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DRIVERS – Lewis HAMILTON
(Mercedes), Sergio PÉREZ (Red Bull Racing), Esteban OCON (Alpine), George
RUSSELL (Mercedes), Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
Q: Why don't we come to Formula
1's most recent winner, George Russell. Second victory in the bag. What was
the most satisfying aspect of your win in Austria last weekend?
George RUSSELL: Yeah it was. It's always great to be back on the top step
and obviously there's been so much hard work from the whole team to improve
the car and get us in a in a position to do that. I said afterwards I felt
like we should have won the race in Montréal and ended up P3 and at the
weekend probably should have. Well we should have finished P3 and we won the
race and that's how racing goes sometimes but It's so great. We now have an
opportunity to be fighting the front, fighting for podiums, and ready to
capitalise when things happen.
Q: What chance are there of things happening this weekend at Silverstone?
GR: You've got to ask this guy [Lando] if there's much going to happen. But
I think it's going to be a good fight again this weekend. I think Lando and
Max are probably going to be the two guys out in front. They look really
fast in the high-speed corners the last couple of races. And, of course,
here in Silverstone, there's a lot of high-speed sections. So I expect those
guys to be the favourites. But I don't think we'll be far behind.
Q: Alright, George, thank you. Lando, let's come to you. We're going to
throw it back before we come on to the British Grand Prix. When you look
back at what happened with Max in Austria, what did you learn?
Lando NORRIS: I mean, we've gone over things a few times. I learned many
things. I think a lot of stuff I was anticipating, I knew about, but it's
still a different. You're fighting against different people, you're fighting
in different ways at the top, compared to when you're a bit further back,
like we have done the last year or so, but at the same time, Max has a very
different way of racing compared to a lot of others. And that's some of the
reasons of why he's a champion. But all in all, yeah, I reviewed it and I'm
excited to go again this weekend and try to do a better job.
Q: You say Max races differently. What does he do differently?
LN: Getting into the details. I think it's clear. It's not stuff I need to
talk about. It's clear how he races. It's tough. It's on the limit. And
yeah, I think it's what we love. You know, it's what I love. I thoroughly
enjoyed the whole fight I had with him. Of course, it was a shame things
ended the way they did. But apart from that, things are clear from what you
see on TV. And I think I'm excited to go race him again this weekend.
Q: Have you and Max spoken since Sunday?
LN: Yeah, we did.
Q: Did he apologise?
LN: Honestly, I don't think he needed to apologise. I think some of the
things I said in the pen after the race were just more just because I was
frustrated at the time. A lot of adrenaline, a lot of just emotions. And I
probably said some things I didn't necessarily believe in, especially later
on in the week. It was tough. It was a pretty pathetic incident in terms of
what ended both our races. It wasn't like a hit, it wasn't like an obvious
bit of contact. It was probably one of the smallest bits of contact you
could have, but with a pretty terrible consequence for both of us,
especially for myself. He didn't doesn't need to… I don't expect an apology
from him. I don't think he should apologise. I thought it was as a review,
good racing. At times, maybe very close to the edge but like we said we've
spoken about it we've talked about it and we're both happy to go racing
again.
Q: Alright. just final one for me quickly how confident are you coming into
the British Grand Prix?
LN: I mean, we're in good form. We've been, again, very close the last few
races, but Mercedes have been getting closer and closer. If you look back to
last weekend, Mercedes were extremely quick, if not one of the quickest cars
in the race. They've taken probably a few steps forward since where they
were. We're in a good position, but so are Red Bull. So, yeah, expecting a
close battle between many of us.
Q: Alright. Good luck this weekend. Thank you. Lewis, can I come to you now?
You've had many close battles with Max Verstappen. What did you make of what
happened between Lando and him last weekend in Austria?
Lewis HAMILTON: Nothing, really. I didn't think anything of it. I was more
concerned about my race and enjoying the team's win.
Q: Well, you've told us in the past that you treat Max differently on track.
So what advice could you give to Lando about going wheel to wheel with Max?
LH: Again, I don't think I need to. They've raced each other for many years.
Q: You're not going to be drawn on this, are you?
LH: That's nothing to do with me.
Q: Alright, well, let's bring it on to this weekend, then, Lewis. You're
going for a record ninth win here at Silverstone. Have you got the car to do
that?
LH: I think out of pure performance, I don't think we are currently in the
same place. Naturally, as you've seen in the last couple of races, on these
high-speed circuits, particularly McLaren, I think probably might be the
quickest, or at least Max maybe. And I think we're not that far behind. And
I think we've definitely seen some really huge strides forward. And it's
really great to see that we are slowly eking closer to the front runners.
Q: Alright. Well, best of luck to you. I'm sure there'll be more questions
from the floor in a moment. Checo, let's come to you quickly. Look, Austria
was a tough one for you. Do you understand the issues that you were having
with your car?
Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, it was quite a tough weekend overall, especially the
race, with the damage we had in the car since lap one, really. Basically, we
were just out of contention. There was nothing with these small margins that
we've seen. It was just a bit too much the damage and we were just going
backwards.
Q: Now, on paper, the fast sweeps of Silverstone should suit the RB20. How
much confidence do you and the team have?
SP: Yeah, I think it should be a strong, strong weekend for us. We're
looking forward to this sort of high-speed content and Silverstone always
throws a massive challenge, you know, with the wind. It can be particularly
very challenging. So, yeah, I think it's going to be all very close as it's
been the last few weekends already in different circuits. So I don't expect
anything different. I think it's going to be everything super tight and
close.
Q: Alright, look, best of luck to you. And Esteban, let's come to you. Now,
talking of performance, Alpine went very well at Barcelona a few races back.
That's a fast track. This is a fast track. So are you feeling confident
coming to Silverstone that you can get back in the points?
Esteban OCON: Yeah, I think we're improving at the moment, which is a good
sign. In Barcelona we managed to get into the top 10, qualify in the top 10
as well in Austria. Unfortunately, the race didn't go as planned. I just
lost a component of the car on the kerbs, which made us lose quite a lot of
performance. But other than that, the weekend was well optimised until then,
until the race was an outlier. But, yeah, it's much more interesting now
that we are able to be fighting for points and interesting results compared
to how it was in the beginning of the season. So, yeah, looking forward to
see what we can do here. It's going to be an exciting one. It's always great
to drive these cars around Silverstone and, yeah, I can't wait to be
started.
Q: Look, you mentioned the start of the season. Just how different is the
car to drive now compared to back in Bahrain?
EO: It's going to be disappointing to say, but not very different. We are
still investigating why it's much better at the moment than it was at the
beginning of the year. I think a lot of it is also track characteristics
that helped us to be performing better, but it's not quite clear exactly on
why we are performing better than at the beginning of the year.
Q: Final one from me. The jigsaw for 2025, the driver jigsaw, is edging
closer to being finalised. What's your situation? When do you expect news as
to what you'll be doing next year?
EO: Yeah, it's going well at the moment on that side for me. So I hope in
the next couple of races I'll be able to speak more about it.
Q: Before the summer break?
EO: Hopefully.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) Can I take it from how you're talking that in
future with Max, you're going to have to find a different way to race Max
because he's not going to race any differently. And just to expand on that,
before the contact happened, you talked about movement under braking from
him.Having reviewed those laps, do you still think that's what was happening
and are you surprised that the stewards didn't intervene on that?
LN: I mean, I think it was still very clear that it was happening, but yeah,
it's a tricky one. You know, Max isn't going to want to crash. He's not
going to want to ruin his own race and his own chances. So I think, yes,
there are definitely things I need to do slightly differently. But in the
end of it, I don't think he's going to change too much. I don't think I need
to change too much. So, yeah, could we have avoided the crash? Definitely,
because it's something I could have done. I easily could have used more
kerb. But, yeah, there's things on both sides that I'm sure we wanted to do
better or in a slightly different way, but on the whole, I think avoiding an
incident from moving under braking is probably the biggest part of it. There
could very easily be an incident that comes from such a thing, and I think
that's the only thing we have to be very careful of is something that could
happen. Yeah, so that's just something for the future and something that the
stewards FIA need to be aware of. that something could easily go wrong. So I
think to a certain point, you're defending, you're being aggressive, and
that's okay. But there will be a point when there is a limit, and I think
that just needs to be defined in a slightly better way.
Q: (Simon Lazenby – Sky Sports) I suppose opening that question to the
floor: Lewis, you've kind of touched on it there, but it's the same question
to all of you. Do you have to race differently when you're going wheel to
wheel with Max Verstappen?
GR: No, I don't think so, to be honest. You know Max is one of the best, and
he's a hard racer, and he'll push the rules to the limit, as all of the top
drivers do, to be honest. So, yeah, I think we all know what the rules are,
what the rules are around moving under braking. You probably push that
slightly beyond the limit. As for the incident, as Lando said, it was just
kind of a very small thing with big consequences and part of racing. So,
yeah, short answer is no.
Q: Esteban, please.
EO: I mean, I'm not racing Max at the moment. We are not in the same
category. So, yeah, not for me to comment.
Q: Alright, Checo, please?
SP: I agree with what George said. I think Max pushes every single bit to
the limit, as many top drivers do, as many drivers in the grid do. And, you
know, when you're racing him, it's going to be a hard, fair battle.
Q: Lewis, please.
LH: Yeah, not a lot to add. I mean, I've spoken about it before.
Q: (Ernst Hausleitner, ORF) You've had so many great memories at
Silverstone. Is there one that stands out?
LH: Yeah, I think 2008 will always be probably the most special. My first
Grand Prix win here in the rain. And that's my first real, I would say,
engagement or the beginning of the journey with the fans here.
Q: (Roldan Rodriguez – DAZN, Spain) To George, to Lando. You must have
dreamt many times of winning your home race. What would it mean to you if it
happened?
GR: Yeah, I mean, obviously, for us, winning any Grand Prix is an incredible
feeling. We both don't have many to our name, but you're home Grand Prix is
always the one that you dream of. And I think we're so fortunate to have
Silverstone as our home race because I truly think this weekend is really
special for the fans, the amount of support we all have here. They're proper
F1 enthusiasts. We came here as kids to watch other F1 races, so for sure it
will always be special to get that opportunity.
LN: Ask me after. I don't know. It's always hard. You imagine your first win
in general. It's hard to know what to think, what you're going to think,
what you're going to feel until that time arrives. It'll mean everything
because this has been my dream since I was a kid. I was watching Lewis and
Fernando back in 2007, 2008. So seeing that and dreaming of being in that
position, and now being here and having those opportunities and that's
special enough. But yeah, standing on the top step, even standing up there
last year and in second place was already very, pretty amazing. So, like
George said, a lot of the same. But yeah, I think it's better. you ask us
after it's happened.
Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports Italia) Lewis, are you interested in buying
the Grassini motorbike team?
LH: I've always loved MotoGP. I'm interested in the potential growth of the
sport, but I haven't looked that far into it just yet. But anything's
possible. I'm definitely interested in, as I said before, about equity and
already with the Broncos, it was already a first step in team ownership. And
so, yeah, I think over the next five to 10 years, there'll be hopefully
more. We'll see where.
Q: (Diego Mejia – Fox Sports, Mexico) For Lando. A year ago, you led this
race at the beginning. Actually, you had a little fight with Max. How much
have you changed your mentality, and how would you describe that change?
Because obviously, you celebrated second place like a win last year, but
it's a different thing.
LN: Slightly. I mean, we're fighting for a win this year. I don't think we
were fighting for a win last year. Little bits in the end of the day,
probably not that much. Yeah, a bit more confident, but apart from that,
it's the same thing. You know, I go out, I drive as quick as I can and I try
and win. But now we have a much better chance. So I think that's the main
thing, but really not too many differences.
Q: (Albert Fabrega – ESPN) After the incident, Max could rejoin the race and
score a point. You couldn't. Do you think that incidents like that should be
reviewed, taking in account the consequences of the incident on the
Stewards’ side.
LN: It's tough. I think sometimes we say it should be, sometimes we say it
shouldn't be, as drivers. Yeah, at times you don't want the consequence to
be taken into account. But also at times, I think it definitely should be
taken into account. But it's a very tough one, because our incident was so
tiny. So for what it was, I don't think it really should have been a big
penalty at all, or even if a penalty, at the end of the day. But considering
he put me out of the race and took me out of a chance of winning a race and
that kind of thing, then it definitely adds a lot more to the facts. And if
he had a big enough lead and he could still go on to win the race or
something, Yeah, I do think it needs to be taken into account in some ways,
but understanding how and how much and where that line is, again, I think is
a complicated and difficult thing. So, yeah, something I'm sure we'll have
to speak about at FIA and drivers, but not an easy thing to have a role for.
Q: Lando, can I just follow up on something you've just said, which is, do
you think Max didn't deserve a penalty last weekend?
LN: No comment.
Q: (Roldan Rodriguez – DAZN, Spain) Again, a question to Lewis. You said
before that one of your best moments was winning here in 2008. What was the
big difference with the winning in 2021? It was a win as well. Your
different feelings?
LH: 2021 was still, I think, a great feeling. I think I'd been on such a
long journey with the British fans and we have such great, really the best
fans here. I think, I don't know, I think it was just because it was a wet
race and it was the trickiest conditions that a racing driver will
experience. and just the level that I was able to operate that day, I think
it was like 68 seconds I won the race by. So it was like far out did any
other race that I think I probably have ever done, particularly in the rain.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lando, you said after the race in Austria
that your car was considerably damaged and basically “destroyed”. I was just
wondering if there was any update on the amount of damage to your car and is
everything going to be okay for this weekend?
LN: Yes, everything's okay. It's more just like longer term stuff it’s
impacted more than just this weekend. We have some spare floors that were
already damaged before, which we've been able to repair and kind of get
things ready for. The team have done an amazing job to get things ready. We
knew with three races in a row, easily things can go wrong and you can
easily have a lot of damage. It's not hard to damage a floor in the first
place. You can run over an exit kerb and it can be damaged quite easily. The
team have done a good job to make sure we've had enough and we've got some
more for this weekend and some repaired ones. Maybe not in a perfect place,
but, like a sidepod and break ducts, all these kinds of things, they all add
up. And when you're in a tight fight for a championship and you're pushing
hard, you're always trying to push the boundaries of everything, just like
the racing is. With the budget cap and upgrades and CFD, all those types of
things, you just want every bit of money possible. So, yeah, a bit of a
shame, but the team have done a good job to make sure everything's ready for
this weekend.
Q: (Janne Oivio – Ilta-Sanomat) Esteban, How frustrating… You spoke about
your contract situation earlier, but it seems that everything, even through
Silverstone, is going to be on hold because of Carlos's situation. So how
frustrated are you that you and there's a few other drivers who still have
to kind of wait for the Sainz drama to unfold? EO: It has nothing to do with
me, what Carlos is doing, basically. You know, we are managing our own
things, and as I said, you know, things are going well, and I should be, you
know, able to speak more in a couple of races.
Q: (Jon Noble – Motorsport.com) Lando, a lot of the focus after Austria was
the incident with Max but there was also that track limits penalty you
picked up. Some of your rivals thought it was ridiculous that you could pick
up a track limits penalty for a lock-up while battling. Do you think that’s
something that needs changing and addressing by the FIA?
LN: I mean, I got the five-second for trying to overtake and it not going
correctly. I didn't even know I had the five-second penalty. I didn't even
know why we served the five-second penalty before we retired the car. I
didn't even know that's what we did until after the race. So yeah, that's
just common sense. That's pretty silly, to be honest. I've tried to do an
overtake, I've locked up, I've gone off the track, just, I’ve had to then
avoid the sausage kerb. But immediately I gave the position back to Max, so
I've probably lost a second and a half in doing that. That’s a clear enough
penalty. I've lost out in doing such a thing. Yeah, that's just, it's just
silly, you know, and those types of things will avoid people racing. Like if
you don't want us to race and don't want me to try ever overtake and you
want a boring race, then you can have these rules. But yeah, I'm sure it’s
something that's already been brought up because it's just… There's a
difference between going off track and racing. gaining an advantage, and
it's the gaining advantage bit which is the most important. And then there's
the going off because you've made a silly mistake. You've not judged
something perfectly, but the fact I get punished for that, especially in a
racing situation, especially when I've given up even more time, it just
doesn't make sense. So something I hope they fix quickly, because I think
it's pretty stupid.
Q: (Keith Collantine – Racefans.net) Lando, on the lap before, lap 63, you
went to the inside of Max to pass him. He went off the track and stayed
ahead of you that way. Should that have been investigated for gaining an
advantage?
LN: Mm-hmm. I think Max could have made the corner, honestly. He didn't try,
which is probably the main fact of it. In this part of it, I didn't squeeze
him. It wasn't like I was side by side and almost pushing him off, that kind
of thing. He took a very easy route out of it. And again, it's complicated.
It's not as simple as just saying this happened, that happened, and there
should be a different outcome, but... I'd say almost out of the whole thing
that was probably the little bit that I almost didn't understand the most.
And the gap he had out of the corner was bigger than what we had going in.
So in the sense of him going off track and gaining advantage, he was
actually the one that did it in that case, especially with the fact that I
didn't even push him off. Yeah, I think there just needs to be some
clarification on things, and I think there needs to be consistency from this
point onwards, because if that's clear what we can do, then I think
everyone's happy, but it just can't keep changing from one weekend to
another.
Q: (Keith Collantine – Racefans.net) Should McLaren have asked for a review?
LN: It's tough. At the same time, like... The more I've thought about
things, the more I've just thought a lot of it was just racing. Yes, I
complained and said certain things on the radio and stuff like that, like
every driver would. If they say they didn't, they're probably lying. But
every driver would do it. Max was doing it. I did it. But yeah, at the same
time, I just, I did come away from it just thinking it was, it was good
racing. Like it was tough. And at times I thought maybe a bit too far, but
at the same time, it was good. It's what people want to see. And we wanted
to do that all the way until the end. We want to do it until the last lap,
you know, that's what we love to do. So we don't want to take away the fact
of just racing and going wheel-to-wheel and have too many rules in this
case. So I definitely think I probably overreacted in some way. But it's
like a new thing to me in many aspects too. So just clarity over certain
things is what's needed. Apart from that, I'm happy to go out and race hard
and do what we did last weekend.
Q: (Graham Harris - Motorsport Monday) George, there’s been a lot of talk
this season about Lewis’ seat and Max and Kimi Antonelli. Do you think your
results have gone under the radar and how do you assess your season based on
last year and do you think you've been underappreciated?
GR: No, no, to be honest, I think the results speak for themselves, and I
don't need to talk about it. As many drivers say, you do the talking on the
track, and I think the season's probably one of the best I've ever had in
terms of my own performance and grabbing the results when they're coming. Of
course, there's a lot of talk about the second seat, but that's normal. It's
exciting. Mercedes, one of the most successful teams in the sport, and it's
a seat that many drivers want. It's like the race last week. When there's a
bit of drama or a bit of action, that's where the talking should be, and
that's how it always will be. Yeah, nothing really more to say.
Q: George, Toto said this week that Carlos Sainz is still an option for the
second seat at Mercedes next year. Would you welcome him as a team-mate?
GR: Yeah, I'd welcome anyone, anybody to be honest. You know, I've been
lucky having Lewis for the last three years and we've had some great battles
in the last couple of years. But you know, as a driver, I think it's
important you have a good relationship between the two of you just to help
that team momentum and pushing in the same direction. But ultimately, and
when you walk into your garage, you put your helmet on, you jump in your
car. It doesn't really matter who's sat in the seat alongside you.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lando, just to clarify, which day did you speak to
Max? Who called who? And is it business as normal between the two of you?
LN: Yeah, we spoke Monday and we spoke yesterday. As to what we spoke about,
it's between us. But yeah, business as usual between us.
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) Andrea said last week that the reason Max
drives as he does now is because he hasn't punished sufficiently in the
past. Lewis, you were on the receiving end of that several times. Do you
agree with what Andrea said? And again, Lando, do you agree with what Andrea
said?
LH: I don't agree with that, no.
Q: You don't agree with that?
LH: No. That's my answer.
Q: Can you elaborate any more?
LH: I just don't agree with it.
Q: OK. Lando, what did you think of what your team principal said?
LN: I'm sure Lewis would agree with it two years ago or three years ago!
100%. I mean, there were definitely certain things. There were definitely a
few moments, especially, but on the whole, yeah. I'm always going to stand
up for what Andrea said. I think Andrea's got a very good amount of
sensibility with how he talks and things he talks about. So definitely, I
think certain parts are true. And I do agree with Andrea, as a note. But
yeah, certain things are always different, I think, when you're a little bit
in the moment itself. And I think just clarification of how he says things,
because there's always certain things with how you pronounce things and
stuff that might change too. But on the whole, I agree with what Andrea
says.
Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Lewis and Esteban, you’re both
leaving your teams at the end of the season and a lot of stuff gets reported
in the press that you're excluded from meetings and stuff. How does it
actually work in practice that they still maintain a good relationship with
you but keep you out of briefings for next year's car and development
stories?
EO: I can tell you that this is complete nonsense. I haven't been excluded
from any meetings at the moment. I think the team would lose out from one
more comment about the car and the drive moving forward if there was only
50% of the comment going on. So that hasn't been the case. I just hope it
won't be the case. Of course, I'm not going to spend time working on next
year's car. That is very clear, but it's also something that I can spend
more time on, focusing on the 2024 machine. Otherwise, there's nothing else
to say, but it's not as clear-cut as you think it is, or as you might say.
LH: Similar for me. I mean, I haven't been excluded from any meetings and
we're still working on this car and trying to get the car to the front. So
it's still very collaborative. And I mean, I've been here a long time. So if
there's a point where they're like, we're preferring not to be in this
meeting, that's totally fine with me. I mean, it's inevitable perhaps at one
stage, but at the end of the day, Nothing I have, no information that I
would get this year will impact next year because I'm not in communication.
Nothing passes hands until I start the season next year. And it takes time
to develop things.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lewis how much are you talking to Ferrari in
general about next year and John Elkann about some of your off-track
initiatives?
LH: Yeah, I speak to John most weeks. So, yeah, we talked today, actually.
So just talking about fashion and things that we want to do. And, yeah, but
nothing racing-wise. He knows that racing and winning is the main priority,
but we can't talk about that yet.
Q: (Simon Abberley – Nevis Radio) Question for Lando, George, and Lewis. To
the three British drivers, can we get your thoughts on ticket prices for the
British Grand Prix?
GR: I think the sport's in a very healthy place. Silverstone isn't supported
by any governments, as many other races are. So I don't know about the
profitability of Silverstone itself. I do feel that Silverstone, as an
event, exceeds every other race on the calendar. You've got A-list acts
singing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights. They've got to be paid.
They've got to be funded for. The whole atmosphere of this weekend is more
like a festival as opposed to one race. And if you compare the price of a
ticket for a 90-minute football game versus a four-day event it'd be
interesting to see how it how it tallies up. But of course you never want it
to be too expensive for fans to become a watch and support us. It's a very
difficult one but as I said I do think Silverstone does an incredibly good
job and they haven't always been profitable in the past.
LN: Nothing much more to add. George said it very well. I think trying to
include the teams into what Silverstone do as a track, I think it's
impossible. But it's a shame because like George said, it's one of the best,
or probably I would say it's the best race of the whole season from a fan
perspective and also from a driver perspective. So it's a shame. But yeah,
this is the question for Formula 1 more so and Silverstone as a track, not
so much the teams themselves.
LH: Yeah, I mean, I think what George and Lando said, I think, is accurate.
I mean, ultimately, it is an amazing sporting event. I think Silverstone and
with the BRDC, I think they've done an amazing job over the years to make
the weekend packed and entertaining. Naturally, with where we are in the
world, the prices continue to go up, and that's obviously not something the
fans want to see. But Silverstone doesn't have the government funding, and
perhaps there's a need to investigate a new business plan, maybe to have
outside investors maybe. I don't know. That's not my job, obviously. But
yeah, not really much more to add to that.
GR: Maybe you could invest if you're looking at more business opportunities.
LH: It's only just become profitable, so not the best investment for me!
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) To the three British drivers, I'm sure
you're aware, there's going to be a fourth British driver on the grid next
year in Ollie Bearman. Just get your thoughts on that, what that means for
British motorsport going forward, and also just get your general thoughts on
Ollie as well, from what you've made of him so far?
LH: Yeah, we did a phenomenal job earlier on this year. Yeah, bright young
talent, and I think it's great that the UK is pumping out a lot of great
young talented drivers. I would say Silverstone and the BRDC have been a
part of that, I would say, because they do invest in young and
up-and-coming, a lot of the sport’s young and up-and-coming drivers. I
think, yeah, I think it's amazing for the sport. Takes the pressure off of
all of us. At least hopefully one of the Brits would be up there.
GR: Yeah, clearly Ollie's a great driver and it's great to see four Brits on
the grid and I think it just goes to show the strength of British
motorsport. I think when we raced in Karting, the competition was so high
and I think that translates into next year, 20% of the grid being Brits.
Obviously, Alex, half British as well, so it's great to see him there and
I'm sure he'll do a great job.
LN: Same thing. Yeah, I think he deserves it. I think he showed in Saudi how
good of a job he can do, even under the pressure that he was in to perform
and get so much out of the car in his first weekend. So I'm excited to see
him on the grid next year and look forward to racing.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) A question to Checo for a change.
SP: I was falling asleep.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) I can help you. This week we had a tour
of the Red Bull Powertrains facility, and I just would like to know how
involved, how interested are you as a driver? And what's your impression of
the programme so far? Are you confident that they can come up with a
competitive engine straight away in 2026, even though they are taking on
manufacturers with decades of experience?
SP: Well, it's very impressive to see and how, timing-wise, how early
they've been going into those regulations with the engine. And when you're
there and you go through the tour, it's fairly impressive the amount of
people we currently have there. And how advanced they are already with the
engine, looking for performance. So I think in terms of timings, I think
everything stacks up really well. How competitive things are going to be, I
think no one of the drivers or even engine manufacturers has any idea in
that regard. But I'll say that they've done a tremendous job so far.
Q: (Nigel Chiu – Sky Sports) Just to go back to Ollie Bearman, Lewis,
Obviously, Ferrari are very invested in his future. Do you plan to maybe
take him under your wing a little bit? Is that something the team has asked
you to do?
LH: No, no, I've not been asked to and it’s not even been a thought. I don't
think he needs to. I think he's a sharp enough lad. And I think, I mean,
naturally, as one of the older drivers here, my door's always open if anyone
ever has a question or any advice that's needed. |
