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1 – Sergio PÉREZ (Racing Point)
2 – Esteban OCON (Renault)
3 – Lance STROLL (Racing Point)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Sergio Pérez, welcome to the middle step of the podium, welcome to your
first victory. Take us through your emotions right now, the first Mexican to
do so since 1970.
Sergio PÉREZ: I’m a bit speechless. I hope I’m not dreaming, because I’ve
dreamed for so many years of being in this moment. Ten years it took me.
Incredible, I mean… I don’t know what to say. After the first lap the race
was again gone, same as last weekend. But it was all about not giving up,
recovering and going for it, just making the best we possibly could. This
season, the luck hasn’t been with us this year but we finally got it and I
think we won today on merit. Yeah, the Mercs had some issues but in the end
my pace was strong enough to hold George who did a fantastic race today.
Q: That first incident on the first lap in Turn 4 with Charles Leclerc.
Explain the emotions right there, because after that the comeback was
spectacular.
SP: Yeah, I did a big mistake during the safety car, I locked up my front
left tyre badly, so during my first stint I had so much vibrations
throughout the stint, but as soon as I recovered onto the second stint… I
told my team, you know, this car feels like a limousine, so easy without the
vibrations, we had tremendous pace. I think we read the race pretty well
throughout the weekend. We came here thinking it would be a two-stop but
straight after my long run on Friday we knew what we had to do today.
Q: Now, for people who are tuning into Formula 1 for the first time,
amazingly you don’t have a drive for next year, as we speak. How much does
this strengthen your resolve that you deserve your place in Formula 1?
SP: Ah, it just makes me a bit more peaceful with myself to be honest. What
happens is not so much in my hands at the moment. But I know and I want to
keep going, but if I’m not on the grid next year I will be back in ’22.
Q: Grand Prix winner sounds pretty good doesn’t it?
SP: Amazing… amazing
Q: Lance, well your second podium this year. A fantastic result for the
Racing Point team. How do you feel first of all, your team-mate getting the
victory, talk us through your race?
Lance STROLL: Yeah, amazing race for the team. A part of me is a little bit
disappointed as I think I could have won the race. I went a little bit deep
on my pit exit after my pit stop and Esteban managed to get by me and then I
just didn’t have the pace. I locked up, Sergio went by, but I just didn’t
really have the pace to overtake Esteban so I got held up there a little
bit. But all in very happy for the team, it’s an unbelievable result and
first and third is exactly what we needed for the championship.
Q: You mentioned a mistake into Turn 4, there was an under-rotation, you
went a little bit wide. What was it that was particularly challenging in
that corner on that lap?
LS: It was just being in the fight with Esteban and Sergio. I was late on
the DRS out of 3 and Sergio got a good run on me and then I was defending
and I just miscalculated and braked a little bit late and locked up. One of
those things. But I’m super happy for Sergio. He’s got a couple of races
left for the team and he’s been up there such a long time waiting for the
win and it came this weekend so really happy for him.
Q: Esteban, your first podium in Formula 1!
Esteban OCON: I have no words. I cried on the line, that’s how much emotion
is going through my mind actually now. It’s been a tough season on our side.
It hasn’t paid off all the time but we never stopped pushing. We kept
working hard, we kept staying motivated. That was very important. At the
moment where less and less people are believing in you, it’s important to
believe in yourself and today we made it happen and I’m very pleased with
it. It’s hard work but it has paid off.
Q: You talk about whether people are believing in you. The momentum seemed
to have been with Daniel, he got that podium earlier in the season, so how
important is this for you, to have shown your team ahead of having a pretty
handy team-mate joining you next year in Fernando Alonso?
EO: Sure. I mean Daniel is a fantastic benchmark. He has done a fantastic
season in his second season with Renault. He has stepped up. Overall, I feel
like my progression has been strong as well. I am closing the gap to him and
to have that podium is the cherry, the fruit on the cake.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sergio, what an unbelievable race – and after the disappointment of last
weekend as well. You’ve had a couple of minutes for this to sink in now,
just describe how you are feeling?
SP: I am a bit shocked, to be honest. I don’t find the words. I’m a bit in
the limbo right now. As a driver you dream for this time, to be in this
position, for so many years. I worked my whole life for a moment like this.
To finally achieve it… It’s difficult to digest. I think it will take a
couple of days, but it’s just something incredible, especially coming back
from last weekend where it was a very disappointing day for us where we
should have been on the podium. Really the last four races we should have
been on the podium. But we didn’t give up, especially after lap one, we got
knocked out again, you know. I don’t know what happened. I was already doing
the corner and I got hit badly behind. I thought the race was over again,
but we managed to come back.
Q: How was the car after that incident on lap one?
SP: I guess it must be good, because we had tremendous pace! The car
performed really well. The strategy: I think after Friday we knew already
what we were doing. We understood really right the track after the first
couple of runs. We knew this Bahrain is very different – the layout, the way
your work the tyres – so we knew that we were going for the one stop and
that made a strong difference today.
Q: You were fifth on the grid today, what were your expectations going into
the race?
SP: Podium. I was going for the podium. But on that you really rely on what
happens to the Mercedes and the Red Bulls. But yeah, I was really hoping for
a podium, I was determined to get one. I got a good launch, a good start and
thought I had a good lap one. I was up to second or something like that.
Q: Esteban, coming to you, your first podium in Formula 1. Now, you’ve had
an incredible journey to get to this point. Can you just describe what it
means to you and your family?
EO: They must be unbelievably happy, I hope. I didn’t have the chance,
obviously, to call them yet but as soon as we are done with everything, I
will be spending a good time with them. What a journey. What a difficult
journey to arrive here – a lot of sacrifices from my early days. Not easy to
get into F1 and I stopped, obviously, last year. Not easy to get back in as
well. New team, strong team-mate against me and we were seeing the progress
this year. It was coming but it never really paid off until today. Today we
made it happen. Very pleased. I think this is what was waiting around but we
didn’t get the luck we wanted each time. Such a cool race – and
congratulations to Checo and also to Lance, my mate, we had a good fight
together through Turn Four. It was good fun, I really enjoyed that race. All
the emotions that came when I crossed that line. Unbelievable. I never cried
for anything but I tell you, today, the tears, they came, and they came for
a good reason. So I’m really happy.
Q: It came because it’s your first podium in Formula 1. When was your last
podium in motorsport?
EO: Too long ago! My last podium must have been Abu Dhabi GP3 back in 2015.
So the new Formula 3, obviously. Since then, I was waiting for more moments
like this. Today, it’s right here. What a moment, thank you very mUch.
Q: And Esteban, same question to you about your expectations coming into the
race from P11 on the grid.
EO: Yeah, we had good expectations about today. Obviously we knew what we
are going to do with the strategy, coming from outside the top ten, free
choice of tyres and that was very interesting for a race like this. The
graphs were showing that we were going to be coming in the top five, that it
was going to be a very strong comeback and the guys on more stops were going
to be struggling a bit. But yeah, we never thought, obviously, that we were
going to come this close to the win even. It’s been an awesome race.
Q: Lance, coming to you. Great to see you back on the podium. You’ve had a
rough time since your most recent podium in Monza. Just how sweet does it
feel to be back in the top three?
LS: Very sweet. Such a great result for the team today. We didn’t have the
best day yesterday. In Q2 we picked up some damage on the floor, so we lost
a lot of performance in Q3 and that put us on backfoot for today but we,
yeah, we had great pace on that first stint and managed to go very long in
the race. Unfortunately Esteban got the DRS, he pitted a lap earlier and was
right behind me coming out of Turn Two, so he picked up the DRS and got
alongside me and managed to get by into Turn Four – but it was some good
wheel to wheel action, so had some fun there. Then afterwards it just
locked-up into Turn Four, which allowed Sergio by, but y’know, he had better
pace on a fresher set of tyres and managed to get by Esteban, whereas I was
struggling a little bit, so all-in-all the biggest thing today is the fact
that both cars are on the podium. Big points for the team, so it really is a
great result for the team today.
Q: And Lance, the foundations for this result were that incredible first
stint on the Soft tyre. How difficult was it to just keep going?
LS: It wasn’t so difficult. We had great pace, the tyre wasn’t degging too
much but looking back at the race I think the Medium was the much better
tyre to be on. Sergio, unluckily got hit after lap one, put the Mediums and
he had very good pace. I think it was probably a better tyre to be on. Even
though the Soft did feel good, there was much better pace on that Medium.
And even Esteban, I think, was closing in on me towards the end on that
Medium. But yeah, from where we started, I think we did a great strategy
today. It was a very fun race. The Safety Car at the end spiced things up,
so we were all wheel-to-wheel, racing for the podium. Sergio pulled away but
between the rest of us, I was slowly catching Esteban, not quite enough to
get on his DRS but then I had Sainz behind me that was hunting me down. He
had some good pace so it was very tense there in the last few laps but great
to keep the podium.
VIDEO CONFERENCE
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Esteban. You had to sit out for one
year, Formula 1, through nothing to do with your form or your results.
Sergio is now in a position where he may have to sit out for a year. Just
won a race. Very difficult situation he finds himself in. What advice could
you give? How did you deal with that unfairness? Psychologically, how did
you deal with it, not let it get to you too much?
EO: Yeah, it’s obviously a very tough position to be in. I know well, know
how it feels like. I’m glad that Sergio is obviously getting the result, you
know? To show everybody that he deserves to be in Formula 1. He’s one of the
top guys out there and he can’t be left outside. There’s no… it would not be
normal. But sometimes the sport is like that, unfortunately, and you don’t
end up in the best situations. On my side obviously it’s been a tough year
but I was in good hands. I had a lot of people believing in me and
supporting me, which has helped me to come back after a year out – and yeah,
here we are. Not easy to get going but after a bit of running, you get
there.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Sergio, congratulations on the win. What
was the team telling you after the Safety Car near to the end of the race,
and how was it when Russell was coming up to you on those new tyres. Do you
think you could have held him off to the end even if he hadn’t stopped?
SP: Thanks. I think obviously after what happened in Imola when we did the
wrong choice, pitting under the Safety Car, we were clear what we wanted to
do here. We were obviously staying out and we were pretty confident I was
going to be able to restart those tyres and to go to the end with good pace.
I think with George it was going be close but I think I was going to be able
to hold him back, because we had good pace. He was about two to
three-tenths, sometimes four-tenths, sometimes I was matching him. I think
the closest he got was 2.8s. The information that we had as a team was that
you needed a difference of eight-tenths of a lap to be able to overtake. It
was going to be close but I think given the age of my tyres, given the pace
I had towards the end, the pace I had in hand, I was going to be able to
hold him back to the end.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Sergio, you’ve been famous throughout your
career for keeping tyres alive in difficult circumstances in races. How
tough was it today as you recovered from the back of the field, because you
also had to race a lot of cars at the same time?
SP: That first stint was pretty hard. We went onto a new set of mediums but
I did a big mistake during the safety car. I locked up, warming up the
brakes, I locked up badly the front left tyre and since that first lap of
the race, I had so bad vibrations but it was hard to keep the steering wheel
tight [in my hands]. There were times when I told the team that we should
box I was losing lap time but still the pace was strong at that point but
what I think what really made our race was to be able to go a bit longer
than these two guys and build up a bit of a tyre delta and then we came back
strong and we managed to overtake them and I think we had good tyre life
until the end, so well done to the team, because we understood quickly
enough this Bahrain because it’s very different to the last one that we
raced on, in terms of tyre usage, tyre energies, so we done on that, to the
team, and nice recovery from last weekend.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Regarding your future, there’s one obvious very
good possibility for next year and you’re also mentioned as options for
2022, so how much do you think today’s win has advanced your chances for a
good seat, either next year or the year after, and when it comes to those
2022 options, what sort of level of team can you see as a possibility? Is
there a path where you can see for that year into a potentially race-winning
team or is it something a little bit lower down that you have to accept?
SP: I’ve always said about ’22 there was a race, taking a year out at this
stage of my career that I am. I never know what’s going to happen, if I will
have the will to come back for doing that, bad year I decide to stop but
after today, after the last couple of races, I’m sort of determined to be
here, either if it’s next year or the year after. I already have some good
options for ’22 so my best option is obviously to keep going on next year
but if I have to stop, then it’s not a disaster, I can come back in ’22. The
regulations are going to change so much that in a way, I don’t think it will
hurt that much the driving side, to get up to speed. I’m at peace with
myself, you know. I think Esteban mentioned that drivers like him missing
out on seats, so it’s just the way Formula 1 is, it can be really tough and
not the best drivers are in Formula 1 unfortunately. So we keep pushing and
we keep delivering and I think that’s the best way to do it.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Sergio, you’re only the second driver
from your country to win a Grand Prix. How much do you know about the first,
Pedro Rodriguez and can you tell us something about what you’ve heard about
him please?
SP: Thank you. Yeah, obviously I know a bit about Pedro. Never been able to
share experience with any Formula 1 drivers in terms of winning or being on
the podium and so on because Pedro was happening many years ago. I heard
that he had tremendous talent. Obviously that was another era but all I’ve
heard about the talent that he had was very special. Unfortunately he died
at a very young age but it’s good, it’s good to have good memories. We are
leaving good marks in the sport for Mexicans. It’s not easy to get into
Formula 1 and succeed in this sport so it’s important to leave a mark and
hopefully in the near term we can have another strong Mexican on the grid.
Q: Checo, how do you think your win will be received back home in Mexico?
SP: Ah, it’s going to be amazing. At this time of the year, in a normal
year, I think we are around Mexico, Austin, that region you know, so I think
it’s going to be… especially because it’s a good time in the Mexican time
[zone]. Normally the races are like six in the morning, seven in the
morning. This one, it’s on a Sunday, 11 ‘o clock and I’m sure by now they
will be having some good tequilas in half of the country!
Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Esteban, you said after the race that it’s
been a challenging year on your return to the grid and that confidence
around you might have been falling down a bit. Can you expand on that and is
there a feeling of revenge tonight at your first F1 podium?
EO: Thank you, Julien, it’s been awesome to finally get that result. As you
said, it’s not been an easy year but you know we’ve seen that progress
coming and it didn’t always turn our way in the end and that’s what’s
frustrating in a way. So finally we know it came. We always believed in
ourselves, that’s the most important [thing]. When you are not performing at
the best in this sport it’s something very difficult as you are getting
critics, are getting a lot of different things around but the people around
you, who are important, they always support you and that has helped me a lot
and the team has helped me to keep believing in myself and keep pushing and
today we did so, so very pleased with that.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Sergio, you mentioned the reaction back home. A
friend of mine, who lives in Puebla sent me a message saying that everyone’s
Checo tonight. How proud are you to bring that kind of feeling of joy to the
Mexican people? What does it mean to you?
SP: It means a lot, a lot to me, especially this year. It’s been very
difficult for all the world so to have this kind of happiness at the homes
for many Mexicans means a lot to me, for my family, it means… just such a
tremendous day, historic day in our sport. I’m just very pleased, you know.
You’ve seen the amount of support that I get in my country. Can you imagine
what it’s like at the moment? |
