PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
Q: Max Verstappen, third place, again in the top three in qualifying at your home race. The crowd love it. What a lap at the end. You looked like you were really dragging the car towards the front. Fastest middle sector. You’ve got to be happy with that.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, for sure. I mean, this weekend so far was quite tricky for us, but Qualifying was basically the best I’ve felt all weekend. So that’s exactly what you want. To be honest, to be P3 here, I’m very happy with that. I mean, the energy of the crowd, of course, the whole weekend already has been amazing, and to see so much orange on the grandstand, it’s always very special.
Q: It’s a difficult circuit as well. Talk to me about the challenges. It’s windy, it’s fast as well, there’s not much runoff. Really gets the adrenaline pumping.
MV: It’s all what I like. So, I’m happy to be here.
Q: And the plan for tomorrow? You’ve got obviously the two McLarens at the front. You’ve got Isaac Hadjar, rookie, alongside you in fourth. All-out attack at the start or are you going to be happy with the podium?
MV: Yeah, let’s see what we can do. I mean, the McLarens have been very fast all weekend, so it’s also important to just focus on our own race, see what we can do. But this has been a good step forward. I hope that we can keep that up also going into the race tomorrow.
Q: Lando, so close. Twelve-thousandths at the end. You looked like you’ve been the form man all the way through the weekend. I guess you’ve got to be frustrated with that end result?
Lando NORRIS: Yes and no. I mean, it’s close. It’s been close the whole weekend. So, easily could go one way or the other. I guess a little bit disappointed I’m not on pole, but it’s close. Still some decent laps, so not the end of the world either.
Q: Do you think if you had hooked up the perfect lap, you might have been able to find it? Looked like you were finding something on the final lap.
LN: No. I mean, with the wind like this, a lot of it’s down to luck as well, you know – even with all the luck I’ve been having. It’s tough. I had a good lap, like Q3 run one, but it’s a smaller headwind down the straight and I lost like one hundredth. So, you could easily say it’s there. But I’m in a good position. We’re in a good fight. Oscar’s been driving well, we’ve been driving well all season, so we’ll have some fun tomorrow.
Q: You know from last year as well, you can take the lead from second on the grid. That’s going to be your chance tomorrow, and there’s some strategy in play between you guys. The fight’s still very much on.
LN: Yeah. I mean, we both had terrible starts last year, so we’ll see. I don’t think the the inside is a lot better, but it’s a long race, a lot of laps, and we’ll see what the weather holds for us too.
Q: Oscar, another brilliant Q3 effort. Twelve-thousandths at the end, but it’s in your favour and you’re on pole position. What a lap. Looked like you found your best when it mattered.
Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah. That was the definition of peaking at the right time. I think the whole weekend I’ve felt pretty good, but it’s just been a couple of corners that I’ve not been able to go any faster. I didn’t really go any faster in those corners, but I found some more elsewhere! So, yeah, super happy to come out with the result. Obviously, you’ve still got all the points tomorrow, but yeah, it was looking like a little bit of a tricky weekend so far, so to come out with that, I’m pretty stoked.
Q: How difficult is it every time you get in the garage, looking at what Lando’s doing, I guess, trying to find that little bit more, tracks coming up, you’ve got to find a bit more time to get the pole. How do you keep yourself finding the time?
OP: You just keep chipping away and that’s one of the nice things about having this much practice — you’ve got time to work on it. Like I said, I think I just improved the parts where I was already not bad and made up the difference that way. Still some things to try and improve and work on, but overall, very happy.
Q: And obviously the race and the points are going to be given out tomorrow. What’s it like in McLaren now? You know your big rival is the other guy on the other side of the garage. The strategy now — are you working insularly? Are you going to be working against Lando with your side? How is the briefing for that? How do you set yourself up?
OP: Let’s see what we get tomorrow. Obviously, we’re both trying to beat each other every weekend. So, there’s a few variables in there that you can mix up. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Oscar, very well done to you. That was a stunningly quick pole lap. Just how did it feel in the cockpit, first of all?
OP: It felt pretty good. You know, not perfect, but I think with the wind being so strong, there are some places that are never going feel perfect. So, it felt good and a good improvement from pretty much every other lap I did this weekend. So, it was nice to be able to pull it out then. But yeah, it took a lot of hard work, some patience in trying to find the time, and eventually I got there.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about that hard work and that patience. I mean, in practice, your team mate has had the edge. What changes have you made to allow you to take the pole today?
OP: You know, little tweaks here and there, but I think just trying to — I think in Qualifying when you get a few more goes at it, a few more sets, naturally it’s a little bit easier to find a little bit more. Obviously, the pressure is much higher than practice. But yeah, just felt like this weekend took a lot of attempts to try and improve in some places and eventually it was just enough attempts. So yeah, just trying to drive faster, essentially.
Q: And did you know from the start of Qualifying that you now had a car that you could at least compete for pole position with?
OP: Yeah, definitely. But I knew that from FP1. I think the pace this weekend has been very strong. FP3 seemed very, very strong and I knew that the car wasn’t the problem. It was just that it was taking me a while to improve in some places. So, yeah, the team’s done a great job in firstly putting the car in a good place for me and also helping me improve myself.
Q: Well, Oscar, let’s throw it forward to the race. The tyre compounds are softer than they were last year. Do you think this is going to turn into a strategic battle at the front?
OP: I don’t know yet. The tyre strategies from everyone are a bit different. I think us two are one of the only teams to have two Hards and a Medium. I think pretty much everyone else has just one Hard and one Medium. So, we’ve got that kind of up our sleeve, but it also kind of tells you a little bit of what most people are thinking, I guess. So, we’ll wait and see, but we’ve got some options available.
Q: Lando, let’s come to you. Very, very close to the pole. Just how was the lap — both laps, actually — how were the laps in Q3 for you?
LN: I mean, both felt pretty good. It feels quick around here, first of all, so I’ve been feeling pretty good the whole weekend, always in a good flow around here, which is important. Both my laps were good. I don’t think many people improved on their second runs, so I don’t know if the track got a little bit trickier or slower in the second run, but both were pretty close, I think. Again, within half a tenth or a tenth of pole position. So, yeah, tricky also with the wind. It can easily just favour you or not favour you. And yeah, one-hundredth is pretty minimal. Even coming out of the last corner, I’m a little bit up and I lose like two-hundredths by the time I get to the start-finish line and that’s pole position gone for me. No, there’s not too much to complain about. I think there were a couple of places where I wasn’t quite on a good enough limit and consistently losing a little bit too much lap time today and this weekend. So, some places and things I need to work on, but otherwise the laps were good, and I was still pretty happy.
Q: You talk about it being fast around here, and the lap times are much quicker this year compared to last year. In what areas around the lap are you finding the time compared to last year?
LN: No idea, but it’s a softer tyre. I don’t know if the wind changes that. The wind always changes some things. We also have a much quicker car. So, I guess just everywhere.
Q: Let’s throw it forward then. You’ve dominated the practice sessions so far this weekend. Just how much confidence do you have going into this race tomorrow?
LN: I would have loved to be on pole. I think that’s the thing that would have made me the happiest. But it’s been close all weekend. You just look at the results and I’ve been ahead. But I easily could have been behind by just losing half a tenth or a tenth here and there. So, it’s not like I’ve dominated it. I’ve just been ever so slightly ahead and it’s just switched the other way around for quali. But I still am confident for the race pace. We know that’s one of our strengths as a team. But I also know my main competitor is the guy ahead of me. We’ll see tonight. Of course, we always put the plan together, but with the other side and with Oscar and everything. So, it’s always a little bit trickier to beat that one guy. But at the same time, it’s a long race. We’ll see what we can do.
Q: You did it last year — you overtook Max Verstappen to take the win. If you need to, do you think it’s going to be possible to overtake tomorrow, to overtake your team mate?
LN: I mean, yeah — no offence to Max — he was in a much slower car last year. So that helps a lot. Oscar’s in a much quicker car this year and the hardest guy to normally overtake is your team mate, especially when in a quali like today where we were split by one hundredth. So yeah, I mean, it’s going to take some magic, some good strategy or incredible tyre saving or something. But it’s normally pretty difficult to overtake in the first place. It’s even harder to do that behind your team mate. So, I’ll see what I can dream of tonight.
Q: Max, let’s come to you now. Another great Qualifying lap from you today. Just tell us how it all came together for you.
MV: Yeah, I mean, so far this weekend, we’ve been struggling for grip and general balance. Luckily in Qualifying it was the best that I’ve felt all weekend. That’s, of course, what you like. It all just felt a bit more normal, a bit more together. Still not on the level of McLaren, of course, but at least to be P3 is very good for us. So, we did the right things in terms of setup directions. I’m very happy with that. It just made it a bit more fun — you had to push to the limit around here, which has some incredible layouts.
Q: What did you change overnight? Because you said after practice yesterday that it had been very difficult for you.
MV: Changed a lot. Even this morning it was still not good. So, then we changed other bits again and that made it feel a bit better. But it’s still quite tricky with the wind. It’s been very windy today and some corners you’re a bit guided by what the wind is doing. So, the car is pushing or sliding, and I guess we’re not the strongest at the moment, but still it was not bad.
Q: And because of the issues yesterday, is the long-run pace of the car a bit of an unknown?
MV: It’s a bit unknown, but I do think that what we have on the car should be more stable. But this season in general, our race pace has not been the best in terms of if you compare it to a Qualifying lap. But I just hope that at least we can keep the guys behind us literally behind us in the race. What happens in front of me, I have no control over. I’ll just try to do the best I can from my side.
