"Were you shaken by the death of Michael Jackson?"
"Yes, very much. I was a fan of his. We met at one of my last races in 2006 in Bahrain at Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa's place.
"How did you find Jackson?"
"I was amazed how could somebody, who is such a giant on stage, be so insecure, shy and fearful in real life. That was probably because so many people took advantage of him."
"Did he know you?"
"He was a huge motorsports fan and we were talking about that. He wanted my autograph by any means, so of course he knew me. I got the news of his death at 3 in the morning by an SMS. I was playing poker with my friends and was just getting ready to go to bed."