Belgian GP: FIA Thursday Press Conference

PART ONE – Nico HÜLKENBERG (Kick Sauber), Franco COLAPINTO (Alpine), Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin)

Q: Nico, can we start with you? After that very memorable podium at Silverstone last time out. How have the last two weeks or so been?
Nico HÜLKENBERG: Yeah. Surprisingly, they've been very good. Nice to have a bit of time after and to enjoy the moment properly and not dive straight into the next Grand Prix. So that was good timing from that point of view. Obviously, just an incredible race. Those conditions were very tricky, but we made all the right decisions and rewarded ourselves coming from last, which was pretty crazy and special. The aftermath was also overwhelming — the feedback and responses we got, well over 700 messages. Took me a good week to work through it all, but obviously amazing and nice to feel and see all that.

Q: And you raced back to Hinwil straight after the race. What sort of reception did you get there?
NH: Also, a warm one. Obviously, a very happy one. I think it was important to go back and cherish the moment and share that with everyone in the factory, not just at the track. So it was good. Amazing memories, amazing emotions for us, and I hope that they can boost us for the rest of the season.

Q: Nico, you have scored as a team more points in the last four races than Red Bull Racing. Cast your mind back to pre-season testing in Bahrain. By how much are you exceeding your expectations at the moment?
NH: I think we're definitely on a good run lately. Silverstone, set aside — special race, special circumstances. I think you also have to remember on Saturday, both cars were out in Q1, and it didn't look that fantastic. Had it been a dry race, it would have been a totally different story and outcome. So, you always have to remember that too. But definitely from Barcelona, we gained some momentum. We made a big step forward with the car, especially in the long stints in the race on Sunday. We have a good race car now and we can do something even with not the best starting positions. I think that’s the best news of the season so far, but still a lot of work ahead and still a very competitive and tough fight in the midfield.

Q: Franco, let’s come to you. We’ve had a short break since Silverstone. Have you had a chance to reflect on the six races that you’ve done for the team so far? And what conclusions have you reached?
Franco COLAPINTO: Yeah. It's been good. I think to have a break to reset and go back to the factory, work a bit with the guys, and really focus on what we need to improve. Keep working with the engineers and everyone back at the factory was good. Little break to reset as well. So, yeah. Ready for Spa.

Q: When you look at the data, in what areas of performance do you think you can still make the most progress?
FC: I think there have been different tracks, we have some different weaknesses, but especially in long runs, they've been quite strong lately. We are still focusing quite a bit on performance in low fuel and still lacking in the new tyre runs most of the time. So working with the car to find that confidence that sometimes I lack in the very high-speed corners. But I think generally it's been improving. I started quite strong in Silverstone. Of course, it didn’t end as we wanted, but I think with some good progress.

Q: Goals for this weekend here at Spa?
FC: I think maximise the opportunities. It’s going to be a tricky weekend with the Sprint race, with the weather forecast as well. So I think try to maximise the car we have, the opportunities, and try to get on top of the weather.

Q: Fernando, it was a tricky start to the season for you, but you’ve now had four points finishes in a row. Do you feel you’re building some momentum with this car now?
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah. I think since Silverstone probably with the package that we introduced there. We are a little bit more competitive and on the edge of Q3 and the edge of points every weekend. So, hopefully, we can keep the momentum going.

Q: More new parts here this weekend. What are you hoping to achieve with them?
FA: First, I think the priority is to understand if the new parts are bringing performance. Always on a Sprint weekend it’s difficult to achieve that with only one free practice. Maybe the weather is not helping on that side. So, that will be the first priority. Then, yeah, try to score points if we can again this weekend. But in terms of car performance, I think understanding the new part will be the main difficulty and the main priority as well.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Tom Slafer – DAZN Spain) Question for Fernando. We start here in the second part of the season. After seeing what the team has performed in the first 12 races, what is the goal for the second part of the season in this transition year going to the new regulations?
FA: Actually, I think 80% of the focus is already on 2026, in a way. Not only on the engineers and the design team. It's also the drivers’ head, apart maybe from the two McLaren drivers. The rest of us, we are just thinking a little bit and dreaming about what could be a good season next year, because this year is going to change very little, I think, in the second part. So, it is fun to see all the midfield so close, and maybe there is some action between all the midfielders in the second part of the season, and it will be a fight for fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth in the Constructors’ Championship. But apart from that, I think there is not much more to do. Try to learn, keep improving, try to work with the team in the best way possible. And as I said, in terms of points every two or three weekends, try to see the Constructors’ Championship and have some fun there.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Two-part question to Nico. First of all, well done — Silverstone was great. On that subject, had you given up hope of a podium? Did you think it was ever going to come, or did you actually just put that to the back of your mind? And secondly, now you've had a few months with Jonathan Wheatley as Team Principal, what difference has he made at Sauber?
NH: The first part — to be honest, it was not something actively on my mind. You go out there as a driver, you want to maximise and get the best possible result every time. Of course, you're still dreaming and want to achieve these things, but it's not always in your full control. So, it didn't really bother me. I'm confident and happy in my own skin and just enjoying the ride, enjoying the season, the challenge that's ahead, and the project I'm part of. That's the most important and main thing for me, to be honest. Jonathan — I think he arrived, and it's still quite fresh. But coming from a team that has been so successful and dominant in Formula 1 and operationally very strong, I think he sees us with a fresh pair of eyes with his experience. Very quickly he saw possibilities to optimise here and there. It’s just shortcuts to performance and to a better and a more streamlined organisation and race operation. He applied some things in the structure of the team which are beneficial and helpful. Often, it's just little tweaks, but many little tweaks are a positive contribution. And back at the factory, there's a lot more work to do as we grow, to put the pieces into position and make sure they work productively in the future.

Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports Italy) A question to Nico. Nico, Fernando was telling about the fight for fifth place in the Constructors’ standings. Can your team aim for it, considering your improvement?
NH: Honestly, I think many teams can aim for that. Probably all the midfield teams have a crack at it and a realistic chance. It's always going to be a little bit track dependent — maybe who's going to be better, more competitive that weekend — but I feel that we are all in a very tight battle. We all have that possibility to fight for that position in the Constructors’ Championship. So, yeah, half a season to go and it's going to go down to the wire, I think.

Q: (Laurent Dupont – Canal+) I have a question for Nico and Fernando because you have a lot of experience here. There’s some corners, very fast corners, even some flat-out corners on the dry. But how do you manage to read and feel the grip if it's wet from lap one tomorrow in this kind of corner?
FA: You try not to go flat the first lap and then slowly you go a little bit faster and faster. But on a Sprint format, for sure, you have to go into Q1 quite soon and maybe with a circuit condition that you didn’t test in FP1. So, that's the nice thing of the Sprint. But I don't think that it's a huge challenge. And actually, here, maybe we did more laps in wet than dry, so we know the circuit quite well. Especially, Eau Rouge I think, is quite dry, it never gets too wet there, it's quite steep. But last year the circuit was resurfaced and I think it could be a little bit more standing water, and visibility will be a challenge as usual here. So, yeah, let's see.
NH: Yeah, I mean, you obviously have past references. We go out and feel the grip — you start somewhere and build from there. You react to what you feel and to what the conditions are and just work your way in.

Q: (Diego Mejia – Fox Sports) Question to Franco. It was recently announced that MotoGP will race in Buenos Aires on the old F1 track with some changes. Just wanted to get your reaction to it and probably what you've seen from the changes to the layout, and if you see this as a first step towards trying to bring F1 back to Argentina?
FC: I think it's great to have MotoGP back in Buenos Aires. It's a country full of very passionate fans, and it's great to see a sport coming back. Of course, Formula 1 would be a bit more tricky to go there, especially with the track changes. I think they are more for a bike than for a Formula 1 car, but it would be great in the future. If they can do something about that, it would be amazing for the fans and for F1 to see what they can actually achieve there. I would love that. Of course, it's one of my dreams, but it still looks a little far away. A lot of work to be done for F1 to go there, but it would be great if in the future it can become a reality.

Q: (Tom Hoffman – RTL Luxembourg) We're doing a feature about physiotherapists in Formula 1. How important are those persons for you during an F1 weekend? Thanks. A question for all three.
NH: Physio — yeah. I mean, they’re one of the people you work with probably closest and spend most time with on a race weekend. Maybe also off-track preparing the season and in between races. So, it's usually someone important to you that supports you, keeps your body fresh, makes sure you’re in physical good shape, but also there for many other things mentally. They're not just support crew — your personal one. They are very important.
FC: I think nowadays they are getting more and more important. We spend a lot of time with them on-track and off-track. Sometimes the cars start to be a bit harsh on the body, especially when the porpoising started, and it’s good to have a good physio next to you to fix the body a little bit — especially maybe for Fernando a bit more. We recover quick.
FA: Yeah, they're important even though the cars are now very easy physically. So, it's good for the young guys that they didn't experience the full attack. We are, like, ten seconds slower in the race than in qualifying now, with fuel and degradation, so it’s quite easy!

Q: (Leonid Kliuev – Grande Premio Brazil) Question for Nico. The significance of the Lego trophy was challenged by Oscar in his question to you last time we were here. What is the final verdict? Are you happy with the trophy or would you prefer the classic one?
NH: It’s not something I thought about further or spent time thinking about. It is what it is, and I’ll happily take it.

Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Question for Fernando. I’m curious about the timing of this new upgrade package — a weekend like this, with uncertain weather conditions, Sprint format, and also a step in the tyre compounds. Have the team explained to you the thinking behind bringing the upgrade this weekend and why they’ve done it?
FA: No. But I think the team is trying to bring the upgrades whenever they're ready. Probably this was forecasted for Budapest or later in the season and they managed to bring it a little bit earlier, and we have a chance to test it here. There's no guarantee that we will race with it if we have no time to test it. But at the same time, I think it was welcome — that there is this push from everyone in the factory to bring the new parts as soon as possible. So, let’s see if we can test it properly. If we do and we opt to race with it, we will have a better feel after the weekend. If we cannot test it in FP1, maybe we opt not to fit it for qualifying. At the same time, I think we have the parc fermé open after the Sprint race, so we could use the first part of the weekend as a test and then race on Sunday with the best spec. So there are plenty of possibilities. I’m not concerned.

Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) For Nico and Fernando. You’ve both worked with Alan Permane at Enstone. What sort of qualities does he have? What are your thoughts on him as a Team Principal? And secondly, for Fernando: Jonathan Wheatley and Steve Nielsen have both graduated to Team Boss jobs recently. How special was that group of guys you worked with twenty years ago, and are you pleased to see them all making that kind of progress?
FA: Yeah. It's great to see. Obviously, I worked with the three of them. And with Alan, particularly — I worked two times with him, also when I came back to Alpine. So, yeah, happy for them, happy for him. They have a lot of experience, but also, they have maybe the leadership capacity and qualities that you need these days. With Jonathan it’s well known, but I think with Steve and Alan it will be a good thing for them and a good thing for the team as well.
NH: Yeah, some time at Renault. Obviously, [Alan] has been around so long, so much experience — so, great opportunity for him to put that all to work. Happy for him and wish him best of luck.

Q: (Stijn Keuris – Panorama) Question for Franco. Almost a year in Formula 1 now. Could you give us an example of what you have learned in the past year, both at Williams and Alpine — what no junior class nor a driver academy could have truly prepared you for?
FC: I think, you know, Formula 2 is a great championship, but it still doesn't fully prepare you for F1. I learned a lot of things over these last few races. Since I started in Williams, to start working with so many engineers — suddenly you’ve got 30 engineers in a room compared to two or three in Formula 2 — and that’s a pretty big shock. Being able to communicate, to learn and listen to what they have to say, work with so many people — it's a massive team. You’re putting in a big effort trying to go quick to score points for 1,000-plus people that are in a factory building the quickest car for two guys, throwing it on track. So it's a big job, and it’s a lot of effort that everyone is putting in to make the car go quick, whereas other categories are quite a lot smaller. Over the races, you just learn a lot of things. Experience matters a lot. That’s why Nico and Fernando are here next to me, they have so much knowledge. And when those special moments and special opportunities come — like last weekend in Silverstone — they are always a step up there. So, yeah, it comes with time, but it's definitely quite different to F2 and F3.

Q: (Franco Marcos Real – Cadena 3) This is a question for Nico and Fernando. What advice would you give to the young drivers, like for example Franco, considering that sometimes Formula 1 is a little bit of a ruthless environment? And once you answer, I’d love to hear Franco’s opinion as well.
FA: You're the driver manager now? No. Little advice, I think. For sure, it’s an extremely competitive environment — Formula 1 but also any elite sport. You have to be ready to deliver your best performance every day. And when you don’t deliver, you have to be ready to accept some criticism and try to get better. But in Formula 1, I think we have a lot of support from our teams, our engineers, the technology, the data. So, I don’t think that it’s a bad place to work and to try to get better every day. There’s not really any advice. We all have different ways of driving, different driving techniques, different ways of delivering the job. We are all enjoying our time here. It’s true that we all want to win. And if you get to Formula 1, it’s because in your past you had opportunities to win — in karting, in the junior formulas — and then you had the opportunity to get to F1. And when you get here, there’s only one guy winning, normally for five or six years in a row because they are dominating. So, this is the only thing you have to manage — you have to control that frustration. You need to still deliver 100% knowing that you will not win.
NH: Nothing to add.

Q: Do either of you have any advice on how a young driver should deal with social media?
NH: What kind of a question is that?

Q: Switch it off?
NH: I think it's very personal. Everyone is different. Some like it and are on it, some less. I think you need to find these things out for yourself and then find the right balance, I guess.

Q: Franco, can we just get your response to what Fernando was saying?
FC: Yeah. I think Formula 1, we all know it’s a tough sport, and we all want to be here. There are only twenty places, and it’s always going to be very tricky how you get here. It’s a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice in the past for all the drivers that go to Formula 1. And only 20 drivers get to be here, and there are thousands that want to be. So it’s the sport we all love, and we are very lucky to be able to do it.

Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Question to Fernando and Nico. Following up on the question before — the last weeks were very good for experienced drivers: we had Nico Hülkenberg getting his first podium in Formula 1, and in the movie we have — without giving too many spoilers — Brad Pitt’s character winning a race. But now do you think new fans, the Netflix fans, can see Fernando winning races and Nico getting more points and maybe wins? So, do you think now F1 is getting ready for the experienced drivers to develop even more?
FA: Long, long question. But I don't think there is a straightforward answer. Actually, I don’t think Nico… or think we both don’t care too much about what the next-generation fans think. We only try to win races, try to work with our team the best we can, and deliver the performance. The fans and the people outside watching TV, they don’t have the full picture of what is going on and the difference in performance between the cars. So, if next year Nico and myself have a winning car and we win eight consecutive races and fight for the championship, then they will think that we ate something different in winter or had a different training programme and we learned how to drive in the winter. This is not really the reality. We train every day, eat every day, travel every day, go to the simulator every day. We try to be better and better every day with our teams. When we achieve the result, we just try to share it with them and our fans around the world — but they are not in our priority. And it cannot sound rude to anyone — we love the fans — but we don’t think about of if they realise how good or bad we drive. That is more for the team and the technical aspect of the sport, I think.
NH: I’m not sure I understood the question properly. But I think there’s no correlation between the movie and between experienced drivers or older drivers and recent results. It just always happens circumstantial — what your relative car performance is, how your weekend goes. We just came out on the right side of it two weeks ago. But it could be very different here this weekend. It’s different every time, and you just try to optimise and maximise what you have, like Fernando says.

Q: (Noah Simon – SID) Question for Nico. What do you expect for the second half of the season, and how is the work between you, Sauber and Audi ongoing for 2026?
NH: Well, I don’t expect Silverstone Sundays to repeat themselves so easily or so soon. I don’t think that’s going to happen again quickly. I think it’s more, like I said earlier — the midfield battle is very alive and very real. Depending on the track, you’re in the points or you're not. Everyone is very close together. The gap between P10 and P last is very tight. Small differences make the difference. We’ve had a strong race car recently — strong race pace, good tire management, good tyre life. So, I hope we can put that to good use in the remainder of the season and score more points. 2026 — well, for everyone, it’s ongoing in parallel to this season. Everyone is developing, pushing, exploiting the new regulations. Obviously, there’s no reality for us yet — the car is only going to be available in January next year. Maybe some simulator stuff, but it’s only starting to drip in a little bit with us drivers, at least in our case. But I know back at base, all the teams are flat out working on the future.



PART TWO – Lewis HAMILTON (Ferrari), Kimi ANTONELLI (Mercedes), Carlos SAINZ (Williams)

Q: Carlos, you look primed and ready. Let's start with you. We're at the halfway point. If you were writing a report card for you and Williams, what would it say?
Carlos SAINZ: I would say, oh, it's a difficult question to write in a report card, but I would say it's been with some highs and lows. Extremely frustrating because I feel like I've had a lot of pace in the car. I've adapted to the team quickly. Right from the beginning, I felt with good speed in the car, but it's been very difficult to put two results together through the whole first half of the season. When it was not a reliability issue, it was an incident with a rival. And when it's not an incident with another rival, you don't even get to start the race in Austria. Then it was traffic in Q1, or some strategic mistakes we've done through the year. So nothing really has come together for us in terms of results. But in the middle of those ups and downs, there's speed. There is proof that we are going in the right direction. It's just when you don't have a result to back it, that's when it gets frustrating.

Q: Talking specifically about Williams, the team, what's been the hardest thing for you to adapt to?
CS: A mix of things. For sure, being back racing in the midfield has its challenges. I think I've been out of Q1 two or three times by ten milliseconds, and you know exactly where those ten milliseconds can be. And that changes your whole weekend because you don't have a car to actually make it back through the field, like when you have a very competitive or a top-three, top-four car. If you're out in Q1 or Q2, you can actually still make a difference on race day and make it back through the field. In the midfield, everyone has the same race pace as you, and it's extremely difficult to actually recover unless you do something crazy. And then, yeah, just the car obviously feels very different to a Ferrari—very different limitations, very different driving style required, very different setup that I need to find to drive the car. But that side of things I've managed to adapt pretty quickly. And maybe putting a bit of emphasis on how much lap time and results come from actually understanding yourself with your engineers, with your team, with all the strategy calls—how you communicate during the race, how do you come to the point of making the right call. That needs a bit of bedding time to actually execute a good race weekend, both in quali and the race.
Q: Kimi, can I bring you in on this as well while we're talking half-term reports? What's your assessment of how it's gone for you and Mercedes so far?
Kimi ANTONELLI: It's been challenging. I've had some highs and quite a few lows. I think the European season hasn't gone very well— I think it’s gone pretty badly. A few mistakes on my side and then we had a couple of issues as well. I'm still trying to learn a lot and gather all the information because sometimes, especially when you have back-to-back races, it's a bit difficult to put all the information that you get over a weekend together and try to put what you learn on track right after. So, it's been a bit challenging. Also, on my side, I think qualifying has been a bit weak, but it's more for me about trying to put it all together, especially when you get to the point where you have to find the last couple of tenths, I think I’ve not been that good on trying to do the right step. Overall, it’s still been quite positive because I’ve been learning a lot and we’ve got some good results. But now the second half of the season is important to do the step and find more consistency myself.

Q: We've had 12 races in 17 weeks. Has the relentlessness of Formula 1 taken some adjusting to for you?
KA: Yeah, for sure. I think the rhythm of this first part has been quite high. The intensity definitely has been quite high as well. So it also requires some adjustment, especially after the first triple-header. I had to adjust the way I was managing energy during those three weeks. So overall, there’s a lot to learn on that side as well—especially on how to manage energy the best way possible in order to have the most amount when I go back in the car. This means also taking time for myself to recharge and be focused, especially on the mental side. There’s a lot of learning to do on that side, but I have a much clearer vision and ideas going into the second half of the season.

Q: Lewis, welcome. There’s a lot of excitement around Ferrari coming into this weekend. You tested some new parts at Mugello last week. How did the car feel?
Lewis HAMILTON: We didn’t test. It was a photo shoot day, basically. So did like 10 laps or whatever—14 laps of filming. It was not a test.

Q: Granted. But how did the car feel all the same in those 10 laps?
LH: The same as before. So the same as it did the weeks before.

Q: But you had the new floor in Austria. You've got new suspension on the car here at Spa. Do you feel this is the moment where we might see what this car is finally capable of?
LH: No. I think, well, firstly, we'll get to test the suspension tomorrow, and I’m sure there's going to be learnings from it. We'll figure out how to fine-tune it and try to extract performance from it. On the simulator, there's no difference. But I'm sure across different circuits, perhaps there'll be benefits. For me, the positive thing is arriving at the filming day where you see that new bits are coming. You see that we are getting development. Because in general, we had an upgraded floor in Bahrain. Then it was quite some time before we got another upgrade—I think it was Austria. And pace-wise it wasn’t necessarily what I thought we would have. If you look at some of the other teams, they bring small pieces every single weekend—like Red Bull often do or Mercedes do, for example. Whereas these are more like big chunks along the way. So I was just really happy to see that there clearly is a big push back at the factory. There are a lot of changes, and then to see the results of those changes takes time. So I was just really grateful to see that we got new parts. We'll try and put them to use this weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Kimi, I'll start with you. Contract negotiations, announcements—it’s getting to the summer break, normally a good time to make announcements. How are they going? Toto seems to be saying publicly now that it’s likely to be you and George. Are you in a position to ask for two years? Or is it just a one-year? Do you have any say in that? Fill us in.
KA: That’s the one million-dollar question.

Q: Is that how much you're getting paid? One million dollars?
LH: I can help you with the contract. I know how to work Toto.
KA: OK, ok. No, I think, you know, I've never been worried, to be honest. I know the situation. I know what the team wants, especially looking at the future. Also, Toto has been clear recently, so that’s obviously good to see. But the team is working well. The line-up is good. Me and George are working well together. We’re trying to help the team to find performance again. I think we're doing a good job, and there's a really good atmosphere in the team. It's always nice to go back to the factory and see how much the team is pushing—not only for this year but also ahead of next year. This means there's a good dynamic in the team. I'm sure the team knows what's best, especially for next year, and I'm pretty confident that I'm in a good position.

Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Italia) A question to Carlos. You know very well Laurent Mekies—you worked with him at Ferrari. What do you think he will bring as new team boss to Red Bull?
CS: Yeah. He's, I think, an extremely good professional. My time in Ferrari when he was there, I found someone that was incredibly hardworking. He understood very well the driver. He had a special feeling and a special communication with drivers, which I think makes things for the driver very comfortable and very open. Since his time in the FIA, then Ferrari, now Visa [Cash App RB], and now coming in Red Bull—he has plenty of experience to lead one of the biggest teams in Formula 1. I think he's honestly the perfect fit for that team. So, congrats to him—probably he deserves that upgrade or that step up. I think he's going to enjoy it.

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) A question for Lewis, if I can, a bit related to that. Since your McLaren days, you’ve raced against teams led by Christian Horner. He’s been an opponent of yours, indirectly, for a long time. Were you surprised that he went so suddenly? And do you think after 20 years in charge of that team, it will take them time to adjust?
LH: I didn’t hear what the question was previously. But I don’t know. I wasn’t really—when I’m away from the race weekends, I don’t really pay attention to anything that’s going on in Formula 1 other than what’s happening within our team. So, I was neither surprised or not surprised. I was just minding my own business. And of course, I think when you change CEO or someone that’s running an organisation, they come with their own formula and more often than not, make changes. So that’s inevitable—but that takes time.

Q: (Mariana Becker – TV Bandeirantes) Lewis, besides the filming day, were you at the factory? What did you do in these off-days of Formula 1?
LH: Yeah, I was at the factory two weeks, a couple of days each week. We did preparation—going over where we were at the previous race, things that we need to change. I hold a lot of meetings. So I’ve called on lots of meetings with the heads of the team. I’ve sat with John Benedetto and Fred in several meetings. I’ve sat with the head of our car development, with Loïc, also the heads of different departments—talking about engine for next year, front suspension, rear suspension, things that you want, issues that I have with this car. I’ve sent documents. So through the year, after the first few races, I did a full document for the team. Then during this break, I had another two documents that I sent in, and then I come in and want to address those. Some of it’s structural adjustments that we need to make as a team in order to get better in all the areas we want to improve. And the other one was really about the car—the current issues that I have, some things that you do want to take on to next year’s car, and some that you need to work on changing.
We did development—tried the 2026 car for the first time and started work on that. Thirty engineers come into the room and you sit and debrief with every single one of them. So big, big push. Otherwise, just training—pretty hard. Maybe a little bit too hard. A bit heavy this weekend.

Q: (Tom Slafer – DAZN Spain) Question for Carlos. The team decided very early this year that they were not going to bring as many updates as other midfield teams, so it was impossible to imagine they would catch up. But in the last five races, no other team has scored fewer points than Williams. Do you think it’s circumstantial because of these races, or is it a worrying trend?
CS: No, I think there’s no secret in Formula 1. If you do such a big commitment from the team to realise that you’re not going to bring many upgrades to a Formula 1 season, you need to expect that sooner or later you will start falling back—because this is exactly how Formula 1 works. And even the midfield teams—they never sleep. Everyone is bringing, every three or four races, a bit of a package, a bit of an upgrade. At Williams, yeah, we brought a couple of things at the beginning of the year with the updates of the front wing regulations. But realistically, we haven’t brought anything up until now. So no secrets—we expected that. We still believe it’s the right call, and we still trust the process. We still trust that will pay off next year. We are doing a massive push on next year’s car. I’ve had already a few simulator sessions with it. In debriefs, we almost talk more about next year than we talk about this year—even if we are racing this year. I guess the most frustrating part is that when we had a very competitive car in races like Miami and Imola—that’s when we had the chance, maybe with both cars, to score top fives. I was in the top five all the way through those races until something out of my control happened. And that’s where we’re missing 20, 30 points that could give us that extra bit of space in the championship. But that’s how the year has decided to go. Now that we have maybe a less competitive car, we need to get those small points. Maybe we’re not going to fight for P5s, P4s like we did at the time, but we can still get top 10s, top 8s that will help in our championship.

Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Question to Carlos, and probably also Lewis, if he can join. Alex Albon said this morning that he tested a 2026 car recently in the simulator and that it feels completely different, but also much more complicated for a driver. He says we have many more things to think about, a lot of management going on. So, it will be completely different from a driver’s perspective. What’s your impression so far of the 2026 regulations based on the simulator, and how different will it be for drivers?
CS: Very complicated. It occupies a lot of brain space while you're driving. But I think if you ask… I think Lewis was in the big regulation change between 2013 and 2014—going from a normal V8 to a complex V6 with battery management and all these things. For sure, at the time it was a shock—how much the driver had to think about things that before, on the V8, we would never think about. But then we all got used to it, we all adapted, and now it feels normal. I think with next year it’s going to be something similar. At the beginning, we’re all like: what the hell is going on here? Why do we need to do so much of this? Why is the car feeling different every lap? But then, by the time we start racing with it and the races go by, everything will feel more natural—something we’re more used to—and it will become the new normal. The big question is whether that new normal is better than the old normal. That’s the million-dollar question that everyone wants to have a say on or have an opinion about. But I think as drivers, we’ll just adapt to whatever they give us. We’ll just go as fast as we can. If we have to do six or seven switch changes through a lap, we’ll do them. And we’ll just become good at it like we always do.

Q: Lewis, just your thoughts on the 2026 car that you drove on the simulator?
LH: For me, the thing I love about Formula 1 is that there are these changes that come along the way. There’s so much innovation and development. And every time they make these changes, the learning curve is so steep for everyone within the team. So it really challenges us all to dig deep, to innovate. Even from a driver’s perspective, it’s got more and more intricate as the years have gone on. Like Carlos mentioned, this next step, I would say, probably the driver has even more input into the development—particularly of the power unit and how you use the power. I don’t really want to shut it down, because maybe things will be good. Let’s see when we get into the next season. It could go either way—it could be good, it could be not so good. But only time will tell. What I love is that while we’re fighting this season in this championship, we’re also having to develop the current car—and then the next car. And that, for me, is fascinating. If we were just with the same car all the time, evolving on a very small gradient, it just would not be anywhere near as fun.

Q: (Pepijn Van Der Hul – RacingNews365) Question to Lewis. Regarding the new bits and suspension—how hard is it to optimise such a package in a Sprint weekend, especially with only one training session and mixed conditions?
LH: Very, very difficult. We don’t have a lot of time, so you need to double up. You need to make sure you get as much information from both cars. You need to do the whole session. If it’s wet, then that really helps your learning. But in terms of fine-tuning the car, it’s highly unlikely we’re going to fully optimise it during this weekend. It'll probably be something we’re optimising over the next few weekends.

Q: Phil Duncan (PA). Question for Lewis. At the last race, you spoke quite warmly about Red Bull—you called them an incredible team. I just wanted to gauge what impact you think Christian Horner had on that team. In a way, is it a bit of an end of an era for you? Because he’s been at every race you’ve been at until now. What’s the impact of his departure on the sport?
LH: That doesn’t change anything in my life. What to say? The team has been—it’s been incredible to see the progress. I remember sitting with Christian back in 2005? I remember sitting in his office in GP2. Well, I was in Formula 3, but looking to go into GP2 for his first year. I think he was at Arden or something. I wouldn’t say we hit it off from the get-go! But to see his progression and career—it’s been clearly remarkable what he did with the team. With a huge group of amazing people, to really run an organisation that big and that well takes talent and skill. And that’s what he brought to the team. So, I wish him all the best.

Q: (Leonid Kliuev – Grande Prémio Brazil) Question for Carlos. In the High Performance Podcast, you shed light on your very complicated 2024 season, Ferrari politics, etc. How frustrated are you with F1 in general? And what changes do you believe would lead to improvements—both on your personal level, maybe in teams, and for the sport overall?
CS: Yeah, I'm not frustrated with Formula 1 at all. I love Formula 1. We just obviously get to do a lot of interviews during our year. Some interviews are longer formats where you get to open up a bit about things that maybe in a more closed environment, like this one, I wouldn’t give you here a speech of ten minutes on how everything works. That’s why I’m actually a big fan of how podcasts allow you to explain yourself and to expand into deeper thoughts, deeper conversations that old-school, one-to-one, quick, rapid questions don't allow. In a high-pressure environment like Formula 1, you don’t get the chance to feel comfortable enough to explain all that. And you don't have the time—because we are here to race, not to talk too much. We already talk too much during the week and the weekend. So yeah, I just enjoy those formats, especially when it comes down to mental psychology, training, personal life. I like sharing some of the things that might be useful for other athletes or younger generations coming through—to see that we're also going through a rollercoaster in Formula 1 of emotions and things. So yeah. But towards Formula 1? No hard feelings at all. I love the sport. I enjoy every single time I jump in an F1 car. I have great friends in every team that I’ve been to. I’ve met incredible people, and I cannot wait to be racing here in Spa.

Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365) Question for Lewis. You mentioned earlier that you had written documents to Ferrari on a couple of occasions this season. Can you expand a little on that—why you felt the need to do so? And what’s been the reaction from Ferrari? Have they been acting on them? Will they continue to act upon them?
LH: The reason for it is that I see a huge amount of potential within this team. The passion—nothing comes close to that. But it’s a huge organisation, and there are a lot of moving parts. And not all of them are firing on all the cylinders that they need to be. That’s ultimately why the team has not had the success that I think it deserves. So, I feel that it’s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team—particularly the guys that are at the top who are making the decisions. If you look at the team over the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers: Kimi, Fernando, Sebastian—all world champions. However, they didn’t win a world championship.
And for me, I refuse for that to be the case with me. So, I’m going the extra mile. I’ve been very fortunate to have had experiences in two other great teams. While things are different because there's a different culture and everything, I think if you take the same path all the time, you get the same results. So I’m just challenging certain things. They’ve been incredibly responsive. We’ve been improving in so many areas—through marketing, through everything we are delivering for sponsors, the way the engineers continue to work. There’s still a lot of improvements to be made, but they’ve been very responsive. Ultimately, I’m just trying to create allies within the organisation and get them geed up—get them pushing. I’m here to win. I don’t have as much time as this one here [gestures], so it’s crunch time. I truly believe in the potential of this team. I really believe they can win multiple world championships moving forward. They already have an amazing legacy. But during my time, that’s my sole goal.