legends, like other great champions – Prost, Senna – you know, he’s in the same league and there’s no way you can replace someone. For sure Michael is the one that everyone is looking up to in Germany and that won’t change for quite a long time. I think the records he has set are quite unique, so even though at the moment he gets a lot of shit, he probably knows what he’s doing. I think if you look at his face, he seems relaxed, so he knows what’s going on and I think that’s also a quality a champion has to have.”