DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – George RUSSELL (Mercedes)
3 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
Q: Lando Norris, third position in qualifying. Not quite what you were aiming for, I’m sure. Looked tricky out there for you, this one?
Lando NORRIS: Yes. Yeah, not the position we were hoping for after yesterday and today, but the maximum we could do, for sure. My lap was pretty good. I was pretty happy with the lap. Just not quick enough comparing to the others. So happy with the lap, happy I got everything out of it. Not happy with the result.
Q: And still thinking big picture for the Constructors’ Championship on the line. You got yourself ahead of the Ferraris at the end. It’s got to be a big target for beating them tomorrow?
LN: Yes. I mean, everyone saw how close it was between all of us for the whole of qualifying, so not a lot in it between all of us, which gives us hope that we can still go forward. um but there are some very quick cars behind us at the same time. I think we look forward to it. I think we showed good race pace today. I did have the benefit of being out front and being in clean air, which is a beautiful thing. But I expect a tougher race tomorrow, yeah.
Q: You gave up a race win earlier. You’re going to go fighting for another one tomorrow then?
LN: Of course. Yes, that was something completely separate. So, excited. I mean, I think we still have a good chance. I don’t think we’re as quick as the Mercedes. And I mean, Red Bull showed how much they improved from yesterday, you know. So, yes, plenty of opportunity for everyone.
Q: All right, good luck tomorrow, Lando. Thank you. George Russell, another front row start. I sense you’re frustrated there to miss the pole, though?
George RUSSELL: Yeah, I mean, it’s been a great run so far. The last four qualifyings we’ve been on the front row every one, which I don’t think we could have dreamt of a few races ago, so feeling in such a groove at the moment, feeling really great. My first lap was one of the best I’ve ever done. And then, for whatever reason, just couldn’t find that extra bit of time on the last lap, and Max pipped me. But just taking the positives, the car’s been so great the last two weekends, and just enjoying it while we can.
Q: We saw an incident where you were blocked by Max. Was there anything in that at the end there?
GR: You tell me. You’re the expert. I mean, I ended up going through the gravel. all over the floor, through the floor. So it felt like the floor was scraping over that kerb and through the gravel. So I hope it didn’t damage it. Maybe that’s the reason why we didn’t improve. I don’t know. But it was a bit of a hairy one, two corners before we start the lap.
Q: But on the positives, you led in Brazil, you won in Vegas. It looks like Mercedes are here to stay now at the front.
GR: Yeah, I mean, these have been three really great races for us. I think Brazil, a little bit circumstantial with the wet qualifying on the Sunday morning. But the pace last week in Vegas was true. The pace here this weekend is real as well, but it’s so close out there. But it just is nice to be in the mix at the front once again.
Q: Race pace looked good earlier. Big fight with Oscar. Can you take it to Max tomorrow?
GR: Yeah, I mean, just excited. Hopefully we can have a proper race rather than this team orders stuff. So, no, it’s going to be a good race. I think we’ll all be going for it. It’s actually great that Max is in the mix as well. I was really surprised at their turnaround because they looked really off the pace yesterday, off the pace this morning. And obviously they were both in Q3 and Max on pole. So I think we’ve got a good race on our hands.
Q: Indeed. Let’s hope so. Well done, George. Max Verstappen already deep into the debrief there with Lando, but what a turnaround!
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, crazy. I mean, honestly, I also didn’t expect that. But yeah, well done to the team, you know, to give me a car that feels a bit more connected. And once the car is a bit more together, you can push harder and it felt a lot better out there in qualifying for me.
Q: So what was the secret? Obviously, parc fermé rules were lifted. You had a chance to change the car. Did you turn it upside down?
MV: I mean, we did change a bit on the car, but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance. So that’s promising. I hope, of course, it also lasts more in the race. I don’t know that yet, but it just felt already a lot more stable over one lap, and that’s exactly what we need. And, yeah, very happy to be on pole. It’s been a while.
Q: Yeah, first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix, incredibly. I’m sure you remember how to start from pole, but it’s 57 laps tomorrow. It’s a brutal track here, so many fast corners. Are you expecting a physical, tough race?
MV: Yeah, it’s going to be a tough race, I think, physically, but I think also mainly on the tyres, just making sure that you’re good on them. You know, the front left around here gets eaten up quite a lot, so it’s all about managing that tomorrow, but I hope that with the setup that we have on the car now, it will be a bit better.
Q: What do you see as the biggest challenge? Who’s the biggest threat behind you on the grid?
MV: It’s all very close behind, and you could see in the Sprint, well, I mean, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, they were all quick, and now it seems like we are in that mix, and I hope tomorrow as well.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Max, many congratulations. What a swing in performance by you and Red Bull. Just how different did the car feel in qualifying this evening compared to earlier in the weekend?
MV: Yeah, I mean, quite different. Just felt a bit more hooked up on entry, mid-corner, like everything that was bad before improved quite a lot. So I felt it straight away from lap one that, yeah, it all just felt a bit more consistent. And that’s exactly what we needed to be a bit more competitive.
Q: Did you know from the start of Q1 that you had a much better car underneath you or did it improve during the session?
MV: No, I think from the first lap in Q1, it felt a lot more promising, but then to get the tyres in the right window is very tough. So then it went away a little bit, then it came back again. And then, yeah, luckily for Q3, I think it was there. And yeah, very happy with how we turned it around.
Q: Max, are you surprised by this turnaround, given where you were, particularly in Sprint qualifying?
MV: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I did think that maybe we could improve the car a little bit, but not like this. That’s for sure.
Q: OK, well, you weren’t happy with the car in the Sprint race earlier today. Just how hopeful are you about the long run pace in the Grand Prix itself tomorrow?
MV: Yeah, it’s still a bit of a question mark. I did feel that yesterday we were not too far off in qualifying, and then I felt like we were quite far off in the Sprint. So this is great, to be on pole, but I’m not sure yet if it’s going to be enough to really be the outright fastest, but we’ll find out tomorrow.
Q: Good luck with that. Thank you very much, George, let’s come to you now. Just 55 one thousandths of a second off Max’s pole time. Can you picture where you lost that time on the lap?
GR: No, not really. To be honest, my first lap was really strong. I was really pleased with that. I think it was a couple of tenths clear. And then I just didn’t improve on that last lap. Obviously, I had a really scrappy out lap with the near collision with Max, and I ended up going through the gravel two corners prior to opening my lap. So it was not a good start. So that was probably the 55 milliseconds. It’s great to be in this groove at the moment, four front row starts in a row, which has been really pleasing considering where we were three or four races ago. And the race pace this morning looked great. So Max did a great job. Red Bull seemed to turn it around a little bit since yesterday, but let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Q: We’re seeing a lot of consistency from you and Mercedes now. What do you put that down to? Because it’s been an inconsistent season, hasn’t it? But now we’re seeing you guys up the front pretty much every weekend.
GR: Well, I think these last two races, the circuits have played in our favour. We know when we can get the car low and stiff on a smooth track, it works pretty well. Brazil, we didn’t actually have the pace. You know, we were very slow in the Sprint, in the Sprint qualifying, but of course it was a wet qualifying on the Sunday morning, so that evened things out a little bit. So I think we flattered ourself a bit in Brazil, but these last two races, when we really, analyse it. I don’t think it’s a surprise. the car is performing as well as it has shown.
Q: You had a lot of pace in the Sprint this morning. So how much hope does that give you going into the Grand Prix?
GR: Yeah, it’s going to be exciting. I mean, those inside starting positions were really tricky. I think every driver on the right-hand side made a poor start and that ultimately cost me the chance to fight with Lando. Now, obviously, Max up front, I think it’s going to be a really close fight between, I mean, all four teams. Ferrari looked on the same pace as Lando and myself this morning. So, I mean, I hope it’s going to be a good one, but the tyres seem pretty resilient. Maybe we’ll see another DRS train, I don’t know.
Q: George, thank you for that. Lando, let’s come to you now. Can you start by just talking us through Q3? Because it didn’t seem to be the smoothest session for you.
LN: Yeah, I just made one mistake on my first push. I just dipped a wheel into the gravel. So yeah, my first mistake really of all of the qualifying and the whole weekend so far really. So I was bound to happen at some point, but not ideal. Then a little bit of traffic, not traffic, but just a little bit of some dirty air and that just upset my first push. So I backed out of it and went again for the final push. But I’m honestly pretty happy. I think my lap was good. In terms of result, obviously not very happy, but I feel like I got everything out of it. So I’m happy with that.
Q: Has the car taken the step that you were expecting coming into qualifying?
LN: I don’t think we were expecting a step. The car was already mint in FP1 and we couldn’t really get anything out of it. So I think that’s what we’ve done a lot of times this year is we’re very good at just coming to the weekend and the car’s quick from the off. We put it straight away in sweet spot. I think what Red Bull and Max showed is that not every team can do that. And I think that’s a strength from us. But they showed how much they struggled yesterday and how much just a few little tweaks to the car, how much that can make a difference to go from where he was yesterday to where he was today. So I think we just got a lot out of it yesterday. I did a good lap and I was happy. Today, same again, but when I’m on pole yesterday by whatever the gap was to George, five hundredths or something, six hundredths. That’s not like we’re way quicker, he’s slower. That’s like within the noise of a couple laps that you get to do. And today, George was ahead and Max was ahead again. So I don’t think we may be quite at the pace comparing to them, especially today. But hopefully tomorrow we can get something back.
Q: I was going to say that’s over one lap. What about over a race distance?
LN: I mean, I hope we’re way quicker than them tomorrow. So I don’t expect anything special. I think the clean air that I had earlier today made us look probably a bit better than we were. I don’t think we’ve necessarily been the quickest to be honest this weekend, I think Mercedes have so expecting a tough battle and excited to see what we can do. I would like to give the guys ahead a little battle tomorrow and of course go forward. Our target would be to try and win the race but these two guys have probably going to make my life pretty tough tomorrow.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas) Autosport. Question to Max, please. Can you talk us through the lap that got you pole position? How did it feel and where in particular do you think you made up the time? Thanks.
MV: Yeah, I mean, it was very good. I felt confident in the car, so I was pushing it. And honestly, the whole lap was hundredths here, then two hundredths and then the last corner a little bit. It was not a lot compared to the previous lap, but it was just everywhere a little bit better. Of course, naturally there is a little bit less feel in the car because I only did one run. That helps. So, yeah, it was all pretty close, but it felt just a lot more connected for me. And, yeah, that was definitely necessary. And then you can attack the corners a bit more. And that gave us pole position.
Q: (Erwin Jaeggi – Motorsport.com) A question for Max. Earlier today you said you didn’t expect any miracles for qualifying. Looks like you got a miracle. Can you explain a little bit about the process behind such a turnaround and who are the main persons involved?
MV: Well, I mean, it couldn’t have been worse. So we just looked at it. And I mean, it’s not all super clear, but we’re like, well, we have to go and try this direction. We put it on the car and it worked. And of course, you know, a lot of people back at the factory analysing a lot of stuff already throughout the whole weekend. But at the end of the day, yeah, you have to make the decisions also on track if you want to do it or not. Simulator is running in the background as well. And yeah, a miracle happened!
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) A question to Max. Max, did Checo try anything in the Sprint or experiment, anything that helped you turn around, maybe the set-up or anything of that sort during the qualifying?
MV: Already a step in a direction, and I think then we went a bit more aggressive on it, I would say.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Another question to Max, please. Just could we get your perspective on what happened ahead of that final lap in Q3 with George coming up behind you? Was there another car just ahead of you as well? Were you a bit unsighted? Thanks.
MV: Yeah, there were two cars in front of me also making a gap, so I had to make a gap. And I knew that everyone was on a slow lap, not on a push lap. Yeah. And then I think George got excited. He wanted to pass and get around. That’s fine. I mean, everyone, of course, tries to get their position, you know, to have the best possible start to the lap.
GR: I was following my delta, so it was, yeah.
MV: Next time just drive straight through!
GR: I didn’t want to get penalised because we’re told to follow the delta, so…
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lando, I wondered could you compare the feeling on your flying laps tonight compared to last night and how things ended up? different for you?
LN: Thanks. I mean, my lap was probably just as good, if anything, a bit better than it was yesterday. It’s more these guys did a better job. More than anything, you know, I think to see Red Bull slow yesterday was the surprise. Probably not to see them quick today is not the surprise. They’ve not really had a bad race the whole year, they’ve always been there or thereabouts, so to see them as far off as they were yesterday was a bit of a shock. To see them back where he is now is probably not the shock. Both my laps were good, I think. We’re losing a good amount in the straights comparing to the others. It was close to a tenth to both George and Max before we even get to Turn 1. So there’s some little losses, of course, that’s really downforce. And we hope to gain a little bit back in the high speed, but because it’s almost flat, we never got back almost what we were losing in the straights. So possibly not in the perfect window of downforce. And on a day like today, you could probably get away with taking some off because you kind of just get to that limit where you don’t gain anything more in the high speed. But hopefully tomorrow that falls back into our hands just a little bit. So both my laps were good, especially today. I don’t think I could have got a lot more out of it. I didn’t think I could even do a seven, to be honest. So I was happy to get that out of it too.
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) George, how much of a disadvantage is it going to be tomorrow to start on the dirtier side, or are you confident you can make a pass and probably even potentially take the lead at the start itself?
GR: Excuse me. It’s probably about one and a half cars length difference from the inside all the way to turn one. We normally judge it based on distance in four seconds, and we think it’s probably about four metres different left to right. It’s, yeah, I mean, it’s quite a big difference here. I hope the guys tonight or the track can clean it a bit because it was pretty clear in the sprint that everyone on that right side made bad starts and that’s obviously a little bit unfair to have those circumstances.
ENDS
Source : Fia
