DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
3 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by James Hinchcliffe)
Q: Max, first of all, congratulations – 48th career pole. You found an enormous amount of lap time in Q3 there. Where did that come from?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Well, in Q2 I stayed on scrubbed tyres and I think those laps already felt quite decent. And then in Q3 around here, you know, the track temp is coming down. You know that you can push a bit more and that’s exactly what we did. We found a bit more lap time and, of course, incredibly happy to be in first. That’s the only thing that we can do, right? That’s the only thing that we can control, try to just maximise everything we have and then do what we can with the car – and we definitely did that in qualifying.
Q: Max, conditions in FP3 were so different from what you see in qualifying. What’s the challenge like for you and your engineers to decide what changes to make to the car knowing that when you get on track in qualifying, it’s going to be so different than what you saw in practice?
MV: Yeah. You have to try and guess a little bit how much the track is going to improve. Of course, it cools down a lot. But you’re never like 100% sure if it’s going to work. But I do think that what we changed definitely helped me a little bit more to feel better in qualifying.
Q: Lando Norris starts outside of the front row. You guys are really writing the script for us – all three of you starting one, two, three. Lando, you’re ahead of one championship rival, behind the other. Are you satisfied with how you did out there? Did you leave anything on the table?
Lando NORRIS: It’s tough. I mean, Max did a good job, so congrats to him. We did everything we could. I think my lap was pretty good. I was pretty happy. So yeah, of course disappointed to not be on pole for the final weekend, but we were just not running fast enough today. So, we’ll have to try do it tomorrow.
Q: A podium tomorrow clinches the world championship for you. Is that then the goal? Are you just thinking about finishing on the podium or is it still going for the win?
LN: I don’t know. The time will come when I think of that. But for now, you know, disappointed to not be on pole, and I still want to try win tomorrow. So that’s going to be the goal.
Q: And Oscar, for you, great effort throughout. You were very quick in Q1, came up a little bit short in Q3. How was the run for you?
Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah. I mean, I think it was pretty good. I think the lap I did in Q1, it was nice to finally get into a rhythm through the weekend. And honestly, I think the last lap in Q3 was pretty good as well. There wasn’t a whole lot left in that. No, just not quite quick enough today. But yep, sets up a pretty exciting day tomorrow.
Q: Qualifying pace is one thing. Obviously race pace is a completely different thing. Do you think you’ve got what it takes to get by these two guys tomorrow for the win?
OP: We’ll find out tomorrow. I think Max has looked very quick in the long runs this weekend and clearly very quick over one lap. But yeah, let’s see how much pace is a factor tomorrow.
Q: Max, finally back to you. Obviously, a win essentially is all you can control, like you said. Is there any point worrying about what’s happening behind you or is it just eyes forward for 58 laps?
MV: We’ll find out tomorrow, won’t we? Let’s see what we can do. Of course, I’ll try to win the race, but also in the back of my mind, we want to try and score a lot of points to still try and win that championship. So, we need a bit of luck from what is happening behind us.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Max, very well done. Two laps good enough for pole this evening. Tell us about the performance, first of all. How good was the car? How clean were those laps?
MV: Yeah, I think in general, qualifying felt a little bit more together compared to the other sessions, where I always felt like we were still lacking a little bit. But then I think with the final changes that we made going into the night, that seemed to help us a bit. And then throughout qualifying, just improving nicely. In Q2, of course, I was on scrubbed tyres, and to be honest, I was a little bit surprised on the first run how much the new tyres actually gave me. But yeah, it was a good lap already, with a little bit of help also from Yuki with a tow. So, that was very nice of him to give up one of his runs. And then the second lap, I was not sure if I was going to improve just because of the tow that I got. But then again, just found a little bit more lap time in the corners, and that gave me a little bit more lap time. So happy with that, happy with the one-lap performance at the end in qualifying. Now, of course, the big question mark is can we keep that up in the race.
Q: Well, can you? You said that qualifying went better than the practice sessions. Have you got the long-run pace that you need?
MV: I would hope so. I mean, I actually did a lot of laps in the long run, so we tried to prepare in the best way possible. It’s probably the best I have felt, but of course, let’s see if that’s good enough.
Q: So, huge race tomorrow. You have your title rivals alongside you and directly behind you. First up, how much are you going relish this battle tomorrow?
MV: Of course, I’m excited. I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to try to win that race. But of course, with that, I still need a little bit of help or luck to win the championship. But we’ll see how that goes tomorrow.
Q: And how much will you agonise about the different permutations that you need tonight? Just what you need to win the championship—how much will you look to that tonight?
MV: To think about that tonight? No. We’ll figure it out tomorrow, not tonight. I mean, it’s like talking about strategy—you can talk about it for one hour, two hours, and then normally after one lap, you throw it in the bin. So, yeah, a lot can go well for you, can go against you, and we’ll find out tomorrow.
Q: Lando, let’s come to you. You said a moment ago you’re disappointed not to be on pole. So, let’s talk about Q3. How was the car? How was your rhythm out there?
LN: Yeah. I think Q1, Q2, not the smoothest. My Q3 laps, I was pretty happy with, honestly. So yeah, I felt pretty good. I felt like I got a lot out of the car today, but it just wasn’t enough. So, a bit disappointed because you just want to be on pole for the final race of the year. But we just didn’t have the pace today. So, I felt like I got the maximum out of the car, and I have to be happy with that. Of course, behind the one person I kind of want to be ahead of—that’s the only reason for the disappointment. But otherwise, I was pretty happy with my laps, and yeah, it was the maximum we could do.
Q: You used two sets of tyres early on. How much did that upset the rest of the session for you?
LN: No, it didn’t.
Q: Let’s throw this forward to the Grand Prix itself. First of all, the long-run pace of the car—what did you learn in Friday practice in particular?
LN: Bits. I think we weren’t in the best position on Friday. I think we’ve improved in quite a few areas since then. And race pace, you know, normally we’re pretty strong. But like Oscar said, Max’s pace was also very strong. So yeah, I think today when you look at it, we weren’t quite quick enough. But of course, we’ll hope we can turn some of that around tomorrow.
Q: So how do you balance taking risks in this race with protecting your championship lead?
LN: I’ll decide when I have to.
Q: Oscar, it was very close between you and Lando in qualifying. Let’s talk about your one-lap pace first of all. How pleased were you?
OP: I think overall, pretty happy. I feel like Q1, that was the first lap that was actually good for the weekend, which was nice to have it at the right time. And then I think the laps in Q3 were pretty good as well. You know, the tiny little margins that you always have on a qualifying lap were probably there, but I didn’t have an answer for Max’s pace today. So ultimately, pretty happy. Would have loved a bit more, but we didn’t have it.
Q: And are you happy with the long-run pace of the car?
OP: Difficult to know. I’ve not done that much long running, obviously only FP2, but it looked okay without being anything spectacular. So yeah, I would have loved the long runs to have gone a bit better, but we’re here now, and we’ll see how the conditions and the track evolve.
Q: Now you’ve won championships before, obviously, as has Lando in the junior formulas. Is there anything you’ve learned from previous high-pressure moments that will help you tomorrow?
OP: Yes. Funny things can happen. That’s what I’ve learned.
Q: Going to get your popcorn out and watch these two going into Turn 1 tomorrow, for example?
OP: Turn 1, I don’t know, but I’ll have someone stand by.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm – The Race) Question to all three. Based on the long runs in FP2 and how the track has felt through today, how much do you feel it’s gripped up from yesterday, and what’s that going to do in terms of the demands of the car? Because a lot of people were talking about front graining on the front right and then deg on the rears.
MV: Normally, it always improves a bit. It’s quite natural throughout the weekend. But still, I think everyone in the long runs was graining their right front, and at the same time, the rears are also not on holiday. So yeah, I think we will all struggle with the same thing—but some a bit more than others.
LN: Max summed it up pretty well. I think the track certainly improves always into qualifying. Probably not as much as we might have thought considering yesterday, with where the fuel loads we were at, things like that. It was already a 23.0, I think. So, we didn’t really go that much quicker today with a lot less fuel. So I maybe would have hoped for a bit more from us today in quali performance. But lately, our quali performances have been something that have been a bit more on the back foot rather than the races. So yeah, like Max says, I think everyone struggled with similar things. But generally, people try and work on those things as much as possible into FP3 and so forth. And normally, the grip coming up then also helps that into Sunday.
OP: Yeah. I don’t have much to add. I think it has gripped up quite a bit. I think for everyone, it was probably a bit worse than expected. So, we’ll see what that looks like tomorrow.
Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Question for Max. You mentioned the improvements you and the team made since yesterday. What were the main struggles you experienced yesterday with the car?
MV: Just being able to put it all together. Sometimes that’s oversteer, sometimes that’s understeer. Just depends a little bit on the corner layout. And every session you try different things—some bits are positive, some bits are negative. And then over the practice sessions, you make a call on what you want for qualifying. That’s what we did, and finally most of the corners came together.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Max, back in 2016 when Lewis was trying to win the title, he tried to back Nico up into the pack so that he would fall down a few places. Is that a tactic you’re considering tomorrow and one you might be up for exploiting? And Lando, are you prepared for what might not be a very straightforward race in that respect?
MV: Yeah. It was also a different layout. I feel like now you get towed around a lot more around the lap, so it’s probably not as easy to do something like that. Cars also are completely different to back then. I felt like it was a lot easier back then to back it up because the tyres would overheat a lot when you would get close. I remember even in 2016, in some qualifying laps, you couldn’t go flat out in Sector 1 to keep the tyres alive in the last sector—which actually was here, for example. So yeah, very different times. I hope it’s not straightforward, the race—but hopefully that’s not because of me!
Q: Lando? Are you expecting a complicated race?
LN: No idea. I expect everything, so we’ll wait and see.
Q: (Julian Linden – Herald Sun) Question for Oscar. Are you cool with team orders now if you can’t win? And if by chance it turns out that you do something which helps Lando win the championship, how would you hope or expect he might thank you or repay you down the track?
OP: I don’t know. Handshake would be good, probably. I don’t know. I haven’t… I don’t know what exactly is expected of me yet. But until either Lando or Max cross the line in front of me, I’ve still got a chance of winning the title. So yeah, we’ll see how the race pans out.
Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) To Oscar, are you expecting those conversations to happen before the race tomorrow? Is that the normal process? And to Lando, you mentioned on Thursday how much the championship would mean to you—was there any difference in the way you felt ahead of that qualifying session?
OP: I’m sure we will talk about it. Yes. I think it makes a lot of sense to talk about that one before the race.
LN: No. I mean, I’m always a bit nervous before quali. It’s more excitement than anything else. But apart from Q1, I felt pretty good out there. So no, I felt pretty normal.
Q: (Tim Hauraney – TSN) Max, where does this qualifying lap from yourself, your final push lap, rank for you all-time, and was it close to perfection from you?
MV: Yeah. It felt really good, and of course there was quite a bit of pressure trying to do the best we could. It felt probably similar to 2021 qualifying—I had a really good qualifying here as well. But I like that. When the pressure is the highest or when you really need to perform, normally I perform because I enjoy that kind of aspect. But yeah, it was nice. You always try to do the best possible quali lap. Sometimes it works out better than other times. I think this time it worked out pretty well.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lando, in the build-up to Qatar you could have won the championship there on Sunday. How did going through that experience, in terms of nerves, pre-race build-up, help you going into this weekend?
LN: I mean, it feels a bit different, just because it’s the final race of the year, not because of anything else. I felt pretty normal into Sunday last week. I didn’t really have the expectation that I was going to get the championship because I started P3 and just didn’t really expect it. Or P2. So no, I felt good then, I feel good now. I feel comfortable and ready to go. I feel like we’ve got a good plan for things. But as Max said, you can’t plan for everything. So no, I feel good. I feel excited to get the final race done and then go on holiday.
Q: (Mat Coch – PlanetF1.com) To the two McLaren drivers: tomorrow there’s a good possibility that one of you is going to be very happy and one perhaps a little bit less happy. Have you guys discussed that?
OP: I don’t think you need to have any discussions about things like that. One of us could win our first championship in F1—you’re obviously going to celebrate that. I think we’ve got more than enough respect between each other to appreciate the work of the person that loses tomorrow, and there’s going to be nothing but respect either way. Also, whoever’s on the losing side – it would be unfair to expect the person who’s won to not celebrate. So, I don’t think you need any conversations. I think we’re adults and got enough respect between us to know what’s right.
LN: Yeah. Oscar said it well. It’s not a conversation that needs to be had, and I think we both understand each other and are respectful enough of one another. I think we both understand that no one would do anything in a bad way to make the other feel worse. We both respect what we do every single weekend, every quali, every race. We go out and race together. But that’s the same off the track—we’re two different guys that get along, and that’s all we need.
Q: (Maria Guidotti – GrainingF1.com) Lando, two questions. Would you sign to finish tomorrow the way you finished today? And in an ideal situation approaching a season, is it better in terms of mindset to be the hunter or the hunted?
LN: I don’t mind either. I’ve been in both positions, I guess. I felt good in both. I performed in both. So yeah, I’m not too bothered to be the hunter or the hunted. I think normally to be hunted is fine because you’re normally the one with the advantage in the first place, so that’s good. And of course, I would sign for that now but life’s not that simple, sadly. So, I’m still going to go into tomorrow and we are still going to plan for how we can win the race, whether it’s on pace or strategy or whatever it may be. That’s all going to be our plan tomorrow, and that’s how I want to end the season—standing on top. So, nothing changes from that side.
Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova – Momentum Racing) How much of tomorrow will be decided in the first few corners? And are you ready to take the maximum risk if needed? This question to all three drivers.
MV: All out. I have nothing to lose. So for me, of course, I’m going to try to win the race. I’m going to defend. If I need to attack, I’ll attack, because what can happen? You’re either second or third – or you win. That would be fantastic.
LN: I mean, it’s not something you decide now, honestly. It’s something that you’ll see and decide before the start of the race and five metre s before you brake into Turn 1. Until then, I think everyone just wants to get the maximum out of it for themselves.
OP: Yeah. I mean, from where I’m sat, I need things to happen in the race to win the championship. So, I’ll wait and see if those things happen.
ENDS
