Everything that I can do to ground the story in reality helps make it harder for people to be dismissive of it.

The fact we exist merely means we exist. That's all it means.

I started wondering why it is that people line up behind charismatic leaders. It's easy to understand the emergence of a figure who's narcissistic and compelling. But why people follow this person mindlessly - that was the hard question to me.

In addition to psychopaths, 'Quantum Night' is also a novel about literally thoughtless people, without inner voices, thoughts in their heads.

My mother is an American.

Social progress is a big thing for me. Although science fiction is traditionally concerned with the hard sciences, which is chemistry, physics, and, some might argue, biology, my father was and still is a social scientist at the University of Toronto.

Writing is transmogrifying, not just for the reader but also for the author; an author becomes someone he or she isn't by living the lives of his or her characters.

I'm much more interested in writing about the things that engage and enrage me as an adult rather than in wallowing in childhood sorrows.

In the best atheist sense of the word, I feel blessed.

I am very pro-science.

I've had many of my books optioned.

Once we no longer have the intellectual upper hand, then we quite literally, by definition, cannot outwit our successors. So unless we are absolutely sure that the machines we are building right now are not going to eventually become our new robot overlords, prudence is called for.

All the things that made us basically nasty, rapacious, competitive as a species are not necessarily hard-coded into whatever passes for the DNA of artificial intelligence.

A lot of people forget that the origin of science fiction in the U.S. was in the post-First World War period when there was a real interest to get people into technical careers.

Sci-fi is just as much about social science as technology.

When we have machines that are as intelligent - and then twice as intelligent - as we are, there is no reason why that relationship cannot be synergistic rather than antagonistic.

Hungary we know it's a difficult track, it's one of the most physical tracks.

When you are a race driver you see things in the race driver mode.

I think it's impossible to drive a Formula One car with one hand.

I know my value. I don't have to look at lap times.

I have never been ready 100% even when I was racing in my gold times.

My aim, as always, is to deliver a good and consistent performance across the year. That is the goal for any driver.

Obviously when you join a team everything is new and you have to get to know the people and how they operate.

I will always give 100 percent and I am looking to finish in the points on a consistent basis.

The more experience you have, the more confidence you get and the more ready you are.

Regarding KERS, I have mixed feelings. As I am a tall and relatively heavy person I have disadvantages regarding the weight and consequently the weight distribution of the car. But on the other hand KERS could be a big advantage because of the boost.

The brain adapts very quickly. It is incredible how quickly we can adapt and what progress we can make in a very short time.

Of course I have to work harder because I have my limitations, and I have to prepare better and in a different way my body and mental strength, but that is part of my life.

I have my limitations which I never hide.

From a mental point of view, as I've had to rebuild my life from zero, it has been crucial I've never given up, that I've set achievable targets, not things that couldn't possibly be achieved.

There are some things I cannot do as I did before the accident. Trying to do them the same way was impossible, and I was getting frustrated. Then one day I said to myself that I had to relearn those things and do them in a different way and see what was possible, and how it could be achieved.

When you are a kid racing karts, you want to be an F1 driver.

You have to live for what is next, not from memories.

As a racing driver, everything you do is to get to Formula 1 and one day it stops.

I like to watch rallies. Every time I go, I park the car where the fans park - I don't have any special tickets or permission to go - and I walk six kilometers.

If I had to choose and had one week's holiday, I stay at home. But if I am at home and have nothing to do and have a choice, then I go rallying.

I am a big fan of racing.

There is nothing for granted in life. That's how it is.

I always enjoy street circuits, especially Monaco, and I've always gone well there.

If I have luck and keep working and the puzzle comes together, maybe one day I will drive an F1 car.

I spent many years in Italy, I've lived just 5km away from the track and the Monza atmosphere is very special.

You discover your brain is a powerful tool, something that is so powerful that sometimes you are surprised by the outcomes, how quickly it adapts to situations and how quickly you learn.

Formula One applies stresses to the mind and body that are very extreme.

When you have raced for 20 years and one day you have to stop, it's not easy, especially when you are hit with big problems.

I didn't know if I would get the chance to return to F1.

I have never been ready 100% even when I have been racing on my, let's say, gold times.

It will be a dream to come back to F1.

It's true that driving an F1 car in testing is helpful, it's not that you learn everything.

My story shows never say never.

I've become more sensitive, more open, which is not necessarily good in F1. But if you are able to control your emotions, I think it can be positive.