FIA post-Sprint press conference – United States

DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), 2 – Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari, 3 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Guenther Steiner)
Q: Congratulations, Lando. It seemed like damage limitation. It’s still damage limitation. You started fourth, you finished third. But what happened in the beginning of the last lap? that you lost that position?
Lando NORRIS: Yeah, I mean, it was a good race. Honestly, I’m pretty happy with how things ended up. Yeah, it was a tough one. I thought I could maybe hang on to second, but Carlos did a good job, and my front tyres were completely finished. So there was not a lot I could do, whether I stayed straight or defended or not I’m pretty sure I would have lost the position to Carlos. So disappointing end, but I’m happy with the race results and a good amount of points.
Q: Your start was very good. Can you explain that a little bit? I mean, you made up two places, which was very good. I mean, because normally, you know, that is your…
LN: No, there’s a few races and starts were bad, but otherwise they’ve been good. And today was a good start again and a good first corner. So, yeah, I did the most I could. I don’t think we have the pace on Max or the Ferraris. Therefore, I’m happy to finish third.
Q: Congratulations again, Lando. Thank you. Congratulations, Carlos. You gave us a lot of entertainment, the first part of the race and the last part. Talk us through, Carlos. It was fantastic to watch you fighting with Charles and George.
Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, and honestly, they were very fun battles. Yeah, a good Sprint. I think if the Sprints are like this, you always enjoy them, that little bit of extra action. Yeah, we had a lot of battles, especially the first five laps, a lot going on. And yeah, towards the end, I was starting to struggle with the tyres, but I saw Lando also struggling and I thought that if I could get into the RS, I would have my chance to finish in P2. And yeah, we made it stick into Turn 1 and yeah, it was a fun one.
Q: Do you think if you’d have started in pole, you could have won this race? Because you were getting very strong at the end. I mean, you must have managed your tyres very well.
CS: Yeah, well, the reality is that we didn’t manage much the tyres because we were in so many battles the whole time that we couldn’t really actually focus on tyre management too much. And even though we did that, our pace was still quite decent, so it’s encouraging to see that maybe for tomorrow we have a good chance. I think anyway in qualifying, our car is still not in the best place, but we will try and qualify as far ahead as possible.
Q: Thank you very much and congratulations again, Carlos. Max, it looked like you were in control from outside. How was it inside the cockpit?
Max VERSTAPPEN: It was not too bad. Yeah, it feels a bit like old times. Yeah, I’m very happy with today. I think, of course, if you look at the whole race, Ferrari was also very quick. But I think for us, finally, we’re racing again. Normally in the race, we’re always looking back behind us. But now we could just do our own race. And yeah, we’re at good pace.
Q: Yeah, and you seem to be like a Sprint race specialist. You’ve won 11 out of 16. Where is that coming from?
MV: Probably because I don’t like it!
Q: So how would it be if you would like it? You know, how good would you be there then?
MV: I don’t know. I mean, it’s, of course, always a very hectic weekend like this, you know, to get the car in the right window. But luckily, the last few times that we had a Sprint, I think the car was in a good window. So, yeah, there’s a bit more pressure on delivering, but luckily it’s working out for us.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Max, very well done. Great race. It’s been a while since you last won. How happy are you with the performance today?
MV: Yeah, I’m happy. Yeah, it’s been, of course, quite a few races where it was more like just looking behind, never really being able to attack. And now, finally, the car definitely had just more performance. I could push a bit harder. So, yeah, very, very happy with today. I mean, looking at the whole race, I think Ferrari was also very quick. But for us, this was already much, much better.
Q: What is the overriding emotion, Max, for you? Is it one of relief? The car is back where it was earlier in the season?
MV: Well, I mean, back where it was in the beginning of the season is difficult to say because everyone is improving as well. It just feels a bit more together. And I think that is what we have been lacking. I mean, over one lap, you can mask a lot of issues. But then, of course, in the race, you need a balanced car, which was a bit of a struggle for us the last few races. And now, today, it was definitely a lot better.
Q: And were there any stresses for you in those 19 laps?
MV: No, it’s just, you know, the track with the new tarmac in places and compared to last year, you know, your references are a little bit different. And, of course, with the Sprint format, you don’t have a lot of information, so it’s like you’re getting better throughout the race, I think, as well, understanding what you have to do, and basically that was it.
Q: Alright. Very well done to you. Thank you for that. Carlos, let’s come to you now. Very racy from you, from fifth on the grid. First of all, how much did you enjoy that race? You were very busy from start to finish.
CS: I really enjoyed it. Obviously this year we have a car that allows us to move forward in the race. Last year it was a bit like Max was saying, looking in the mirrors, in the Sprints, in the races. And this year the car tends to come alive on the race and immediately after lap one I saw we had a good pace and I could keep up with the guys in front and we went racing. It was some exciting battles, first with Charles. I remember at some point thinking, ‘OK, we’re having fun even here’, because I was overtaking him on the inside. He was doing the switch back on the inside on the exits, and it was quite fun. Then we got George, and towards the end I thought Lando was going to be tricky to get, but we just made it two laps to the end, and on the last lap I could move into Turn 1.
Q: Did you and Charles slow each other down in those early laps? Without that, do you think you could have challenged Max Verstappen?
CS: I don’t know, but, you know, it’s impossible to say. We will see tomorrow. I knew that, obviously, the first few laps I was quite quick and I wanted to get to the front as soon as possible and that was the plan we did, probably the thing that we suffered the most with is obviously being in so much battle offline, online, the tyre degradation or the tyre management wasn’t ideal. But even without that tyre management towards the end of the race, we were still pretty competitive, so it gives me hope going into tomorrow.
Q: Very well done to you. Thank you. Lando, let’s come to you now. Can we start by talking about those opening couple of corners? You were very quick, straight out of the box.
LN: Yeah, it was a good start, a good Turn 1, which was nice to have, and immediately behind Max. And it was pretty straightforward from that point onwards. George was pushing a lot in the beginning of the race, clearly a bit too much, and paid the price. I don’t know, for me, it was a bit like, I didn’t think I would ever be able to get Max. We’ve been struggling a bit all weekend, so my chances of getting Max were tough, but I did the best I could to manage my tyres and things like that. But at the end of the race, the Ferraris were another level comparing to us. So I did my best to try to hold on, but there was pretty much zero chance I would ever hold on to second place today. So happy, I mean, from fourth, happy we moved up. We put up a good fight, but we just don’t have the pace this weekend. So, yeah, maybe some changes to make into qualifying and for the race tomorrow. But we’re not on the same level as, I think maybe similar to Max, but the Ferraris we are quite a chunk behind.
Q: I was going to say, what have you learnt in this sprint that can help you for the rest of the weekend?
LN: That once the front tyres are gone, you’re quite slow. I mean, many things. Like Max said, we didn’t get a lot of practice, we didn’t get a lot of running in FP1, and it’s hard to judge everything all in one go. And with the tarmac being different and bumps being different, it’s hard to optimise the setup. So we’ll review everything and see what improvements we can make.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lando, you’re being investigated by the Stewards for driving erratically on the last lap. Charles reported that you moved under braking. Could I get your thoughts on that, please?
LN: Okay. I don’t know where or… Oh, the one where you have to turn and brake the whole way around. I mean, you brake in the corner, so it makes sense, to be honest.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Max, please. Max, you’re giving quite full answers. Does that mean your boycott of these press conferences is over? And if it is, is there a reason why?
MV: No, I’m just a good person.
Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) For Carlos, how much have you guys benefited this weekend through coming here with a stable package when everyone else has got new stuff and only one practice session? And I guess to Lando, you’re in the opposite situation. Would you be better off now if you save the updates for Mexico when you’ve got three practice sessions?
CS: I don’t think… Well, I would always rather bring upgrades than not. But at the same time, I think we’ve already brought them in the few races before this, and now it’s all about trying to optimise this until the end of the year. It’s a package that we’ve seen can allow us to fight for some race wins, very track-dependent in our car, but honestly this weekend I’m a bit surprised that we are so competitive. I thought it was more a Monza, Singapore and Baku special that we were relatively competitive, but this is much more of a normal track with long combined corners and that’s normally where we tend to struggle. I think in qualifying we will see the two Mercs, potentially Max and Lando, around us or ahead or behind within a tenth. Then in the race it seems like we tend to have good pace and that’s where we need to maximise it.
LN: No, I’m very happy we brought updates here, otherwise I’d be even further down the grid. No, the team have done a good job to get the bits here. I think it’s clear that everyone… I mean, we’ve had some great races lately, like Singapore and other places, but everyone thought we were easily and way far ahead of everyone. And clearly we’re not. Even if you go back to Baku and things, both Red Bull and Ferrari were quicker than us. I think we’re close. But even when I look at the data comparing to yesterday, we’re a long way off what Ferrari could achieve, what Mercedes could achieve. So yeah, I think it’s going to be tough. It’s an opportunity for us to improve into qualifying. But these upgrades have made us go quicker. So yeah, we’d be even further down without them.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Another question to Max, please. Even when Lando was quite close behind you at one stage, every time through Sector 3, you seemed to be gaining a few tenths, and you looked very strong there. I just wondered, could you explain how that section felt, why that was so important, and how that went?
MV: Yeah, I mean, just trying to follow the track, the car. You drive to what the car allows you to do, right? And that has been our weakness in the last few races, and today it allowed me to go a little bit faster without having to worry with the balance of the car. So I think that just improved in the last sector also.
Q: (Sahil Kapoor – NBC News) A question for Max. Based on what you learned today, how easy do you think this will be to replicate over the course of a full race distance? Do you think relative to your competitors here, you’ll be stronger over a full race distance, or will it be more challenging?
MV: Yeah, it’s difficult to say. I mean, I think over the whole race since today, I think Ferrari was very fast. From our side, yeah, we’ll look into things to improve. Going into qualifying, but it’s a bit difficult to tell at the moment how we would be on full fuel.
Q: (Mathieu Piccon – MotorInside.com) For Max. Were you worried to see Lando being already P2 after the first corner? And were you surprised to be able to increase the gap as you did at the beginning of the race?
MV: Not worried. I mean, I looked in the mirror out of Turn 1 and I saw Lando and I said: ‘oh, he had a good start’ and that’s how it goes. And then I just focus on my own race. You know, that’s the only thing that I can control.
Q: (Martin Vriesema – NOS) A question for Max. Max, how would you describe the atmosphere in the team over the last couple of weeks when you were a little behind to Lando? And what is the role of the driver in this process? Can you push or do you just have to wait what the engineers come up with?
MV: I think what has been very important for us in the last few races is to remain calm and just work on the problems. And that’s what we have done as a team. Just focus on ourselves. That’s the only thing that you can influence and control.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Lando, please. You used to talk about the battle with Carlos late on where you locked up at Turn 1. Was it just the tyres were gone?
LN: Yeah, I think no matter what I would have done, I think Carlos was coming past. My tyres were completely finished by the end. So, yeah, one thing, I can just not defend and let him go up the inside and he gets me that way, or I defend and just put too much stress on the tyres. You have to be so delicate with everything and it was just too easy to go over the limit, so I paid the price that way. Actually, I almost think the fact he got me there was potentially a better thing because I could have a good DRS on him and had a bit of a gap to Charles. So yeah, not necessarily a bad thing that he actually got me that early in the lap.
Q: (Sahil Kapoor – NBC News) Question for Carlos. How much hope or optimism does the Ferrari package today give you for potentially winning a race in the rest of this year?
CS: It gives me good hope. I think now we need to focus on qualifying. I think qualifying is a very important part of the week and know where our car recently seems to be racing a bit better than qualifying. And now we need to see if we can qualify. I think top three gives you a good chance going into Sunday here as then you can overtake. It’s normally a race with a lot of pit stops, with a lot of overtaking. Yeah, I think at least for here, get ourselves into contention on Sunday. You need to be further ahead from where I was today.