On how he first started attending races in 1962:

In 1962 my first race was the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps and the third race that year for me was Monza. I did three races that year. It was my hobby. I was taken to the races by a friend who was a wine merchant and a photograph collector. To get a pass, sometimes he brought a box of wine to the press office. With me, he asked to have a friend join him - a professional photographer, as I had just studied photography and had just started to do advertising photography.

On how he turned professional:

I found American magazines like Sports Car Graphic and Car & Driver, and I sent them pictures because I wanted to be independent of this guy in getting a pass.

And they said, ''Oh, you do great photos, send some more.'' I got paid and it was the beginning of my professional work. But it was in addition to the photography for advertising.

On how he helped found the International Racing Press Association, which handed out passes, and how it worked:

We decided to have a club of members that were accepted by us and these people were accepted by the circuit press offices. So we made red leather arm bands with golden letters, a pass picture, and everyone who had that pass was accepted and got in. It was like the pass of Bernie Ecclestone or the F.I.A. now. And it worked for nearly 25 years. We had a meeting every year in Monte Carlo, we had a great sponsor like Marlboro. We had beautiful dinners, we also had strong discussions.

On whether Formula 1 was the pinnacle of auto racing back then as well:

Always. But one difference was that the drivers were the same in sports car racing as in Formula One. Jacky Ickxs, for example, had a contract with Ferrari and he had to drive Formula One, he had to drive sports cars, and they drove in Le Mans and the 1,000 kilometers of the Nürburgring.

The Nürburgring had 300,000 spectators at that time because there was no television. It was very cheap, most of them were drunk on race day. It was a huge, fantastic party.

On how television has made it worldwide:

This was the job of Bernie Ecclestone. He made it worldwide, he concentrated everything, he took care that clubs like the International Racing Press Association did not just give passes to people they liked or not. He organized it completely, professionally. And even when the team bosses were angry with him, he did it to get what we have now. And that is positive because it is really the pinnacle of the sport.

On how he would you compare things today to his first Monza in 1962:

It's like a Cessna with one engine against an Airbus A380. It's in the technology of the cars, the whole system, the teamwork, the race tracks, it has changed so much. And it is very difficult to find people. Everyone is protecting themselves from each other. And there is not this family feeling. A family of 50 people is a lot more closely knit than a family of 2,000 people.

On which experiences he enjoyed with his subjects:

Just today I saw John Surtees. And I did nice photos of him already in Belgium when I started. He won the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix. And today he was invited by Shell. Today I did a picture of him. And it was very much the same, laughing as he did at me as the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix. This is 45 years later. And we know each other now. At that time I was just a fan and they were the heroes.

On how long he will continue this:

I don't know really. I want to continue doing books because I love it, it is beautiful. I am glad that I am able to go on, to run, to do some creative work. We have only one life, and some people die at maybe 60, some earlier - I mean dying while still alive - and I want to do that as late as possible.