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DRIVER GROUP 1: Zhou GUANYU
(Alfa Romeo), Charles LECLERC (Ferrari), Mick SCHUMACHER (Haas) Lando NORRIS
(McLaren), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
Q: Let’s start with the reigning world champion. Max, testing went well,
just how confident are you coming into the new season?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I do think testing did go well. It’s still a bit
unclear where we are exactly. Of course on the final day we had an upgrade
on the car and that seemed to give us a bit more lap time. Of course I was
happy with that, but it’s not the race weekend yet and we will find out in
qualifying where we are.
Q: Just what are your goals for the weekend ahead?
MV: Of course, try to be ahead. We’ll find out. I don’t know at the moment.
Q: Let’s go to our rookie now. Zhou, welcome. How do you feel coming into
your first race weekend in Formula 1?
Zhou GUANYU: To be honest it feels quite fresh. Of course it’s the first
time, FP1 seems to be not that new for me anymore after the experience I had
last season, but overall, all this format, everything is completely new for
me but to be honest it was definitely nice to be testing here in T2 here in
Bahrain just to get familiar with everything. I am feeling quite ready for
the first race weekend but of course there is plenty of stuff for me to
digest inside myself to be more ready but I think that just takes a bit of
time but overall I am quite happy with how everything went last weekend and
the feeling of putting everything together for this weekend.
Q: Charles, is this the best pre-season you have had at Ferrari?
Charles LECLERC: Well, the ones where we have had the least problems for
sure, but the smoothest one, for sure too. But then again I don’t want to
say it’s our best because then people will straight away come to the
conclusion that we are ahead of everyone and it’s not the case. I think we
are a bit behind Red Bull. But in terms of smoothness and amount of laps, it
definitely is. It has been a very smooth test with a lot of laps, everything
that we wanted to test we did, so it’s great.
Q: Mick, how confident do you feel coming into your second season in Formula
1?
Mick SCHUMACHER: Yeah, I think we can say I feel comfortable, I feel
confident. Obviously testing went alright, maybe not great but alright. I
think we are on the verge of being better than last and that’s what we are
aiming for and hopefully we will be able to show that on track here.
Q: Lando, it seemed to be a slightly frustrating test for McLaren last week.
What did you learn and how confident are you guys coming into the race?
Lando NORRIS: We learned a decent amount. Definitely not as much as we
wanted to coming into the first race of the year but still in a decent
place. I think what makes it tough and what makes it almost worse than
previous years is it is looking probably a bit tighter in the midfield than
what it has potentially been over the past couple of years. So, therefore
you want to be able to have all the information possible and be on top of
everything, which we are not 100% on top of coming into this race. We will
do our best and we definitely have a few things to work on and few things to
make sure they work in the first place and we’ll go from there. Some things
I am confident with and other things maybe not so much.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Just regarding the ongoing g threat of
COVID-19, in some countries, including the UK it is your choice whether you
go into work or not, even if you tests positive. Do you think there will
come a point where if a driver has an asymptomatic positive or low symptoms
that a driver should be allowed to race, bearing mind two of you tested
positive in the last week and it could have a big impact on the title fight?
CL: It’s a tricky question. As things are at the moment obviously it’s
impossible to do that because in some places we cannot race having COVID.
Then, for sure, if there are some places where we will be able to race with
COVID then things might change. But yeah, the way things are at the moment I
definitely wouldn’t do that.
MS: I think it’s a quite difficult question to answer really. Personally, I
think it shouldn’t be the case just because COVID is still apparent and
people still have very hard symptoms with it, although maybe Omicron is a
bit easier to deal with, and there are still people that are at risk, so I
don’t want to be the person who puts those people at risk because I want to
race. I think we have to think globally and we have to try to get it under
control and by doing that I think we should minimise the contact with people
who are positive.
MV: I mean that naturally as a driver you always want to race and you would
say ‘yes, we should be allowed to race’ but I think you should also ask a
medical expert about it, what is allowed and what isn’t and then work
together with the FIA to see what’s possible and what is allowed in the
future, but at the moment it’s a bit difficult to tell.
LN: Nothing further.
ZG: Well, yeah, they covered pretty much everything. You just have to be
really on top of yourself and staying always with mask, to do our job right.
The others are up to… It’s not my position to discuss or say anything.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – RacingNews365.com) Question to all the drivers, please.
Tomorrow, the FIA World Motorsport Council meets for the first time this
year. One of the items up for discussion is the report into the events in
Abu Dhabi. What are your expectations? Would you like to see the full
report, the full outcome of the investigation?
MV: I don’t think we need a full report. Of course, always, every year it’s
good to discuss what happened in the year before and what you can do better
as that’s what teams do as well, right? You always analyse everything you
do. We will find out and if things can be written down in an easier way or
in a way to understand it better, the wording, then for sure, but let’s see.
LN: I don’t mind seeing them or not. As long as there is a good result and a
positive result going forward, then I will be happy.
CL: I think it is really important to have that transparency and for us to
be able to see it. Whether I will read it, I don’t think so, it will be
probably too long, but it is important to at least have the big lines and
know what is the conclusion of it, in order to grow from it and to maybe
manage those situations better in the future.
MS: I think that probably… that’s in the past. It’s good to know the results
and analysis but essentially we have to look to the future and obviously try
to not repeat something like it.
ZG: Nothing to add. I wasn’t in that race and that’s it.
Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari) Max, Honda officially left Formula 1 at
the end of last year and this year is there any difference in your
relationship with Honda?
MV: They might be a little less visible but at the end of the day not a lot
has changed luckily, so I am just looking forward to starting the season
where we left off, but of course trying to become better. They are still
with us so that’s good.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Yesterday, Red Bull showed us a first
glimpse of Red Bull Powertrains. What’s your first impression of the project
and of the facilities so far and secondly, continuing on Honda a bit, what’s
your impression of the 2022 engine, which is still produced by Honda?
MV: Yeah, the facility looks really good and of course I know about the
plans and stuff, and what’s coming, so it all looks very promising. And the
engine for this year, yeah we made a nice step forward but we have to wait
and see what the other teams did as well. From our side I think we did the
best we could but it’s never good enough, right? So you have to try to keep
improving and trying to find more performance. So that’s what we will try to
do from our side.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) A question for Lando. How confident are you in the
brake modifications that have been brought this weekend and how high is the
risk a race of extreme containment of the brake temperatures or even worse,
where you can’t get to the end?
LN: We’ll see in a few hours’ time. The team done an excellent job in trying
to get as many parts here as possible, things to fix those issues and those
problems. But to a certain extent we don’t know how well they are going to
work. We literally have to put the parts on the car and go out and drive
with them for the first time to understand just how good they are, whether
it’s enough or too much. Obviously preferably on the side of too much and we
come back and make modifications from there. There could be a chance of
either. It could be a perfect race where there are no issues and of course
that’s an ideal world and there could be a race where we still have to
manage many things. Personally and for the whole team we don’t really know
yet and we will have to see when we go out on track.
Q: (Andrew Dunn – Daily Mirror) Question for Max. You are world champion but
considering the controversy of how it was won, do you still go into this
season thinking you’ve got a point to prove?
MV: No, I proved that with the most wins and most pole and most laps led.
People forget that. They only look at Abu Dhabi apparently but we have more
races than Abu Dhabi in a season.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) Max, Mercedes through pre-season they have been
talking down their form quite a bit, Given what you have looked at over the
past week or so with the Red Bull engineers, where do you expect them to be?
Do you think they were sandbagging through pre-season testing?
MV: I think they will be dead last. According to their comments they have an
awful and they’ve had that already since 2017 in pre-season testing. We will
find out. I don’t know, but for sure they will be competitive.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – Associated Press) Max, you mentioned most wins and most
pole last season. Do you think you can step it up another level this year
from your performances last year?
MV: If you look at last season, even during that season I think yeah, we
could have had more wins and more poles even but you need a really
competitive car to be able to do that, so it’s going to be really difficult
to do something like that again. Of course you always try to do better so I
hope if we have a very competitive car again that we can reach something
similar.
Q: (Claire Cottingham – Racefans.net) Obviously Sebastian Vettel is out with
COVID at the moment. I was just wondering if we should start putting in
dropping a score if you have COVID or something like that. I just wanted to
get your thoughts on that, is it something you might be interested in moving
forward?
LN: No.
MV: That’s also part of racing in a way. Unfortunately. I think the most
important that he feels well, right? Who cares about this race at the end of
the day. It’s about that he feels well.
MS: I don’t understand the question properly I guess. Drop out of points,
reduction of points if you miss a race? Oh OK, so you can decide if you want
to lose a race or not. No, we had that in the past in junior categories and
honestly it wasn’t great. As everybody else said, no, I guess. It can stay
as it is.
CL: I wouldn’t want this.
ZG: No, definitely not dropping scores.
Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) F1 loves to present this year as the
start of the new era. Does it already feel like a new era and if you leave
the new car out of the picture, what will be the biggest change you expect
this season?
CL: Yeah, well, it feels quite a bit different compared to last year.
Whether it feels like a new era, I don’t know. We will have to see how much
closer we can race. I saw some benefits already from testing but we will
have to see in a proper race how much we can race closer. But the weight,
for me, of the car changes massively and it is something that I really feel,
especially on a track like this with the slow-speed corners. You really need
to change your driving style. So the cars are very different and hopefully
better for the racing, but this will have to wait.
MS: I guess you see the cars are new so it feels like a new era but I guess
in terms of driving and stuff, as Charles just said, there is still stuff we
will learn across this year. I think hopefully if we get to fight closer
that will obviously be great and hopefully the teams will stay closer or as
close as they were in testing now.
MV: I think it’s mainly tyres and weight but luckily the cars also quite
quick and it will definitely be a bit different from track to track, in
terms of how competitive we are going to be compared to last year. On the
other hand there is also not a big shock. It is still a Formula 1 car with a
lot of downforce and it is still nice to drive.
LN: Max said it will, tyres and weight and everything is the biggest change.
Apart from that it feels like a fresh start, there are so many new things
around, things you have to work with. In terms of racing, probably we’re
going to be racing against Mick a bit more this year. I’m sure that will be
a good thing for him. Haas are looking strong, so we are probably racing a
few more cars, which is just going to make it more entertaining and tougher
for everyone else.
Q: Zhou we will come to you in a second, but Mick, do you think you will be
racing people like Lando this year?
MS: We will see.
Q: You’re not going to commit! Zhou, it’s definitely a new era for you?
ZG: Yeah, exactly. For me everything is pretty new but of course with the
new era you do feel the change of the weight and the way you have to adapt a
little bit your driving style compared to what I have driven in the past
with the different Formula 1 cars and of course many teams are suffering
with this bouncing issue, since everybody felt it. It’s quite surprising for
us to feel it. It was getting better and better and we are finding the right
solution for it, but there is plenty of stuff you have to be adapting to and
like Lando says, all the teams after testing our speed is very similar. Of
course there are a few teams that are a little bit quicker than the rest but
it feels like the mid-[ack is a little bit closer than it was last year for
sure.
Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) For all drivers. After these days of testing, can
you explain what’s the biggest challenge or issue you face with the new car?
And can you tell me how many race weekends you need to get 100 per cent
comfortable.
ZG: Well, for me it was of course the mileage limitation in Barcelona was
affecting us as a team, a lot but then we had a big step-up in Bahrain so it
much better with upgrades, all of that involved with the car. In terms of
feeling, as I mentioned before, the bouncing was something I never
experienced in the past and very new for all of us. I think the challenge
for all of us as a team is going to be trying to reduce that, in terms of
going more towards the ultimate performance of the car. That’s the biggest
challenge of the year.
Q: And how many race weekends until you’re fully at ease with the car?
ZG: Hopefully already at ease – but yeah, we have to say, it’s quite a bit
of difference whether you have DRS on or off, and if one is behind a
slipstream or not, but I’m sure I’m sure we’ll figure it out. I won’t say
how many races but yeah.
LN: Biggest challenges I think, still some of the unknowns with the racing,
Like Zhou said, what the slipstream is going to be like, how the DRS it
going to work in the slipstream. Size, the lack of visibility in the cars
this year comparing to last year and so on. So racing, and knowing where the
front wing is an everything. It’s going to be slightly different. Probably
the race on Sunday is going to be the first time we really get to experience
all of those things… but also with this car and how it works, the
characteristics of it. There’s many different tracks where it’s going to
feel very different, so until we get to Monaco, or Singapore, the street
circuits, we’re not going to be able to learn anything or know what to
expect too much, until we get there. In terms of being on top of the car,
it’s hard to say just yet and it could be a few races, it could be many more
races. Because things are going to be changing. There’s many new things
which are going to come in future races. Things you can’t necessarily
prepare for in Bahrain, in Barcelona, so early on.
MV: Lando explained that very well.
MS: Every team seems to have their little issues here and there. I think
it’s a matter of probably a few races in that we’ll need to really sort
these out – but I guess there are some fundamental problems right now, which
are obviously bouncing, which I expect to be part of this season across. I
guess there is still something to be worked on and I’m sure that teams are
working on it quite hard for next year. Generally, I guess that I wouldn’t
know how many races we’ll need for the other problems, but definitely
bouncing will stay.
CL: yeah, definitely bouncing will be the biggest challenge, especially for
the race. It depends a lot on the conditions also, from where the wind is
coming from, we might have some, and the race is quite long, so yeah, it’s
going to be pretty bumpy. Then, how many races we need to adapt to those
cars. With Ferrari, we’ve had a bit of a different approach this year,
staying with the same car from the first test to the second test, which
helped us to know the package very well, so hopefully it will give us a bit
of an advantage at the beginning. And then for us drivers, I think we’ll all
be quite quick to adapt to those new cars.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Another question to all five. Now you’re
living it, how are you finding the weekend timetable change, with doing all
of your media stuff before FP1, bearing in mind, at races that are not night
races, like the European ones, it might mean a few early starts for you all.
Thanks
CL: It’s the first race of the season, so I’ve been pretty busy yesterday,
so it didn’t change much for me now.
MS: I guess as you just said, it will probably make some days earlier and
unfortunately the Thursday will be anyways packed with media. It is
interesting. I guess it does help at times but yeah, we’ll find out across
the season, if it’s any better or not.
Max, does it feel slightly odd being in this press conference just moments
before you get in the car for FP1?
MV: No… but I was still on the track yesterday, so for me, nothing changes.
So maybe we can ban coming to the track on the Thursday, and the team also
doesn’t give me anything to do, because at the end of the day I’m still
doing exactly the same – but you have to wake up actually earlier on a
Friday morning. If it’s not going to change, can we please go back to the
old schedule – because at least I can sleep in a bit more?
LN: I completely agree with Max.
ZG: For me, it’s a fresh start, so wake up early is not a big problem. I’ve
experienced that in the past few years, we always were the first one on
track, so that’s fine. Of course, it’s much more busy now, compared to my
schedule in the past – but I’m OK with all of that.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – RacingNews365.com) To all the drivers, have you met the
new race director Niels Wittich, and also, what do you think of the concept
of alternating or rotating the race directors. Could that make for better or
worse consistencies?
MV: I haven’t met him here in the paddock yet but I’m sure we will anyway
during the drivers’ briefing. Let’s see. Let’s find out how it’s going to
be. I’m positive that it’s going to be fine. I mean, they all have a lot of
experience in racing, so as long as we are clear before we enter the race
weekends, it shouldn’t be a problem.
LN: I met him yesterday briefly and of course we’ll meet him again in the
drivers’ briefing later. Don’t know. Not too sure how it’s going to work
just yet. Of course, if there’s consistency, that’s the main thing we want
as drivers, then it doesn’t really matter how many how many people there
are. As long as there is consistency through the season, I’ll be happy.
CL: Lando said it all. I haven’t met him yet but yeah, consistency is key
and I’m pretty sure they are, they have organised themselves fully to work
in that way. I’m not too concerned about this.
MS: I’m not sure, I think I have met him in my junior years, so I guess I
have been working with him before but yeah, I guess, as everybody has said,
it’s just about consistency and that every weekend is the same, basically,
on the rules side.
ZG: I haven’t met him yet but he did sign my superlicence during the week!
So that’s as close as I get to him so far, so yeah, I’m sure, apart from
that, everything else will be OK.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Another one to Max. Multiple World
Champions like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, they expect you to feel
less pressure, being a World Champion. You seem quite relaxed, to be honest,
but how is it for you? Is the mindset any different to one year ago?
MV: The motivation is the same, or even more again, because you want to keep
winning and you want to… you just want to be upfront, right? Especially
after last year. But yeah, you do… as a little kid you always dream of, of
course, trying to be a Formula 1 driver and hopefully one day you win a
championship. But that’s achieved, that kind of pressure of wanting and
needing to do that is gone… but you still want to win races and stuff. So,
that’s what I’m here for.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport.com) Question is for Max. Max, at the
end of last year, particularly in Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, you
were perceived by some to be a bit more on the aggressive side of things
when fighting with Lewis. Do you think that Lewis, over the winter, may have
considered those fights with you and may come back this year also a bit more
on the aggressive side? Just not to back down all the time?
MV: I don’t know. I mean, I guess you shouldn’t ask me that question.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Another question for Max. Is there a way that you
motivated yourself over the winter, you being a World Champion, you coming
in as a World Champion, it’s important to not let complacency set in. Did
you do anything to increase your motivation so that complacency didn’t
happen.
MV: I grew up like that, like that can’t happen. Because of… you know, when
you are little, you do become lazy at some point. I mean, you still have to
learn how to be a professional. So, my Dad made sure that didn’t happen.
DRIVER GROUP 2: Valtteri BOTTAS
(Alfa Romeo), Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Daniel
RICCIARDO (McLaren), Sergio PÉREZ (Red Bull)
Q: Daniel, first up, how are you
feeling?
Daniel RICCIARDO: I’m good, thank you. Yeah. Quite a few people have said
welcome back, but I think the guy to my right (KM) is more of a welcome
back. There’s two welcome backs here. Definitely knocked me about for a bit
but the last few days have got significantly better each day. Feeling myself
again. Which is good.
Q: Aside from your health, how much did missing last week’s test just affect
you in terms of your understanding of the car?
DR: I guess time will tell, but I was still following what I could and
trying to keep up with it. I mean yeah, for sure I missed some seat time
but, y’know, I felt we left the Barcelona test in a good place and I
personally felt comfortable after that test. I felt like we got a lot of
laps done, so yes, not ideal missing the Bahrain test, but I still carry a
good feeling in the car from Barcelona, and see where that takes me today
and the rest of the weekend.
Q: Kevin. Welcome back! It’s great to have you in the press conference.
After a year out, how are you approaching this first race weekend with Haas?
Kevin MAGNUSSEN: I don’t know. I mean, I’m just excited, surprised. I didn’t
expect to be starting this season, of course, and I got the call, a little
more than a week ago, before that I was on holiday in Miami, with my
friends, not expecting to do anything like this. So, just so thankful. No
matter how you get to Formula 1, it’s such a massive opportunity, and, in
this way, it just feels crazy. I just can’t wait to get started.
Q: You got your first mileage in the car last weekend. How long will it be
until you feel you’re fully up to speed?
KM: We’ll see. In the test it felt fine. It didn’t feel like I’d been out
for 15 months; it felt like I’d been out just in a normal off-season. The
car’s a little different, so it didn’t feel exactly the same, but I didn’t
feel like… it’s not like I’ve not been driving race cars for a whole year.
It’s just I haven’t been driving Formula 1 cars. My neck especially was not
up to it, but that will come back very quickly, and just, as I said, I can’t
wait to get started.
Q: Sergio, a good test at the weekend. How good is the RB18?
SP: I think we have a good base car, which is always important but we also
know that it’s so important how much you can improve throughout the season
on these new regulations, so I think that will be the key. But, I have to
say, it was so impressive to see the amount of work the team has done over
the winter, back in the factory at Milton Keynes. We just put the new
package on the car and straight away it works. We didn’t have to do any
install or anything like that and it worked. So that’s definitely very
positive and it just shows the amount of work the team has done, so yeah,
big credit to everyone back home in Milton Keynes, and hopefully we can
start the season with the right foot.
Q: This is year two for you with Red Bull Racing. How much more confident do
you feel, knowing the team better, as you do?
SP: I feel a lot more comfortable, just knowing the team, understanding the
Red Bull philosophy in regard to the car, I think, although these cars are
very different, it gives you a very good platform, and I’ve got a very good
baseline, towards the end of last season, things went a lot better, so I
look forward to start our new year with good results.
Q: Valtteri, year two for Checo at Red Bull, year one for you at Alfa Romeo.
How are things going?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Things are going good. There’s still work to do, for sure.
We’re now taking the first proper step with a team, working together, which
is the first race weekend and testing we did have some troubles and I would
say the reliability concerns we’ve had through the testing have been the
number one topic and priority for this first race. But yeah, I’ve enjoyed it
and now it’s time to see where we are, at this point of the season, and then
hopefully from there hopefully the only way is up. That’s the target.
Q: Well, the only way is up – just how much potential do you feel this car
has?
VB: I feel it has potential. When it is working fine and running smoothly
and we got to go a bit deeper into the setup work, it started to feel good,
I really started to enjoy the car, both in high fuel and with a little bit
less fuel, so the potential is there, no doubt, we’ve just got to make sure
we keep on unlocking it throughout the season.
Q: Carlos, a few reliability niggles for Alfa Romeo. By contrast, this has
been a very smooth pre-season for Ferrari. Just how confident are you?
Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, relatively confident knowing that testing has been
really smooth for us. We managed to do six total days with barely any
issues, and we managed to learn everything we could from the car. There’s
still already things that we need to work on, that we spotted on data and on
driver feedback that we wanted to develop further forward into the season
and yeah, I think it gives us a good base coming into the first race.
Q: What are your goals for this first race weekend?
CS: Normally at the first race you want to keep it clean, and you want to
make sure you have the full quali and full race experience in order to build
on it for the rest of the year. It’s going to be a 23-race season and it’s
important in the first race to avoid anything crazy and learn from the car
as much as you can. At the same time, if there’s any opportunity to go for
it, I will obviously go for it – but let’s see.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Claire Cottingham – RaceFans.com) Daniel, Covid can have some lasting
effects and make you quite breathless afterwards. Firstly, are you OK with
that, heading into the first race of the year. And also, what do you feel
you missed out on. Obviously, I know seat time, but are you feeling prepared
still coming into this weekend.
DR: Yeah, I feel OK. It’s the first time I got Covid and it’s nothing new
now to the rest of the world, I think most people have had it and you do
hear of varying effects and, whether they’re long lasting or not. Obviously
time will tell. I was here, all day yesterday, obviously doing the media day
and we had pretty much a full schedule and I felt OK at the end of the day,
and energy was fine, so that’s like the first small test, which would seem
OK. I don’t foresee any hurdles but of course, we’ll see what happens. But I
do feel prepared. And even though I missed the Bahrain test, I caught up on
a tonne of rest, so I’m… yeah… where’s a negative, there’s a positive, and
we come in pretty fresh now. Fortunate I’ve been doing his sport quite a few
years, we have a couple of hours today to get up to speed and I expect to do
that.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Daniel again, how confident are you and the team
about the changes that have been made this weekend and to what extent is the
FP1 plan distorted from the norm, given that I guess that’s the priority
item: working out how much trouble you are or are not in with those brakes.
DR: yeah, we have to see how it goes. I know pretty much every day at the
test there was modifications happening, and trying to improve it. I know Day
Three there was a good set of progress made, and I kept in touch as well
with Lando and he was giving me the feedback as well. And then, since then
yeah, we have some modifications to trial today. So, I think we’re in a,
let’s say, confident place but will there still be some management? Let’s
see. Probably get into some more long runs, I guess, later today and
probably trial that this evening.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – RacingNews365.com) To all drivers: tomorrow the FIA
World Motorsport Council will meet under the new president and one of the
items up for discussion is the inquiry investigation into the events of Abu
Dhabi last year. Do you believe that the full report should be released or
are you not particularly interested? Are you happy with a couple of bullet
points? CS: Yeah, I’m obviously interested in seeing what comes out of it
and what we have learned as a sport and what changes are going to be applied
to make sure that such things aren’t repeated again but at the same time, I
think it’s time to… as soon as it comes out and as soon as it’s analysed and
read by everyone, it’s time to move on. We are in March 2022 and we are
still talking about December 2021 and I think as a sport it’s also time to…
whatever comes out of that meeting, learn from it, apply the lessons learned
and move on and never talk about it too much again because if not we’re just
going to spend too much time in the past.
VB: I think Carlos said pretty much everything. It’s time to move on but I’m
definitely keen to see the full report and all the details and make sure the
learnings have been made. That is the main thing.
SP: I agree a thousand per cent with these two. I think it would be
important to learn from it but also it would be very important to move on.
KM: Nothing to add.
DR: Can you repeat the question? I’m just kidding. I agree.
Q: (Carlos Miquel – Marca) Carlos, Checo and Daniel; between us, in your
opinion, who will finish ahead in the championship? Between Sainz, Checo and
Daniel?
DR: Whoever scores more points! I can’t predict where we’ll be at the end of
the year. I’d love to obviously say myself, you know that myself and McLaren
really get on top of these new cars and we gel and we win a ton of races and
win the championship. I think today I do think that Red Bull and Ferrari are
probably the favourites coming into race one here in Bahrain but will that
be the trend for the whole season? I’m not really sure. Let’s say that over
the next 48 hours probably these guys were the favourites but over the
course of the season I’d like to think myself and McLaren can put our name
in that mix. I tried to give you quite a bit but I thought…
SP: I think the race is on Sunday. We have 22 races so there is no point to
start racing each other right now so we just have to wait and see, be
patient and we will have a bit of an idea after Sunday but it’s going to be
such a long year, development will be the key to it so I think we are not
too far away so let’s be patient and see.
CS: I think we are not too far away from each other and development is going
to be king this year and it’s going to be more how it finishes more than how
it starts now. I don’t know, we’ve waited three months to know where
everyone is going to be. We’re going to wait 24 more hours now to see who’s
going to be in front in qualifying and in the race, so let’s just wait a bit
more.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) To all five: Checo, picking up on some comments,
your quote yesterday about Covid and about whether drivers should discuss
whether being allowed to race with Covid as we sort of learn to live with
the virus. I just want to hear from all five of you what your thoughts and
particularly Daniel after your experience with it, in the past week or so?
DR: Yeah. It’s a good question. Yeah, I’d like to kind of think that if you
feel like healthy, strong, fit and I don’t know if it’s whether you need to
like pass a little fitness or some kind of test to show that you’re in
condition to race then maybe that’s enough moving forward but yeah, to be
honest it’s the first time I’ve answered a… first time I’ve really thought
about it.
Q: Could you have driven a Formula 1 car last week?
DR: Yeah, that’s the thing, so I was definitely in a pretty tough place so I
would have struggled. Yep, I would have struggled. I was pretty knocked out
from it and that’s the thing, so I think it’s really obviously case by case
and if you feel like you can do it then yeah, maybe show some kind of little
fitness test and prove it but I would have struggled a week ago.
KM: Whether I would be able to race with Covid? I don’t know, I’ve never had
it, so no idea.
SP: Covid has evolved so much, you know, that I think the best judge would
be ourselves, to know, like Daniel says, probably he wouldn’t be able to
race but maybe there are other people or other drivers who get Covid and
feels OK. You see what some countries, as well, you know, it feels like the
world is fully open but Formula 1 is very restrictive with the Covid things,
so I think we should leave it up to the driver to decide, you know. I think
we have all raced once or less feeling really bad healthwise and we are the
judge as to say OK, we can race the way we are at the moment, or we can
simply not so yeah, if the driver feels comfortable to race like that, I
wouldn’t think it’s a problem, you know. The world seems to have moved up
from it.
VB: I also feel like it should be a call for the driver. I would vote for
yes, should be allowed but only in a way that it can be made sure that
there’s no risk of spreading it further so I think that maybe then for
someone who has Covid there should definitely be extra protocols to make
sure that other team members get affected, because obviously with every
person the symptoms can be different, for some less risky, for some more
risky so I think that’s the question mark.
CS: Yeah, picking up from where Valtteri left, I think it’s… if there is a
sport that I think that you can race without… or compete without spreading
the virus too much or at least zero I think it is Formula 1 I think you
could do all the meetings back in your hotel room, arrive 15 minutes before
the session with your suit and your helmet on, jump in the car and go.
Personally, I feel like if I get Covid and you’re in the middle of a
championship fight or a very important thing I would struggle to accept
missing a race and if I’m feeling well and I’m feeling perfectly fit, if I
am feeling bad I would be the first one to raise my hand and say I cannot
race and the third driver needs to jump in. But I think it’s an interesting
case that we should investigate because I think that our sport gives us that
opportunity to maybe be a bit more protected and less spread and yeah, I
think it should be up to the driver to decide.
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Kevin, welcome back. During your year away
from F1, what were your thoughts with regard to Haas at that particular
time? I know you were doing some side commentary for some radio and TV and
things but were you keeping an eye on them, what they were doing, and were
you aware of their performances and how they were getting on? And as a
secondary question, when Guenther called you to replace Nikita, how much
were you aware of the Russian/Ukraine situation at that time?
KM: Well, first, I was following Formula 1 last year and it wasn’t good to
see Haas in the state that they were but I understood it was already the
case when I was there in 2020 that they had shifted focus to this new car
and so it kind of made sense that they were in the state that they were. It
was almost like a decision, it wasn’t a decision that they made so obviously
that’s good for the situation I’m in, I’m in this car that they’ve been
focusing on so much now and hopefully that will go well. On the other
question, of course I was aware of the situation in Ukraine. I saw on the
news that Nikita had lost his drive and you know, I thought that made sense
from a political point of view. Of course I would love not to be back in
this seat because of the situation in Ukraine, I would love it to be
whatever odd the situation, there wasn’t a tragic one that this one is but
that’s the opportunity I was given and of course no matter what, I’m a
racing driver and I love the opportunity that I’ve been given and I’m going
to make the best of it, despite the tragic reason for it.
Q: (Adam Cooper – Motorsport.com) Another Covid question for all you: you’re
all sitting there, wearing masks but obviously the FIA protocols have
changed and no masks in the paddock, no compulsory testing, you flew here on
planes surrounded by people who didn’t even test to come to Bahrain. Has it
gone a bit too far, are you more nervous this year than you were in the last
couple of years that you might catch it or key people in the team might
catch it? And secondly, how much of the protocols changed within your own
teams, because some teams I think have very much relaxed the test regime,
the internal testing regime?
CS: I did feel, for a bit, like we were moving on a bit and then suddenly,
obviously, Daniel positive case and Sebastian’s yesterday raised the alarms
again and all of a sudden you need to kind of react, wake up again and go
back to two years ago because you see that Covid is still around us and is
still a possibility. It’s like it’s never really leaving us. You start to
feel like you’re getting out of the thing and then suddenly there’s always a
positive case near to you and the alarms ringing and it’s a pain, I’m not
going to lie, it’s for me two years in a row like this, it’s becoming tiring
and it’s becoming like it’s never ending but at the same time, what can you
do? You put on your mask and you keep going with your life and try not to
get it like in the last few days, so whatever. I just hope we can keep
moving on as Checo was mentioning before and little by little with the whole
paddock vaccinated we can little by little as Checo was mentioning we can
keep moving on.
VB: I think it’s good to see that we are starting to live with it, in a way,
but obviously it’s still around and I think in the end it’s a lot about
common sense and at least me, I’ve been advised by the team that always when
you’re in close contact with people wear a mask, there’s no harm in doing
that. Only concern for me, like today, arriving at the paddock there was
quite a lot of fans who were taking selfies and none of them were wearing
masks and they get pretty close and then I feel uncomfortable so for sure I
take my distance but it’s a lot of common sense. In the end, we need to live
with it but still be sensible in a way.
SP: Yeah, I think take us back to my point, we are exposed to… I mean
Formula 1 has moved up in this regard. The whole world has moved on. But the
drivers are still limited and if we get it then we are not able to work but
at the same time we are exposed to people, we are exposed to a lot of media,
a lot of fans so I think the world has moved on and I think as Formula 1 we
should discuss how we can also move on. I think Carlos mentioned a very good
point that our sport it can allow the driver if he’s feeling comfortable to
perform at this work. You see that some countries have stopped testing,
they’ve stopped everything probably, at the other extreme but as a sport,
yeah, we just have figure it out how we can make it useful for everyone
because at the moment, you cannot see the gaps around us.
KM: Personally I’m not too worried about getting Covid from a health
perspective. What I’m worried about is getting it and missing a race, that’s
really my biggest worry about it. And as has been said, if we could do the
race with it and just be isolated and not expose the team, I would be happy
with that. I can understand if people… you know people have families and
maybe somebody in their family is not good from a health perspective and
wouldn’t want to have it, I can understand if you couldn’t really put that
on your surroundings but you could be isolated as a Formula 1 driver and get
through a race weekend alone, remotely.
DR: I think most has been said. Of course in my head I want to move on and
open everything up and do that and for sure at times you think that yeah,
it’s kind of past but then obviously I was reminded a week ago that it can
still come and bite you so yeah, with that said, I would still obviously
love us to progress through it and yeah, make some changes over time if it
seems like the right time to… I don’t know if it’s remove masks but just
kind of free it up a little but then yeah, again it’s up to your own kind of
discretion if you want to wear a mask and take caution and then do that.
Yeah, like on a place, I think I’ll continue to wear a mask for even ten
years after Covid, probably just a new normal now.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – RacingNews365.com) Daniel and Valtteri: have you met
the new race director and what do you guys think about rotating the race
directors as opposed to having one permanent one for the year?
DR: I haven’t face-to-face yet met but via video yes. I think, let’s say I’m
happy with the approach of the rotation and the additional support so again
we have to see how the year pans out and after12 months we can assess if it
was a good move but sitting here today, I’m happy with the direction they’re
going.
VB: Also haven’t met him yet and yeah, happy with alternating the race
directors. I think there’s no issue as long as they obviously communicate
well and both are always in the loop with whatever happens so let’s see how
it goes in the first three events. No issues from my side.
Q: (Matt Coch – Speedcafe.com) Daniel, last week Oscar Piastri was named as
a potential replacement should you not have been able to race. What are your
thoughts on Oscar being available to McLaren if needed and the prospect of
him getting your seat and in other words potentially making his F1 debut?
DR: Yes, so your beard’s getting more majestic each time I see you! You’ve
really got a good thing going there Matt! So yeah, as much as obviously,
myself, I would hate to miss an event, if a replacement was Oscar, I think
that would be… you know, I would welcome very much welcome him as a
replacement. Yeah, he’s obviously had a phenomenal last three seasons,
winning every championship he competed in. Obviously this season he’s
probably not competing or at least, not that I know of for now but if he
gets an opportunity then at least it’s one that everyone would say is a
deserved one.
DRIVER GROUP 3: George RUSSELL
(Mercedes), Pierre GASLY (AlphaTauri), Lance STROLL (Aston Martin), Nicholas
LATIFI (Williams), Fernando ALONSO (Alpine)
Q: Fernando, when you came back
to Formula 1 last year, you said the goal was always 2022. Do you think you
are going to have the car to win races this year?
Fernando ALONSO: I don’t know. I think no one knows. At the moment I think
testing has been up and down for everyone. I think we had good days,
especially the last two here in Bahrain. We made a lot of progress on the
car and we are happy with how we approach race one. Tomorrow in qualifying I
guess we will discover what is the performance of everybody and then move
on. The season is going to be long – 22 races – a lot of development on the
cars, so it is not how you start tomorrow, it is how you make progress in
the first two or three months of the season. Yeah, we are working flat out
and the team is very optimistic about this.
Q: Are you enjoying the new cars to drive?
FA: I think they are definitely different. As we spoke about last week as
well, the cars are heavier and every driver will tell you a faster car or a
lighter car will feel a little bit better to drive. It’s the way it is and
how racing should be. But on the other hand these cars are very safe and
sustainability has been also a big topic in the last few years in Formula 1,
so it’s the world is going and we are happy to embrace that as well.
Q: Nicholas, how would you sum up winter testing for Williams?
Nicholas LATIFI: I think the testing had its ups and downs. I think
Barcelona was definitely a bit smoother obviously. Having to miss day two of
the Bahrain test was not ideal and it did set us back a little bit, but we
weren’t the only team that had quite big issues. It was clear up and down
the paddock, across both test, that lots of teams were having to set out an
a.m. or p.m. session for various reasons. I think definitely here in Bahrain
some of the, let’s say, limitations were highlighted a bit more. Like I was
saying coming into the test that was always to be expected. The car always
feels much better testing in very cool temperatures in Barcelona than when
you come here. I think we are still going to have a lot of work to do, but
as Fernando said, and as I have been saying, it’s not about how you start in
race one, it’s going to be a long season of 23 (sic) races and that
development and how we react as a team to what we see once we finally find
out what the pecking order is, I think that’s going to be key - how we
react. I am excited to start the season now.
Q: Where do you think you sit in the pecking order right now?
NL: To be honest, it’s very difficult to say, especially with the testing
that we did miss. We were one of the teams that wasn’t able to do the softer
compound runs and the cooler track conditions and what not. Too early to
tell but I think we are probably not exactly where we want to be right now,
but as I say, it’s going to be a long season.
Q: Lance, in the absence of Sebastian Vettel this weekend is there a greater
weight of responsibility on your shoulders?
Lance STROLL: Yeah, it’s definitely not ideal for the team. But we carry on
doing what we do, yeah, I mean, at this stage it’s all just about learning
and improving the car as much as possible and I’ll be doing that as best I
can with the team.
Q: How pleased are you with how winter testing went and the learning you
talk about?
LS: Yeah, I think Bahrain was good. We got a lot of laps and we got some low
fuel runs on the softer tyres, the softer compounds, we got some of those
runs done. We got some high fuel, long-run simulations done and we
definitely got a good understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of
our car areas we have to work on and improve on. But it’s definitely a big
learning curve with these new regulations. Going forward it’s all about
understanding how to get more out of the car and developing the car as much
as possible every race.
Q: Pierre, you had an incredible season last year, do you think you have the
car to maintain that momentum this year?
Pierre GASLY: Well, I do hope we’ve got that car. It’s been a great year
last year and it’s been great to see the team evolving over the last few
years. I joined Toro Rosso in 2017 and I have seen every year how the team
steeped up their game and everything became more professional and I’m really
happy with the level they are performing at now. It’s a new year, a new
regulation, a new car. It’s a lot of unknowns but we are ready. We are ready
to give it everything and hopefully we can do as well or even better than
last year.
Q: You say you are ready. Do you feel winter testing went very smoothly?
PG: It never goes as smooth as you’d like but for sure you always come into
a new season hoping for the car to be very amazing and then you discover
along the way you obviously have work to do but I think it’s the same thing
for everyone. We know what we want to achieve. We know what we have got to
work on. No idea at the moment where we stand in the rankings compared to
other guys but it’s part of the game on Saturday. Everyone is going to go
full beans and we will see where are and work from there.
Q: George, you are a Mercedes race driver this weekend. How different does
this feel to anything that’s come before?
George RUSSELL: I think when you get to qualifying and you sit in the car
everything feels the same, it doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a silver
car, a black car, a blue car, your objective as a driver is always the same
and these external factors almost disappear. Obviously it’s a real privilege
and a special feeling to be part of such an incredible team but we’re here
to make the car go as fast as possible. I’m here to try to make myself go as
fast as possible. I feel ready. I feel in a good spot. I’m feeling relaxed
and I’m just looking forward to driving this afternoon.
Q: What are your goals for the weekend?
GR: My goal is to try to make the car go faster. We know we are not quite
where we want to be. I think it’s clearly visible when you see it on the
television that we are bouncing around a lot, especially compared to our
main rivals, and that’s what we need to get on top of. The team have been
working day and night since the tests to try to resolve some of these issues
to bring some more performance. I believe there is potential in our car
somewhere. Whether we are going to be able to reach that potential this
weekend or whether it is going to be a few races down the line I’m not too
sure but fortunately the races don’t come thick and fast at the start of the
season, as the probably do from race six onwards.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Jesus Balseiro – Diario AS) Which lap time difference, how many tenths
would be not too much for you to feel not too far from the top teams this
year?
FA: I don’t know, I mean, nobody knows at the moment where are all the teams
in terms of performance you are only happy when you are fighting for pole
position and as we have said many times you know we are entered in this new
era of Formula 1 where all the teams have more or less the same
possibilities, the budget cap, so it’s up to us to build the fastest car and
maybe we cannot achieve that in this very first year, there are a lot of
things going on in the team just to make sure that we are a contender for
the future and it’s what Alpine wants as well, so you know, we will work day
and night until we reach that.
Q: (Clare Cottingham – Racefans.net) George, Lewis mentioned during testing
that you were slotting into the team incredibly well and you have worked
with Mercedes for a long time, but I was wondering what kind of challenges
you are facing coming into the team as a full-time driver? And also, how
comfortable do you feel being quite vocal? You were very vocal at Williams
about what you wanted and what you didn’t want and I just wondered if you
feel comfortable enough at Mercedes to do the same?
GR: I feel really comfortable within the team to be honest. I think it’s
helped being part of the junior programme for so long, seeing how the team
operates, knowing all of the team members, so it doesn’t feel like I’ve
joined a new team, it feels like I’ve returned from a couple of years at
Williams, as I spent two or three years previously, and I think what’s great
so far working with Lewis is that we have really got the same feedback, we
are commenting on the same limitations, we are pushing in the same direction
and I think we both recognise that the competition isn’t with each other,
our competition is with Red Bull, with Ferrari, with McLaren and we need to
work together to get on top of the issued we face. We are definitely being
vocal about it because we are seeing different issues compared to what you
would normally expect, mainly with this bouncing issue we are facing. You
obviously see it in the data but what we feel under our bottom is probably
the best sense of what you’ve got on the car. We are really working as hard
as we can to improve that.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – The Race) Fernando, you talked a bit about in the first
answers about what this new generation of car is like to drive. From
watching trackside and from TV images it looks like in slow corners in
particular, if you can get it right, if the balance is there, it doesn’t
look too bad but it’s like if you just go fractionally over the limit there
is a lock-up or really bad understeer. Is that what it feels like in the car
and is that where you feel the biggest difference, in slow speed?
FA: Yeah, probably the slow speed are the corners that these cars they
struggle a little bit more because of the weight and also how the
aerodynamics work this year but I think here in Bahrain we saw also last
year that the winter was difficult for everyone. It’s a track that exposes
all the weaknesses in the slow-speed corners and the heat and things like
that. In Barcelona it was not that bad, the last sector for example, a few
weeks ago, so we have to wait and see, to judge exactly what are the
limitations on these cars. But yeah, the weight of the car is the biggest
thing we felt driving.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – RacingNews365.com) All five, would you like the full
report into the events of Abu Dhabi to be published after tomorrow’s World
Motor Sports Council meeting or do you think it should be just forgotten?
GR: I think it’s very important to be published as soon as possible.
Obviously the events that unfolded in Abu Dhabi were not to the standards
that all of us expect, all of us Formula 1 fans, drivers, teams. Clarity is
needed and it’s important that the issue that faces… it was in the past and
we obviously do need to move on but it can’t just be swept under the carpet,
so we need to see the outcome.
PG: Yeah, I echo George’s comment. We need transparency and we need clarity,
to know what we expect for the future. What’s done is done. Whether it was
the right thing or the wrong thing, it is important for us drivers to know,
going forward, how these situations are going to be treated and yeah, to
know what to expect, so the sooner we can get this information the better.
LS: Yeah, I think there needs to be absolute consistency, clarity on the
rules. What happened was unacceptable and yeah, we need to have consistency
everywhere we go.
NL: To be honest, nothing more to add from what the three previous guys have
said. I echo their sentiment and agree.
FA: No, I don’t think we need to read anything. It’s done, it’s over already
and there are many race direction decision we can understand and we cannot
understand sometimes and always we move on and this time is no different.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – Marca) Fernando, do you believe that the result of the
championship was different, Hamilton won, now we don’t speak about Abu Dhabi
ever again?
FA: I don’t know. I honestly don’t care. And I think, as I said, you know,
it was it what it was, right or wrong and in that moment the race direction
felt right and over the season you know in 21 races there are always
decision we could agree or maybe we don’t agree and we never had to study
anything in detail, so we have different rules this year for safety car and
for lapped cars and things like that. We move on and let’s see this year,
track limits are different, so there is the normal evolution in the sport.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) A question to George about Drive to Survive. I
don’t know if you have seen the episode covering your move to Mercedes but
there is a scene where Toto tells you that you will going up against Lewis
and joining the team. That was filmed at Zandvoort I believe and you were
informed pre-Spa about the move. How did it feel staging those kind of
scenes for Netflix. I know it’s a TV show but does it feel a bit weird when
you are doing that and being told something you already knew?
GR: I think it’s… you know Netflix is so important for all of us in Formula
1. We have seen the change the sport has had for the better over these
years, the increased fan interaction, new people coming into the sport.
People have been very vocal about it being dramatized a little bit but at
the end of the day you always want to show the best light of your sport and
your story as in any documentary that there is. Netflix is unique and as
long as it’s having a positive impact on Formula 1 I think there’s no real
issue.
Q: How do you rate your acting?
GR: I don’t think I will be going to Hollywood anytime soon.
Q: (Adam Cooper – Motorsport.com) You’re all sitting there wearing masks but
the FIA protocols have changed there are no masks oin the paddock, there is
no compulsory testing, we didn’t need a PCR to get into Bahrain, we won’t
need one to get into Saudi Arabia. Do you think it’s gone a bit too far,
it’s a bit too relaxed? Are you more nervous than in the last two years that
you will get it and that you will miss a race, as you are the guys who are
going to suffer the most.
FA: No, I’m not concerned. Yeah, there were a couple of positives in these
last two weeks but I think the world is moving on as well and we respect the
countries’ restrictions when we go racing there and every team has its own
internal policy as well. We take care of ourselves and hopefully we don’t
see many cases during the year.
NL: From my side I don’t think I’m any more or less worried than I have been
in previous years. I guess like Fernando said, the world is moving on and
just learning to live with COVID. It’s more just a kind of normal illness
but I guess for us in particular the penalty is still the same as testing
positive two years ago, which is missing a race or potentially two races
depending on when you get it. In that sense, from my side at least, I’m
still obviously being careful when I can. Obviously the difference this year
compared to the previous years in terms of the general feeling around the
world, yeah, for sure it feels more relaxed. Testing is less and less. It’s
still something we have to be aware of.
LS: We are seeing the world move forward. We’re adapting to the world we
live in now and I still think it’s important to be responsible when you
around elderly people, grandparents, all these things I think are separate,
that’s everyone’s responsibility to be around elderly people but as Formula
1, as a sport, as a world we have to move on and live our lives. We’re
starting to see that all over the world now.
PG: I agree with everything that has been said. I think we obviously have to
be responsible but I’m really happy to see that things are moving forwards
for the better and looking forward to see all your beautiful faces soon.
GR: Not a lot more to add, I think. I trust in F1 and the FIA’s decision. I
think we all know a huge amount more about the virus and washing hands,
being outdoors is a bit easier than for everybody to not contract the virus
and so I think you have just got to be responsible. But equally, time is
moving and if governments feel that it is safe to do so then they’re the
exp
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