|
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)
Q: Seb, well that was sublime. It’s lovely to watch.
Sebastian VETTEL: It’s better to drive, I tell you…
Q: That’s your first pole position in 17 grands prix. Can you believe it? I
can’t believe it!
SV: Well, he’s bloody good in qualifying, hard to crack. Yeah, I’m full of
adrenaline, to be honest. You know, with the feeling in the car, when it
just keeps coming and you feel the grip and you go for it. That was one of
those laps. So, really, really, really nice, and I really enjoyed it. So
yeah, very happy, very happy for the team. The last weeks, the last 17
races! No, the last weeks have been quite tough.
Q: Obviously the big day is tomorrow. How did the long run pace go
yesterday? It looked tricky for everyone – but do you think you’ve got the
race pace to really back-up what you’ve just done today?
SV: It was awful! Today the car was a lot better. We take that into
tomorrow. Obviously we also avoid the red tyre, the soft tyre, in the race
tomorrow because we managed to go through with the yellow tyre, with the
medium. So yeah, good day, the car felt good and I think we can carry that
into the race. These guys will be very quick over the distance, but we’ll
try to win it.
Q: Lewis, congratulations, I’m sure you’re a little bit disappointed. Having
pole taken away from you by a small margin around a circuit that you are
just exceptional on – but as Seb just said, racing could be a little bit
different for them tomorrow. They struggled quite a lot on tyres, whereas
you guys looked fantastic on your long runs.
Lewis HAMILTON: Honestly, I don’t know for whatever reason but I don’t
particularly feel disappointment. I think we gave it everything we could.
They were just quicker. Particularly that last sector: they were killing us.
I think there’s something like four-tenths or five-tenths on the straight –
but I did everything I could and we did everything we could. I think the
timing was right, our procedures were perfect, so thoroughly happy with the
job. Obviously we had P1 for a second – but we knew they were quick. But
this is good. This is how racing should be. I’m glad that I was able to
split the Ferraris and yeah, tomorrow, it’s going to be interesting. The
weather’s fantastic. We’ve got a great group of fans sat here so hopefully
we can put on a good show tomorrow.
Q: Charles, first of all, lovely to meet you properly. All weekend, you’ve
been on it, you’ve been pushing Seb all the way in every session. It wasn’t
quite there in Q3. What would you put that down to?
Charles LECLERC: I don’t really know to be honest. I struggled with the car,
I think with the set-up maybe. I felt quite good with Q1 but then I didn’t
felly follow the track, when the track was getting better, so I need to work
on that, on the set-up and try to have the right set up for the final Q3
time. I struggled today in Q3 – but congratulations to Seb. He completely
deserves it and hopefully we’ll have a better race on my side tomorrow.
Q: Tomorrow is going to be an exciting race. I watched your long-run pace on
the medium tyre, which looked very strong – so does that give you some
confidence going into the race tomorrow?
CL: Yeah, definitely. We were quite strong on the long-run pace and
hopefully tomorrow is the same and we can have a good battle from there.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, many congratulations, it’s been a while. How much of a shot in
the arm is this result for you and the team?
SC: A shot in the arm? Is that how…. I don’t know the saying. I translates
really weirdly to German, like a mistake! Yeah, it feels much better than a
short in the arm! Obviously a great day. As you said, it’s been a while and
mostly for the team I think the last couple of races have been quite tough.
So coming here and showing a stronger form than we had in the last races is
positive. Obviously we knew that the track in a way would suit us, but
still, you know, we have to do the job and the car felt better and better
throughout qualifying. Not easy with the interruption with the red flag.
Yeah, I’m still full of adrenaline. I’m really happy; I really enjoyed it. I
wish I could do it again just for the fun of it. I had to pace myself in the
first two corners because getting the tyres to grip up wasn’t
straightforward but after that it was just a joy. The car was shouting ‘keep
going, keep going!’ and yeah, really enjoyed it. I wasn’t quite sure if
Lewis is improving. Normally he’s pretty handsome or p[retty good around
here…
LH: Thanks!
SV: Pretty handy is what I wanted to say, but there you go, handsome as
well. Look at him! Yeah, so I wasn’t sure it was enough but then they
screamed on the radio ‘pole position’ and yeah, just amazing. I really
enjoyed it. Obviously it’s only part of the job and the main thing will be
tomorrow. It will be a very long race and difficult to fight and keep them
off but from where we start I think it looks like a god race.
Q: What were your expectations coming into this weekend?
SV: I didn’t really have any to be honest. In the last qualifying sessions
in particular we lost ground, so I was hoping that we could be quicker and
closer, because the gap was quite big. I think we had so many sessions where
it was looking good. At the last races as well, if you take Baku, if you
take Monaco, where Charles was very fast on Saturday morning. But then in
qualifying, Mercedes, and particularly Lewis, always seemed to be able to
step up and we couldn’t keep up. So I didn’t really expect that much so I
really just wanted to enjoy it and make sure my laps were alright and that
was the case. If you then get pole then obviously all the better.
Q: Lewis, how surprised were you by the pace of the man on your left?
LH: Not surprised. I think obviously all weekend they’ve had really great
pace and for a large part of it they were six tenths up on the straights. So
we fought so hard throughout the weekend to make improvements. I’m actually
really happy for Seb, he clearly did a really great lap. My first lap was
really good and it felt great for a second to be on pole, particularly as I
missed all of P2 yesterday, so quite far behind starting today but it’s been
a real solid day from us. Obviously the last sector – I think you can now
start writing that they have the party mode. I don’t know who said we had
the party mode in the beginning. End-of-straight speed was particularly
where we lost out in the last sector but nonetheless hopefully the race will
be close. It’s great to be able to split the Ferraris, so hopefully we’ll
have a close battle tomorrow.
Q: You apologised to the team over the radio on your slow down lap. Were you
referring to anything in particular or was it just frustration?
LH: It wasn’t frustration it’s just, you know, the team rely on me. It was a
good lap but it was not good enough obviously. I had two really solid laps,
no mistakes and I’m generally really happy with the job I did, but of course
you can go back to the drawing board and say there’s always going to be a
little bit more time in it but I don’t think I had two-and-a-half tenths,
what they had or whatever it was. We just have to keep pushing, keep
fighting. We’re still in a strong position. But I think this is great for
racing anyway. I think this is what we and what the fans want, to see us so
close. If you looks at the top 15 or something there was around a second
between us all. That’s really great to see. Everyone’s so close at this
track and hopefully that provides good racing tomorrow.
Q: Charles, coming on to you. It seemed that the performance dropped away a
little bit as the session went on. How was it for you?
CL: Yeah, definitely – and this is a point I need to work on, to try to set
up the car, especially for Q3. In Q1, the car felt quite good – then Q2 a
bit worse and then Q3 it slipped away and I also did some mistakes. So,
yeah, I need to understand from where it comes to just try to anticipate the
track evolution and have the car at its best in Q3. But yeah, it’s my fault
and I need to work on that to make it better.
Q: How did the 25 minute red flag affect you and your flow and approach to
Q3?
CL: This, I guess, is the same for everyone at the end. But no, it didn't
affect me. We just had to wait, so we had a bit more time to look at data
and then we went back on track.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Seb, we heard your emotional reaction over
the radio as you celebrated pole, and obviously can see that you’re still
buzzing now. How was that feeling when you found out you were on P1. Was it
just excitement, or relief, or anything compared to how it’s been at the
start of the season. And Lewis, you’re also in very good spirits despite
obviously missing out on pole. You talked before about wanting to have more
competition. Would you prefer it if – and obviously you’d want it the other
way around – would you prefer if you could have Ferrari this competitive at
other races as well?
SV: To be honest, just excited. I think, y’know, this is one of the tracks
where you need to dare going very close to the walls in many places. It’s
very bumpy, it’s very rough and, if you get it right, it feels great. So, I
think I got it quite right and yeah, then you finish the lap and you’re full
of adrenaline. Obviously I saw that I was a big chunk down and improving
when I crossed the line. Then I was looking up and I didn’t know who was
coming behind, and then I heard them screaming ‘pole position’, so, it was
just pure joy. Mixed with the adrenaline. I don’t know, I’m not a singer but
I was screaming quite hard.
Lewis?
LH: I didn’t say congratulations, so congratulations – though I did say it
downstairs. As I said, I think this is fantastic for the sport. I love to
fight with another team and today it was just so close. I had no idea where
we were going to be; at some stages they were ahead of us and we were
swapping all the way. I hope this is a turning point for them and this is
going to be very close from now on and we get to have a really serious
battle throughout the season. That’s be fantastic.
Q: (Christian Menath – motorsport-magazin.com) Question for both Ferrari
drivers. Yesterday, apart from the ultimate lap time it didn’t look too
great for you. You were good in the last sector, where top speed is key –
but in the other two sectors I think Mercedes were faster. Today, you were
faster in every sector. Is it just because the track ramped up – or did you
find something overnight? Change something dramatic in your set-up?
SV: I think yesterday was difficult to judge because not everybody had a
smooth session. I mean, Lewis, for most of the session, didn’t take part.
So, practice is always difficult. The key is that we were able to improve
the car, on the one hand, I think the track ramping up also helped us in
that regard, so yeah, I don’t know how quick we were relative to the others
in the sectors. What mattered, obviously, is that when we crossed the line,
that we were faster. Quite pleased with how the car worked today.
Charles, anything to add?
CL: No.
Q: (Yhacbel Lopez – Motorlat) To the Ferrari drivers: this pole could be a
turnaround of the season for Ferrari?
SV: Well, I don’t know, I’m not a fortune teller. I can’t look in the future
so I don’t know. The last races were in Abu Dhabi. Maybe you come to Abu
Dhabi and ask again whether this was the turning point. I hope I can give
you a yes then but I don’t know. It’s a long way, long season, lots of
different tracks, different challenges. I think we know still that we have
to catch up. This track maybe favours us a bit more. We had more top speed
in all the tracks so far. This is a track where top speed is a bit more
relevant, not too many corners so we will see. The team is certainly pushing
very hard, the whole of Maranello is throwing everything at it that they can
to try and give us a better car and make better races to come.
CL: He’s saying everything I want to say so nothing to add, really.
SV: You start next time.
Q: (Omar Alvarez – Graining.es) My question is…
SV: Your website is called graining? Like raining or graining.
Q: (Omar Alvarez – Graining.es) Graining.
SV: You’re sponsored by Pirelli or…?
Q: (Omar Alvarez – Graining.es) Yes, and my question is precisely about
that. Are you expecting the tyres for tomorrow, your sets are going to be
working as well as today?
SV: I’m quite happy that we managed to qualify in Q2 on the medium compound
so we should be a bit better off tomorrow because the soft was quite poor
yesterday with lots of graining so we will see, we will see how it goes
tomorrow. It’s still a long race, a lot of laps.
LH: More about graining. They only write about graining, right?
Q: (Les Kiser – speedcity Sirius XM) I was going to ask about the life
expectancy of the tyres. You looked very confident through those laps, even
when they were sliding it was like you were up on things, on your toes and
you were managing it. Will you be able to do that through the entire
lifespan of those tyres?
SV: No, you won’t, because there’s always a peak of the tyre, especially on
that soft compound. It obviously gives you the highest grip but doesn’t last
particularly long, but as I said, for tomorrow obviously we are able to
start on the medium tyre and then hopefully go a lot longer so we will see
what to do after that. Usually it’s not so nice when you get graining so
hopefully we can stay away from that.
Q: (Michelangelo Choppi – La Voce Euro Canada USA) Sebastian and Lewis, do
you think you can start from the position and you can win like last year and
make a big victory for the ninety years of Scuderia Ferrari? And for Lewis,
do you think if you start in second place you can try to do something at the
beginning and try to win the race tomorrow?
SV: For sure. Obviously there’s a reason why we were able to put the car on
pole position today. Looking forward to tomorrow, it will be a very very
close battle. We know our strengths, we know our weaknesses. Obviously we
are very quick down the straights, let’s assume not so easy to pass but we
will see. It’s a long race, we know that in terms of pace it will be very
very close and we need a perfect race tomorrow to fight for the win.
LH: Well, it’s a very, very short distance down to turn one so it’s not the
easiest to make places up but it’s a long, long race, so 70 laps is a long
way to go. Of course, whatever opportunity comes we will try to capitalise
on it but yeah, the race is very long, probably a one stop so looking after
the tyres is going to be really key. It’s very hard to follow here, even
though there’s mainly straights, they are very quick on the straights so I
don’t know how following Seb is going to be tomorrow – if I’m in that
position, but I just hope that we are able to be close and have a real race
throughout the race. |
