1. Lando Norris (McLaren), 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: Oscar, after what was challenging qualifying, a really feisty race, some great overtakes, and a well-deserved podium. Congratulations. Put us in the cockpit. How was it?
Oscar PIASTRI: Warm is how it was! It was a good race, a good recovery from qualifying yesterday. It wasn’t my greatest afternoon yesterday, so to get back to the podium is a great result. I feel like we had a really quick car underneath us and a good strategy to get past the Mercedes. So, yeah, big thank you to the team. Clearly, the car was exceptional this weekend and some great points for the whole team.
Q: We saw your team-mate having a couple of brushes with the walls. I didn’t see any for you, but did you have any particular standout moments of difficulty during that race?
OP: No, I think I kept it off them this time. I don’t think I hit anything. It was a bit close George at Turn 1, but once I got into third, I had a massive gap to try and close up, so I didn’t want to take too many risks, but, yeah, I feel like I’ve brushed enough walls in the last two weeks, so hopefully the mechanics don’t have to change too many bits before then next race.
Q: OK, well, Oscar, well done. Enjoy the podium celebration. Now, our second-place finisher, Max Verstappen. The sweat on your brow shows just how hard you had to work in that Grand Prix. Lando was in another class this race. Tell us, your Grand Prix, it was a difficult start, very close with Lewis at the first corner, and thereafter, it was a fairly lonely race.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think that’s pretty much my race, just by myself. Trying to do the best I could, trying to manage my own pace to the end. I think the first stint was a bit difficult for us, quite a bit of tyre degradation. Second stint was a bit better. I was a bit more comfortable as well. So, yeah, I think on a weekend where we knew that we were going to struggle to be P2 is a good achievement. Of course, we’re not happy with second. Now we just have to try and improve more and more, and that’s what we’ll try to do.
Q: With Daniel Ricciardo getting the fastest lap right at the end, that meant that the point swing is now 52 points, where it could have been 51. It’s being ebbed away, your championship lead.
MV: Yeah, it is, but this also can change very quickly again, so we just need to keep on trying, of course, at one point try to overturn it a bit, you know, not always finishing behind, but we’ll see how that goes.
Q: And physically, we can see the sweat on your brow, I presume you’re soaked through. Just how tough was that race?
MV: It’s always tough around here, warm, and a very long race in general, so I’m looking forward to a bit of rest.
Q: OK, well, enjoy that and enjoy the podium. And finally, our race winner in what looked like a dominant, dominant victory, Lando, congratulations.
Lando NORRIS: Thank you. It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls. You know, I had a couple little moments in the middle, but it was well-controlled, I think, otherwise. And the car was mega, so I could push. We were flying the whole race, and yeah, at the end, I could just chill. So it was a nice race, still tough. I’m a bit out of breath, but a very fun one.
Q: Well, you definitely earned your money today. The gap you had, though, did put our hearts in our mouths when we saw you have two brushes with the wall – an overshoot in one of the corners where you just touched the front wing, and then you had a little tap as well of the barrier. Did you need to be pushing that hard, given the gap that you had?
LN: I mean, it’s not that you’re necessarily over-pushing. Sometimes it can be that you’re just chilling too much. Maybe it was a bit of both. I don’t know what it is, but it’s tricky. It was still tough out there, easy to lock the tyres like I did. I still pushed. I didn’t want to have a one-second lead. I wanted to have the biggest lead possible. It was good fun, maximum points. Nice to have Oscar here, too, on the podium. He drove well today, so a good day for the team also.
Q: So your third victory in Formula 1. Physically, your toughest?
LN: Similar to Qatar last year, but I wasn’t taking it easy. I could have taken it a lot more easy. Yeah, a little dizzy at the minute, but all good.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lando. Your victory never looked in doubt. Just how satisfying is the manner in which you dominated the Grand Prix?
LN: Just a win is a win. So yeah, maybe it puts a slightly bigger smile on your face but the main job is just getting the win. So, it’s satisfying no matter what. Of course the bigger the gap you can have the happier you’re going to be but I’m just happy we finished on top and we got maximum points and got another win. It’s always going to be a tough race here, but I felt good all weekend, so all I had to do was go out there and perform like I’ve been performing and all things were going to go well.
Q: The car’s been brilliant all weekend. Just how hard were you having to push to pull the gaps that you did?
LN: I mean, very, I was flat out. I was probably pushing a bit too hard. Yeah, it was definitely not like I was cruising. I was pushing to open up a gap, and at one point I wanted to try and open up a pit window to give myself an opportunity to maybe box at the end of the race for quickest lap if I needed to try and achieve that. Daniel stole that away from me at the end of the race. So, yeah, a tough one, but it wasn’t easy. The car was not easy to drive, especially on the Hard tyres. I struggled a lot more than what I did on the Medium. And especially just with the traffic and things, it was a bit harder to manage the second half of the stint compared to the first, but I was pushing. Let me tell you, I was definitely pushing. Probably too much, hence the mistakes I was making, or the two mistakes I made with the wall, but otherwise things were going well.
Q: You mentioned those mistakes. Did those glances with the wall affect the performance of the car in any way?
LN: I don’t think so. I mean, the team said that there was something with the front wing, maybe being a little bit off. I hit the front wing against the barrier, so it might have tweaked it a touch, but I don’t think probably much to change it, but hard to know. On these cars, as soon as you tweak something a tiny bit, it can have quite a big impact, but nothing that I was probably feeling. But yes, as soon as I did that, and I think it was more… I mean, I was pushing, but also it was just as I was catching up to the dirty air from the cars ahead, whether they were three, four seconds ahead, as soon as… It changes from the past, you know, 20 laps that I had. You have a little bit less grip, a little bit less downforce. Tyres are going away a little bit. It just caught me out. So it wasn’t like a lack of concentration or anything. It was just a bit of a surprise to me. But, yeah, I think the car was all good and the car has been mega weekend. So a big thanks to the team.
Q: The car has been mega all weekend. Do you think this level of dominance is track specific here in Singapore or do you expect to have the car to beat at all of the remaining races now?
LN: We’ve not changed anything on the car from here to last weekend or the weekend before. We’ve even had to make tweaks to some of our wings and things that people have complained about. But we’ve still had a great weekend and probably one of our most dominant weekends here. I don’t think that’s made the difference, honestly. It was just that the car’s been mega for a good amount of time. I’ve not been able to come out on top for for quite a few of them when I felt like I had the pace and I had the ability to do. So some of that is down to being my own fault and not executing things well enough. So I’ve paid the price for not doing a good enough job at times. But when I lead after Turn 1 and things are a a bit more straightforward then we can have a day like today.
Q: And Lando, final one from me. You’ve taken seven points out of Max here. What’s your strategy with regard to the championship as we head into the final six races?
LN: Silly question, really, isn’t it? Try and do the same again, but Max is pushing hard. I’m sure Red Bull are pushing hard. So, I mean, it’s obvious it’s… I’m doing my best every weekend. I’m trying to get the most points I can every weekend. Includes fastest lap and things like that. But if Max keeps finishing second and Red Bull keep doing like they did this weekend, then nothing more I can do. So just focus on myself and focus on us as a team. That’s it.
Q: Well done, Lando. Thank you for that. Max, let’s come to you now. Compared to last year, this has been a much better weekend for you and Red Bull. Just what positives do you take from this second place?
MV: Compared to the start of the weekend, we improved quite nicely. I think that’s been great for us as a team. On a track that we know we’re not performing normally the best. I’m happy with second today.