PART TWO – Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin), George RUSSELL (Mercedes), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
Q: Why don’t we start with last year’s winner, if we could, please? George, pole, emphatic victory here last time, in 2024. Just how confident are you of doing that again this time?
George RUSSELL: Yeah. Obviously, last year was a great race for us. The car definitely performed very well in these cooler conditions, but we’ve also got to be realistic that success a year ago doesn’t mean you’re going to have success a year later. We won in Singapore this year and had a terrible race there last year, in 2024. So it doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same case this weekend. I think, you know, the likes of Red Bull have made big improvements on their low downforce setting as well. They won in Monza, won in Baku. So I expect them to be strong too.
Q: Toto’s even joked that maybe you should have brought last year’s car to the race this year. I know he’s joking, but is this year’s car more of an all-rounder? And might you have dialled out some of the reasons why it was so good last year?
GR: Yeah, definitely. I mean, everybody’s objective is to make a car that’s strong over the course of a 24-race season. Last year, we had a car that was exceptionally good in those cooler conditions, and I think that’s why as a team, we had more victories, but we were further away in the championship. We finished fourth in the championship last year. We’re fighting for second this year. So we do have a car that is stronger across a range of circuits, but it does potentially mean we won’t be as competitive.
Q: You mentioned the Constructors’ Championship. You’re second, as you say, 32 points ahead of Red Bull. Just how confident are you now, with three to go, that you can stay P2?
GR: It swings so quickly, to be honest. You have a good result as a team and get a one-two, for example, and that can swing so quickly. We came away from Austin, Mexico on the back foot, not performing well. But then in Brazil, we picked up a load of points as a team. So again, not being complacent, just taking it race by race. And, of course, our goal is to finish second, but we also want to win again this season. I think these next two races are the best chance.
Q: Final one from me. You are 150 not out this weekend. Time flies just as it has for Lando as well. Can you give us a highlight and a lowlight of these last seven years?
GR: Yeah. I mean, it’s flying by. I’ve obviously got some more races to do to catch up with the guy on my right. But yeah, I think highlights — probably just the first race, you know, reaching this dream for all of us. There are so many races now. The season’s relentless. And it’s only when you achieve these sorts of small milestones that you recognise that we are living our dream. We all dreamt of being Formula 1 drivers when we were younger. And as I said, when you’re in this competitive spiral week after week, you sometimes forget the position you’re in. So moments like this give you that small time of reflection.
Q: Alright. Best of luck this weekend. Thank you, George. Fernando, let’s come to you. You were celebrating your 150th race back in 2010, just for the record. But, look, George was talking about the Constructors’ Championship. Can I start talking about that with you? Just what’s your read on where Aston is, and do you think you can catch Racing Bulls with three to go?
Fernando ALONSO: I don’t know really. I think, yeah, it depends a little bit on the weekend. Lately, I think Haas is scoring a lot of points, and probably we need to focus on that as well — not only the guys that we have just in front of us. Also, the people behind are pushing. So yeah, it’s going to be, I think, tight until Abu Dhabi, and we will do our best starting from this weekend.
Q: Well, tell us about this weekend because Vegas wasn’t particularly kind to the team last year. Do you think you’ll go better here this time?
FA: Let’s see. Following George’s comments that last year in Singapore they were bad and this year they won — in Vegas, definitely we were struggling last year. So maybe we fight for something! But yeah, I think it’s going to be tight always. Qualifying will be stressful — Q1, Q2, hopefully Q3. And then in the race, yeah, we have to see. Last year, I remember that graining was an issue on the tyres, so we have to try to mitigate that in the setup tomorrow in free practice. Weather as well — rain yesterday, a little bit more rain today than expected. So yeah, we should be open for anything.
Q: What do you think this place will be like in the rain, if it is wet?
FA: Not fun. Not fun at all. Yeah. It’s fast. Visibility is going to be a challenge, I think, under the lights. And also, the grip level is very low already on dry tyres. Temperature is low. So it could be fun to watch, but not to drive.
Q: Alright. Thanks. Good luck this weekend. And Max, let’s come to you now. Such a good race from you in Brazil last time out. If you get a similar feeling from the car here in Vegas this weekend, can you challenge for the win?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, I mean, looking back at Brazil, yeah, I guess so, because the race pace was pretty decent. Of course, I would have liked to start more up front, but at the same time, it was fun. I had a good time out there, you know, racing through the pack and fighting basically until the final lap. Of course, it was for P2, but it was still — yeah. I had good fun, and I hope that we can be competitive this weekend.
Q: Now the championship. You are 49 points behind Lando. You’re the outsider, but you’re never going to give up. How are you approaching these last three races and the title fight?
MV: Same as always. Doesn’t really change. I mean, it’s a lot of points, so I’m not really thinking about it too much, because there’s also not much that I can do. We need a lot of luck now ‘til the end to even have an opportunity. So I, personally, don’t think about that.
Q: Irrespective of what happens in the title fight, you’ve had some fantastic races this year in a car that hasn’t always been easy. In terms of what you’ve done behind the wheel, is this your best season in Formula 1?
MV: It’s been good for sure. I think every season you want to try and be better, which is not always easy, but you try to be more consistent and try to really optimise everything that you can with the car. And I think most of the time, we really did that. So I’m pleased with that. But yeah, I mean, it’s not where I wanted it to be for most of the season, right? Otherwise, you’re fighting really for the title — and we haven’t really. So, yeah. I definitely enjoyed the highs and the wins that we did score, but at the same time, the lows were also not fantastic. But at one point — after the summer break — we were looking at a points gap of more than a hundred points, and it really looked like it was only going to get bigger. And at one point, we were really overturning that by quite a bit. Sure there a bit of luck in some places, but yeah, I think that’s something we can be proud of — to still score some good results at the end of the season.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) A bit of a British question, this one. Let’s talk about the rain. Fernando says fun to watch, not fun to drive. But Max, George, there’s a high likelihood of rain tomorrow, maybe Friday as well. Where is it going to be tricky out there, and are you actually looking forward to a new challenge — Vegas in the wet?
GR: Yeah. I think every time it rains, it offers an opportunity. And I think, ordinarily speaking, you’re ready for that opportunity. Of course, for us, if we were to pinpoint one race on the calendar where we thought we could fight for victory, this would be the race. So out of all of the races, I would choose for this one not to be wet. But nevertheless, I still feel good, and I think — yeah. As Fernando said, it’s going to be very cold. The tyres will be difficult to switch on. Street track, white lines, a bit bumpy in sections. So it’ll catch people out, and you’ve just got to make sure you’re not one of them.
MV: Yeah. I mean, if it rains, the tarmac is wet. So it’s a bit slippery. I’m not looking forward to that potentially. I prefer to just have a dry race. It’s already hard enough to get everything working here — or understanding at least something. So yeah, I prefer a bit more straightforward. But, I mean, if the track floods, maybe less practice is also not a bad thing.
Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky Sports F1) Max, this time last year you won your championship here. And in the pen behind us, you said to Lando that “your time will come,” or words to that effect. He’s on the brink of something now, if he can hold off his teammate and you in the fight. Have you seen a different Lando this year than the one you saw last year? Are you two still close? Do you talk about it at all?
MV: I think, lately, yeah, the weekends seem to be really coming together very nicely. So, yeah, in that sense, definitely a bit different. But, I mean, every year you also grow and learn from past mistakes or weekends where you think you could have done a better job, and that goes for everyone. It’s not only particularly Lando in this case. And what I said last year, I meant — simple as that. There’s nothing that I lied about, and it’s quite clear, right, this season. Sometimes, yeah, you just need to be a bit patient and wait for your moment.
Q: (Tim Hauraney – TSN) Question for Max. Max, it’s been an impressive run from Zandvoort to here. Do you still feel that the title is still within your reach?
MV: I mean, with a lot of luck till the end — but I’m not thinking about it. It’s a lot of points, and I just want to have a good weekend, good weekends till the end. And then, yeah, after Abu Dhabi, we close the book, have a bit of time off, and we go again next year.
Q: (Panagiotis Seitanidis – Ant1 TV) A question for all three. A few years back, if somebody told us that we would have a race in this location, racing on the Strip, doing this spectacular thing, we would think he was crazy. If it was up to you, what would be the next crazy location or place that you could imagine for an F1 race?
GR: London, I guess. I don’t think anybody could imagine a street race in London, but nobody probably could imagine a street race here in Vegas. So yeah, I’d like to see that.
Q: Fernando?
GR: Fernando Alonso’s go-kart track.
FA: Yeah, my hometown. And my go-kart track, making it a bit bigger. It’s unthinkable, so maybe
this place was unthinkable as well.
MV: North Pole.
Q: (Tom Slafer – DAZN Spain) Question for Fernando. Fernando, the team is in the fight with Racing Bulls and Haas for sixth position in the Constructors’ Championship. We now have three very different races to go. Which ones do you think the car will perform better in? Which one of the three weekends do you think you have the best opportunity to score more points?
FA: Difficult to say. I think we saw this year that a couple of circuits where we had high hopes, we underperformed a little bit. And some others, we were surprisingly fast. So difficult to say which one of the three will be better for us, but we will try in all three of them.
Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports Italy) Question for George. You mentioned the progress Red Bull has made on low-downforce tracks. You didn’t mention McLaren. Don’t you think they are your rival here — on paper, obviously?
GR: Honestly, no. I don’t think so. If I took Mercedes out of the equation and I were to try and guess who would win this weekend, I think this would be a circuit where McLaren would struggle more than usual. When you look at their performance in Canada, it was the only time they weren’t on the podium, and their performance in Baku — the only [other] time they weren’t on the podium. This circuit has some similar characteristics to those tracks: the coldness, type of tarmac, the C5 tyre. And obviously low downforce — Baku is the same as Las Vegas. But, you know, there are always these surprises. I think it’s so close in Q3 now between so many teams. If you can do a magic lap and you can start on pole position, your whole weekend changes. So they’ll be there or thereabouts, but I think Red Bull probably have a better chance.
Q: (Alessa-Luisa Naujoks – RTL TV) Follow-up to Max. Max, you were mentioning the lows this season — the difficult situations you were in. How would you say the situation has changed you?
MV: No, not at all. Just — you deal with it. You try to be better next time out as a team. And that’s what we did. I think we really stuck together, tried to make the car faster and learn from the mistakes that we made on some weekends. And, yeah, try to be more competitive.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) A question for all three of you. Oscar’s penalty in Brazil has kind of reopened the debate around the racing rules and the guidelines and how stewards police car-on-car contact. He called it an unacceptable penalty earlier. I just wanted to get your thoughts on both the penalty and talks about racing guidelines going forward. And is the racing incident now dead in Formula 1?
GR: I think it’s very difficult. The guidelines have to be guidelines. There’s a bit of a wording or a view that if a car is locking up, it’s deemed to be out of control. This corner in Brazil is totally cambered into the corner. The inside of the car is always going to be unloaded, and that tyre is not even on the ground. So that tyre is locking, but you’re totally in control. That’s why it has to be guidelines, and you have to treat every single corner, every circuit, every incident totally different. And it goes back to the same point — if we have the same stewards race after race, we can have these conversations and explain to them some of the uniqueness in driving a Formula 1 car at a circuit like Brazil in a corner like Turn 1, where the tyre is going to be locking up. But it doesn’t mean you’re out of control. So, look, it’s very difficult for the stewards. They do their absolute best. And, you know, the majority of the time they get it right. There’s always going to be the audience that say they get it wrong. But, yeah — not easy.
MV: Yeah. I prefer not to comment on that here. We’re not going to solve it in here anyway. George also explained it well.
Q: (Jenna Fryer – Associated Press) Max, in 2023, when we got here, you thought that this was maybe too much of an event, not really about the race. Then you won the race and in 2024, you won the championship here. Do you feel any differently about the Las Vegas Grand Prix than you did prior to the first year?
MV: No. I feel good. I mean, the food is great. Had a good dinner last night. The hotel is great. I also learned to not always speak too much — because first of all, it’s better for myself, and less headlines. So that’s probably safer for everyone. But I have a good time. I’ve been here many times even before F1, and I’ve always enjoyed it.
Q: (François David – Journal de Montréal) Max, in the last nine races, you’ve racked up 176 points with seven podiums and three wins. Would it be possible for you to stay in this championship battle and fight back for the title with Christian Horner still in the team principal chair, you think?
MV: I find it a really weird question. I don’t know why that would be suddenly now — that we closed 49 points like that? I don’t know. You can fill it in yourself. I think we’ve done a very good job the last few races. What else can I say? We try everything that we can. The car has been good at some places, maybe not so good at others. But that’s it.
Q: (Jack Smith – Motorsport Monday) Question for you, Max. You recently appeared on a podcast with Gabriel Bosletto and spoke very highly of him, and you’ve also been quite publicly supportive of other drivers like Kimi this year. Is there a reason why you’ve chosen to be so publicly supportive of the rookie drivers? Is there any way that you were treated as a rookie yourself — either positively or negatively — by senior drivers at the time?
MV: No. I mean, they’re just great guys, and I think I’m quite open in general. For sure, it’s different — it’s exactly the generation of go-kart drivers that I basically missed. Right? But we get on very well. They’re very keen, very fast drivers. And, yeah, when you just naturally get on well — why not, right?
Q: (Ian Parkes – Racing News 365) Max, given your form and performances since the summer break, does it frustrate you now when you look back on the season that you didn’t have the car to fight for race wins, and that has obviously ultimately led to you being in this position — 49 points behind with three races to go and struggling to try and win that fifth title now?
MV: I mean, honestly, I’m not really too stressed about it. If I knew everything in advance, I would have been a billionaire now. That’s just how life goes. If you would know things in advance or how to do things better, yeah, it makes your life a lot easier. But people always learn, make mistakes — we’re not robots. That’s just part of life. That’s why I’m not too disappointed about it. I know that my team always gave it 100% from the start of the season until now. What else can you do? I mean, we really tried everything. We’ve had some really great years, and this one is just not as good as the years before. But that happens. Formula 1 is a very competitive world. And in particular, one team this year has done a better job than us.
Q: Fernando, just while we’re talking about seasons, can I get your thoughts on 2025 for Aston? Just what you feel the biggest lessons the team has learned this year?
FA: Obviously, it has been a very different season compared to the past, as the 2026 regulations are a big change for everybody. And 2025 was, yeah, a season in the middle of nowhere. And, you know, we couldn’t probably put the job into the 2025 car we wanted. And the base car of 2024 was not maybe the best. The second part of 2024 was not really competitive, and that was unfortunately the base for 2025. And then, as I said, with 2026 being a lot of focus for everybody, we were struggling to find the path this season. So, yeah, it has been challenging for Aston for sure, and we are not happy with the season. But, yeah, it was a complicated scenario, I think.
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) This is for Max and Fernando. It’s very clear that you’ve always had a lot of mutual respect for each other. What is that based on? What aspects of each other do you see that creates that? And do you perhaps see a bit of yourselves in the other one?
FA: I don’t know. I mean, I think, coming from countries that are not really into F1 so much — especially Spain, I would say, because Jos was already a master. In fact, I raced with Jos a couple of years and with Max eight. And, yeah, I mean, it is a tough environment. And when you come here and you are — well, you have some success at the beginning of your career — maybe you are not the good guy, if I can say. Maybe you are not politically correct. You are not in the system. You are more yourself than what you should be. And I think it’s what I saw in Max as well. And obviously, apart from that strong personality — the results and the talent, not only in F1, also in the junior categories and from karting already — we all knew that he was this kid coming. So, you know, in my case, I had always a lot of respect.
MV: Yeah. I mean, there’s not that much more to add. What I like is just Fernando’s mentality and just general personality. He’s just himself, which I think — yeah — is just very nice to deal with. You see what you get. And, of course, before I was in Formula 1 — might sound a bit funny — but, you know, when Fernando was fighting against Red Bull, I was cheering for him to do a good job. And being that underdog and still getting these results and dragging the car to wins when he shouldn’t — yeah, it attracts you. I think as a driver, you like what you see. He’s a proper fighter, and he still is. I have a lot of respect for Fernando — still doing it at his age. Sorry. But yeah, it’s very nice to see, you know, to have that much passion for the sport.
Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) Question for Fernando. You just talked about racing with Jos all these years later. You’re still doing amazing things in the car. How have you kept this form up? Do you think you’re driving at your best now? And can you keep this up for several more years? How many more years?
FA: Difficult to know your own performance — if it has changed somehow, if you are better or worse — as long as you don’t have a competitive car and environment that, you know, probably wakes up your feelings and your competitive spirit. That is a little bit not ready now, you know, when you are not fighting for big things. But 2023 was a good example of that — when the car was up there in the podiums. So yeah, I have self-confidence. I have a lot of trust in the team that next year we can put things right and fight for something more important. And, yeah, as long as I feel competitive and I feel fast, motivated and physically at the level, I will keep racing.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – The Athletic) My question to George and Fernando, please. You’ve only got three more races left with the current era of cars. They may not be what a driver wants in slow corners, but they may be great in the high-speed. So I just wondered — will you miss them, or are you looking forward to driving something different next year?
FA: I will not miss this generation of cars, I think. But I think next year, probably, we will go slower, and we will miss them when we drive the next cars because we always want to be as fast as possible. But I think these cars are definitely too heavy. They are too big. And the ground effect and the ride heights — we are racing in a way that is not really fun to drive and probably not even to follow cars. The expectations of this regulation, that it was to follow closely and to have better action on track, was not really a success. Maybe the first year a little bit, but not after that. So, yeah, I don’t think we will miss too much of this.
GR: Yeah, similar to Fernando, really. I think they haven’t been the most pleasant generation of cars to drive. Super stiff, really low to the ground, which has caused a lot of challenges. And of course, since 2017, the cars have been huge, and I think that has created some other challenges. So I think we’re all looking forward to a change and a fresh start — that’s always exciting. I think it’s going in the right direction — making the cars smaller, lighter. Maybe it hasn’t gone quite far enough. But as always, you’ll miss — you always remember the good stuff from something in the past. You never really remember the bad stuff. So I’m sure we’re going to miss that high-speed performance and we’ll probably forget about the negatives, but that’s just how life goes.
