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1 – George RUSSELL (Mercedes)
2 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
3 – Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari)
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Felipe Massa)
Q: Carlos, you had a great race, especially at the end, really good pace to
get the possibility to be on the podium.
Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, I think overall it was a good race. We did have some
problems there at the start, with the brakes on fire. We had to stop early,
which meant we had to commit to a three-stop that maybe today wasn't the
fastest given the degradation. But from there I pushed flat out to try and
catch back up to Checo. We had a good run on Checo at the end. Good podium
after starting P7. Yeah, I think we can be happy with that. It’s a shame
that Merc were so quick, but congratulations to George.
Q: OK. And the fight for the second position in the Constructors’? How do
you think for the last race? How is it going to be?
CS: We're clearly on a bit of a defence mode, because Merc were untouchable
today. They were just simply the quickest car, quicker than the Red Bull,
quicker than us. I think it's been a few weekends like this, like that. So
in Abu Dhabi, we need to expect them to win. And we need to either do damage
limitation or go for the win ourselves also.
Q: Lewis, are you feel a little bit Brazilian now? Amazing race, driver of
the day, so congratulations for your really, really good job. You had a
little bit of trouble at the beginning? So how do you think it was that
contact with Max and also, afterwards, an amazing race you did.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, well, firstly, I’ve got to say huge congratulations to
George. What an amazing drive he did today. He did amazing qualifying
yesterday. So he truly deserves it. To my team, so proud of everyone back at
the factory and here. This is an incredible result. We've worked so hard
through this year to get a win and so this is hugely deserved for everybody,
so a big, big thank you. What can I say, you know how it is with Max, so…
Q: I think you should say something for everyone [here. Every overtake you
are doing the whole grandstands were supporting you massively so…
LH: Muito Obrigado. A big, big thank you to everyone in here in Brazil. I’ve
really had one of the best weeks of my life here, just with how everyone's
accepted me here and the warm welcome I've had, so excited to come back here
again and hopefully some holidays in the future.
Q: George, unbelievable! I mean, I can't imagine you're feeling, you are
even crying. I understand how is the feeling of the first victory. Really
congratulations. Yesterday I told you it was the first of many and today you
did an amazing job. So just now how you feel? And the pace of your car, the
perfect job you did in the race, so really, really congratulations.
George RUSSELL: What an amazing feeling. Just a huge thank you to the whole
team for making this possible. It's been an emotional roller coaster this
season. This race was a really tough race. I felt in control. Lewis was
super fast and then when I saw the Safety Car, I thought, Jesus, this is
going to be a really difficult end. He put me under so much pressure but so
happy to come away with the victory.
Q: And how is the feeling? Remember all your career, everything you passed
through, you know, starting from the karting, all of the championships that
you fight and you arrive here in an amazing season you are doing, really an
amazing season, with a team that didn't start so well. And now you guys show
the pace to win. And I think that's really important and especially that the
first victory is yours.
GR: I'm speechless, you know, on the in-lap all of these memories sort of
come flooding back, you know, starting off with my mum and dad in go-karting
and going through and, you know, all the support I've had from the rest of
my family, my girlfriend, my trainer, my manager. I mean obviously, you know
the likes of Gwen [Lagrue, Mercedes Driver Development Advisor] who gave me
the opportunity to get on the programme with Mercedes, and James Vowles and
Toto, you know, the list is endless. I can't thank them enough and, yeah,
super proud.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: As you can see, our winner is not yet with us. So we're going to start
with our second and third place finishers. Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz,
a very warm welcome to you guys. Lewis, let's start with you. What a day for
Mercedes, a one-two for the team, and a fabulous comeback drive by you as
well. Just sum it up for us.
LH: It was an incredible day, an incredible weekend, and week actually, just
overall. So many amazing experiences, from Monday onwards. And this is
really a dream for all the team. I think everyone truly deserves this
amazing result. Everyone has worked so hard through the year. And we've been
through such a difficult kind of phase. But we never gave up hope that we
could get back to winning ways. And so, I'm really proud to be a part of
this team and to get a one-two, despite the challenges through the year, and
despite the challenges today.
Q: Lewis, you talk about the challenges, and you've been involved in many
one-twos in your career, but because of everything that's happened already
this year, does that make this all the sweeter?
LH: Definitely, definitely. I think every one-two is an amazing feeling. I
definitely have, in the past, experienced us having a one-two and I think
because at stages it was more regular it almost loses that specialness, you
know, so to have had this drought and this period of time and to finally get
back there, I think it's a wonderful achievement for everybody.
Q: Your competitors all think that Mercedes had the fastest car here in what
areas was it especially strong?
LH: I really don't know, if I'm honest. It's a strange feeling, because we
definitely have taken steps forwards. But it's almost like the others kind
of fell off a little bit this weekend, maybe? I don't know. But the car had
been really great to drive all weekend – very consistent, very smooth, no
major issues. And, yeah, we didn't bring any upgrades to the last race or
this one. So I think we're just slowly starting to understand the car more
and more and get it working in a sweeter spot.
Q: Your race was compromised, I think we can say, by the collision with Max
Verstappen after the first restart. How do you see what happened?
LH: I don't really have much of an opinion about it, to be honest. For me,
all I thought in that moment was that I thought the car would have to
retire. Because I felt something, the rear wasn't feeling the same after
that. And for me, it was like, I was going to lose the team the one-two. And
so like, all I could think of. So I was driving over across the grass, back
onto the track and all I could think of was how can I get back to giving the
team that incredible result. So just for me, it's kind of, again, not how
you fall, it’s how you get back up. And I'm proud of the job we've all done
and huge congratulations to George.
Q: How important is it for the team to be hitting this run of form as we
head into the winter break?
LH: It is the most important thing for us to have this result. This is a
massive boost to the whole team's morale. Going into the winter, the team
knows that we're on the right track. And we are still the best team. We will
get back to having this more consistent I think next year and I'm excited
for that battle.
Q: Very well done. Thank you, Lewis. And our race winner, George Russell, is
joining us now. George, huge congratulations. You've no doubt dreamt of this
moment. Tell us about the reality.
GR: Yeah, just so many emotions, I think I’ve dreamt of this moment, for
sure, many, many times. And you never really know how it's going to pan out
and I think the race was well managed, everything was under control. I knew
how quick Lewis was and when that Safety Car came out, I thought ‘God this
is going to be very, very tricky now’. But I put together a really strong
string of laps. Very little mistakes and you know the pressure Lewis put me
under was immense. But I'm so proud of the whole team. The progress we've
made since the start of the year is just unbelievable. And what a boost it's
going to give us going into next season.
Q: Now, after your performance in the Sprint yesterday, just tell us how you
were feeling coming into this race? Were you calm? Were you nervous? Did
this one somehow feel different?
GR: I was pretty relaxed, to be honest. I think it's sort of, like, a
mentality. And if you have the mentality that if you just do everything
right, you know, make a clean start, do your thing, get into the groove,
then you can win this race. And I knew having Lewis alongside me and Max in
my mirrors, it was not going to be a straightforward race. But we believed
and we were having a lot of conversations this morning, as a team,
strategically, how we were going to try and tackle getting this victory for
the team. And to come away with a one-two is just unreal.
Q: You nailed the big moments, the start and the restarts. Just how tricky
was it to get them right?
GR: Yeah, definitely tricky, for sure. But you just have to go through the
process and treat it as if it's any other. There was a sort of a moment in
the race where I was looking a lot at my mirrors, you know, seeing Lewis
there, but I sort of realised I just need to look forward now. And the only
way I'm going to win this race, is by looking ahead, driving as fast as I
can, making no mistakes. And you know, my engineer was on the radio, giving
me the gaps, probably four times a lap. And it was always between 1.1 and
1.3, 1.1, 1.4, 1.1. I just wanted that little extra half a second buffer. It
was only when I came into Sector 3 on the last lap that I knew we’d got it.
Q: You did at one point come on the radio and say, “Oh, are we racing this
last 10 laps of the race?” Were you surprised with the answer you got?
GR: Yes, and no. Because we've always said that we're free to race. Toto and
the team have put a lot of faith and trust in Lewis and I and we've
obviously had a few side-by-side moments throughout this year and has always
been respectful and I think we've got a huge amount of respect for one
another. I think I just wanted to understand the position, because if we
weren't… I knew how important that one-two was for the team. So if we
weren't racing, it was kind of like, ‘bring the car home’; if we were
racing, it was a quali lap every single lap and you're risking every corner.
Because the laps just had to be perfect. So yeah, obviously happy to have
won it that way.
Q: Final one from me. I think a lot of people are going to want to know, how
are you going to celebrate this one?
GR: I was talking to Carlos just now, we're on the same flight tonight going
direct to Abu Dhabi. So, it's a 15hour flight. So yeah…
CS: I said ‘drinks are on me’.
GR: I think they're free on the plane aren’t they?
CS: That’s why they’re on me!
Q: Carlos, great drive by you as well. Your ninth podium of the year, one of
the most satisfying for you?
CS: Yeah, definitely. Especially because I think it's been a very solid
weekend with a few setbacks, like the penalty and that tear-off stuck on my
on my brake duct that nearly caused me to retire and I had a brake on fire,
which I thought it was pretty much over. Also having to commit to a
three-stop so early. I thought this is not probably the right strategy. But
for me, from that point onwards, it felt like I had to just forget about
everything and push flat-out to the end and see where this takes me. And the
good thing is that we managed to recover a lot of pace. We were very fast.
We were going to challenging Checo towards the end, even on this comeback
and yeah, to finally get the podium was a really good feeling.
Q: You mentioned the issue with the tear-off in the rear right brake duct.
Were there any issues with the brakes after that?
CS: There were issues, I think, for one or two laps before, where I think we
overheated a lot the brakes and this made the tyre also overheat, and I was
suffering a lot also with concentration and keeping the car in the right
place and then we boxed, the pit-stop because of that was probably maybe a
bit slow. It forced us into a three-stop but once we stopped, everything was
good to push. We had a decent stint on the soft, having to pass a lot of
people but then the race really came alive when I put the new Medium again
in the middle of the race and here is where I could do some good lap times
and get myself back in the race.
Q: Can I ask you about the decision to start on the Medium, because we saw
Red Bull struggling yesterday. I think you said even yesterday that the Soft
was the right time to start the Sprint on so why the decision to go Medium
today?
CS: Well I felt like starting P7, there was really nothing to lose by taking
the Medium out of the way in the first stint because, for me, it was going
to be fairly easy to pass Lando and be the last car of the of the top six,
on a Medium and take that Medium out of the way and then be free to have the
Softs, in the two-thirds of the race – if you call that a two-stop – and I
felt like my race was going to come alive towards the end of the race, but
then I had to take out the Medium out of the way on Lap 14 and it meant that
I was on a three-stop and had to change tyres all the time and was difficult
to get a bit into a rhythm because of that. But I think we did the right
call. And in the end, I don't know if it would have changed much, if I would
have started on Soft or not.
Q: Final one from me. Charles was asking to swap places with you at the end
of the race. What did you make of that?
CS: Yeah, got to know this at the end of the race, because to me on the
radio, nothing came from my engineer or the team. So I just got to know this
half an hour ago when I jumped out of the car. So I have nothing to comment.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frédéric Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Lewis and George. For George,
can you speak about the two restarts you made, and for Lewis, have you been
surprised by the first one of George?
GR: For me, this circuit is always very difficult because the line is so
late. Yeah, I don't really have anything more to say. I think it was two
good restarts. And it's always challenging from second, but going that late
doesn't give the opportunity for the driver to get the slipstream so yeah,
nothing more to say.
LH: Yeah, generally pretty decent restarts. No major issues. George did a
great job.
Q: (Bruna Rodrigues – Globo.com) So for both of Mercedes drivers, this huge
improvement of the W13 had in this end of season can be a good sign about
the development of the car for the next year, or maybe not? Thank you.
LH: Definitely is a great, great sign. For a long, long period of time, we
can really, truly understand what the problem was or how to fix it. And it
was difficult, because we kept trying and trying and trying and every time
something new came, we still had the problems we had. So this is really,
really huge. We know where our North Star is, we know where we need to put
all our efforts in to this winter. And yeah, I'm so proud of the team for
all the incredible hard work. We wouldn't be able to be up here today
without them.
Q: George, how much confidence do you have going into Abu Dhabi?
GR: I'm going into Abu Dhabi, I think, will probably be similar to… my gut
is saying similar to Ferrari. I think maybe a small step behind Red Bull. I
think the last two races have been quite slow-speed circuits and that's
where we've sort of excelled this this season. But the progress we've made
as a team has just been unbelievable. And since Austin, we've, as a team
fought for victory, or had the possibility for victory, every single race.
So, the boost it’s given all of us and the confidence it’s given everybody
back at the factory… as I said yesterday, the factory is going to be pumping
over the winter. And we're going to be given everything we've got to come
out in that very first test with a car that that can compete from race one.
Q: (Bárbara Mendonça – Globo esporte) George, congratulations, you told us
previously this week that ‘happier’ would be a better word when it came to
the progress of the W13, instead of ‘happy’. Are you actually happy instead
of happier with the pace today and what can you share with us about that?
GR: I think, in all honesty, the feeling is not too dissimilar to what it
felt like at the start of the year. The only difference is when we crossed
the line and an engineer comes into radio it’s talking top fives always as
opposed to out in Q2, or whatever. So, I think that gives us – especially
Lewis and I, so much confidence because if this is what we're capable of
doing as a team, when the car is still performance… sub-optimally, ]who
knows what we can achieve? When we get it into a nicer window. And we really
think next year, we're going to have a car that, its characteristics, will
be filling nicer, which will give Lewis and I more confidence to push it.
But generally, the team have just been adding global performance and that's
why the lap times keep getting faster.
Q: George, happier maybe but if you took this car back to Bahrain now, how
much quicker would it be?
GR: Definitely well over a second, I would say. I think in Bahrain I
qualified ninth. At Imola, both Lewis and I were out in Q2. Yeah, we were
fighting with Alfa Romeo and Haas at the start of the season and well over a
second, at points, behind Ferrari who were looking the most dominant team at
the time. I think it really goes to show the improvement we’ve made. We lost
so much time trying to solve the porpoising issues and that really hurt our
development. I think that's why we're seeing such a jump in performance in
these past eight races. It’s because we’re no longer focusing on the
porpoising and we're now focused on bringing performance.
Q: (Rodrigo França – RF1) George and Lewis: it’s about the Brazilian Grand
Prix and the atmosphere. George, for you, Interlagos will always be a
special place, your first win so I would like you to comment on your
memories of the Brazilian Grand Prix and Interlagos. And to Lewis, how was
your first Grand Prix as a Brazilian citizen, as you received the honour on
Monday?
GR: Brazil and Sao Paulo is always going to hold a special place in my
heart, no doubt. I remember being on the grid last year, and being about a
metre and a half away from the fans and everybody was just going crazy. The
passion for Formula 1 here is just immense and yeah, so proud to get my
victory in a place that has so much history and character in Formula 1.
LH: This is the greatest crowd I've ever seen here. When we did the drivers’
parade, all weekend there's been the most incredible energy here in Brazil.
I’ve been here all week: Brasilia on Monday, San Paolo Tuesday, Rio
Wednesday and then Sao Paulo the rest of the week and it's just been…
Visiting children, with the Senna family, it's been an overwhelming week and
one that I will definitely always remember I think, because on top of that
we got back to where we belong as a team. So yeah, amazing.
Q: (Jesus Balseiro – Diario AS) Carlos, your last race weekends were very
consistent in terms of pace, qualifying and overtaking. Do you already feel
like the old Carlos finally got on top of this Ferrari?
CS: Yeah, I think so. I think the level that I am now is the level I should
have been at the beginning of the season, so it's not that suddenly I'm
good, it's just, I think, yeah: simply that I just got to understand the
car. We put a lot of effort with my engineers to get me comfortable with it
and I've had to change obviously a lot of the driving things to be
competitive with this car. But yeah, the good thing is that it gives me a
lot of confidence going into next year, and that I'm finally driving at the
level that I know I'm capable of.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lewis, just going back to the incident with Max, he's
been largely accident-free this year but with you back on the scene, you
were both involved in the collision, you said afterwards ‘you know how it is
with Max.’ Do you think that he has a particular problem with you? And if he
does, does that concern you from a safety perspective and moving forward?
LH: I'm not concerned. Yeah, don't have any concerns, I think. I think it's
natural when you have the success and the numbers on your chest, that you
become a bit of a target. But it's okay. It's nothing that I have not dealt
with before.
Q: (Patricia Tarquini – Motorlat.com) George, when you cross the chequered
flag, what were your feelings? Who did you think of?
Q: I was pretty impressed at how quickly I started crying, to be honest,
once I crossed the line. It was literally by the time we were at Turn 2 I
was… Tears were flooding. I just thought of my family to be honest –
everybody’s back at home. I’ve got my mum at home with my girlfriend, I've
got my sister with her husband, my brother with my father and his two
children, so all of my closest family were a little bit spread out, but I
know that they were all watching together and as soon as I got my phone
straight after the race, called them all in a group FaceTime. It's just been
such an emotional roller coaster and journey for all of us, from go-karting,
travelling up and down the country in the campervan with my parents, to the
support my brother and sister gave me and the support my girlfriend’s given
me throughout this whole season. It's not a straightforward life in Formula
1. We're all living our dreams but your emotions vary substantially based on
performance and you're coming home from a weekend either very happy and
things are good or coming home pretty disappointed. No, it's difficult for
everybody and I sort of feel that for all of us, but not just my family.
Everybody who's supported me throughout my journey who’s given me this
opportunity: Mercedes, Gwen [Lagrue], who's been a huge part of giving me
this opportunity. For people who don't know, Gwen is the manager of the
Mercedes driver programme and he's the one who got me in with Mercedes in
the beginning. And then so much support from Mercedes, with Williams, the
people who have supported me throughout my journey in karting, Formula 4,
Formula 3. The list is endless. All these thoughts just go rushing through
your mind over the course of that 60 seconds and yeah, definitely a bit
emotional, for sure.
Q: (Maria Clara Castro – Gazeta Press) George, you had right beside you
Lewis Hamilton, one of your greatest inspirations in motor sport. So if you
could go back to the old days and tell your younger self, what would you
tell?
Q: I think it's like a realisation for all of us. When I think of this now,
I think of the photo of Lewis and I from 2009, which we'd probably both
appreciate is not shared too much, because we're both not looking our
finest. But it's just unbelievable, firstly, how quickly time flies, and it
makes you realise you need to make the most of every single moment. And here
we are 13 years later, team-mates on this journey together. And we've truly
been on this journey together this year, our goals have been clear, we need
to work together to get Mercedes back to where they belong. And so we're
really pleased that we have such a good, honest, transparent relationship.
And we're here to win. We're here to fight. And I think it just shows all
the efforts that everybody's been putting in throughout this season.
Q: (Matt Kew – Autosport) Lewis, you talked about initially feeling like you
might have to retire the car but was there any lasting damage? Did you have
to work around anything at all. I know at the end of the race sometimes you
like to have a poke around the car. Did you spot anything around the floor
that suggested it was damaged?
LH: Well, yesterday there was a lot of damage from all the debris of the
cars colliding ahead of me so I had a bunch of different broken bits on the
car and I had lost quite a bit of downforce yesterday. But today, it was
difficult to say. I couldn't really see where on the car where we had
touched. I definitely thought that I had a puncture on my right rear when I
got back on track and I could definitely feel the rear didn't feel as stable
as it had done prior to that, but I managed to make changes on my steering
wheel and kind of reconfigured the balance a little bit but I think there's
something perhaps not 100% perfect, but we still got the one-two. |
