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1 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
3 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)
Q: Oscar, You came
to Monaco obviously for the win. You go away with the podium. You must be
pretty happy with that.
Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah. Obviously, the win would
have been better, but it's been a bit of a tricky weekend. Practice was
messy all the way through, and I felt like I got into qualifying with not a
lot of confidence with how the weekend was going. I got close, but not quite
close enough. And, you know, around here, where you qualify is pretty much
where you're going to finish. So, pretty happy with that overall. Obviously,
some things to look out for when we come back next year, but some more
points on the board, another trip to the podium in Monaco, so not all bad.
Q: In practice, you obviously put it into the wall at Sainte Devote,
front end in. So, to come back with a podium, such a good team effort. And
for this to be a bad weekend for you and still be on the podium, I think
you've got a lot to be happy with.
OP: Yeah, exactly. The margins are so
fine and, like you said, if this is a bad weekend, then it's not going too
badly at all. So, yeah, some things to work on. We'll go again next week and
try and come back stronger. But well done to Lando. He's had a great
weekend. Well done to Charles as well. He's been quick as usual. So, yeah,
happy, and see you on the podium.
Q: Congrats, and still our
championship leader.
OP: Thank you. Cheers.
Q: Charles, your home
Grand Prix. We stood here one year ago celebrating your win. Today, not
quite the win, but considering how you felt the car was leading up to this
race, reasonably happy?
Charles LECLERC: Not really. But at the end of
the day, we lost the race yesterday and we should have done a better job.
Lando did a better job this weekend and he deserves the win. On my side,
yeah, I realised a childhood dream last year. Not this year, but considering
everything, I think it's a lot above our expectations coming here. I thought
that being in the top 10 would be a challenge. At the end, we are second,
very close to P1. So, it's been a good weekend overall. But, yeah, I wish I
won.
Q: With all the traffic out there today with the two-stop
strategies, it must have put you on edge a little bit more than normal. And
then the last few laps, you were able to really put Lando under that big
pressure. It was great for us watching. How was it from inside the car?
CL: Oh, it was good as well from inside the car because before that, it was
a little bit boring. I had to leave a gap to Lando because otherwise I would
overheat everything, so I couldn't be so close. Then when I saw Max was
playing the long game, I guess he was waiting for a red flag. That helped me
a little bit to put a bit more pressure on Lando, but it wasn't enough.
Q: Lastly, have you got a message for your supporters, the Monegasque
crowd?
CL: Yeah. As I always say, as a Ferrari driver, we are very lucky.
We get support everywhere. But being born here and seeing all the
Monegasques behind me is something very special. We are not many
Monegasques, but it warms my heart very much to be at home and to have so
much support. So, yeah, I wish I had given them the first place, but
hopefully next year.
Q: Lando Norris, you just won the Monaco Grand
Prix! How good does that feel?
Lando NORRIS: It feels amazing. It's a
long race. It's a long, rolling race. But good fun. You know, we could push
for quite a lot of the race. The last quarter was a little bit nervous, with
Charles close behind and Max ahead, but we won in Monaco. So, it doesn't
matter how you win, I guess. But an amazing weekend with pole, with today –
this is what I dream of. This is what I did dream of when I was a kid. So, I
achieved one of my dreams. I think it was you – I saw you in front of my car
before the start, and I was like, “if JB is here now, then I'll always take
that. It's my good luck charm”.
Q: And you also said, "Monaco baby,"
which I thought I owned, but obviously not!
LN: Oh is it yours? I
apologise!
Q: But, you know, most people say that you win Monaco on
the Saturday in qualifying. Such an exceptional job, but you’ve still got to
get it done on the Sunday. Lovely start. And then the pressure you're put
under and all of those cars you had to overtake during the race, it must
have been quite tense.
LN: It is. I mean, the worst bit, really, was
just the end. I felt quite under control the whole race. But Max was ahead,
and Max was kind of backing it up a little bit. And I knew then that's when
Charles had the opportunity. So, I had to manage it quite a lot. I tried to
back off of Max, so I could push when I needed to and chill when I needed
to. I still had to manage. It was still a well-fought race. But I'm very
happy. My team are very happy. And therefore, we're going to have a
wonderful night.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lando, very well done.
You've won the Monaco Grand Prix. Just how sweet was the view from the top
of this very unique podium?
LN: Well, all I saw was camera lenses. So, I
can dream of better, but it was… I mean, it’s the feelings. Of course, the
view of the team and seeing everyone, my mum and dad down below… Yeah, it’s
the feelings inside, which are really the special ones. Seeing the chequered
flag and, yeah, winning in Monaco is something I dreamed of when I was a
kid. There are many things that I think everyone dreams of – it’s getting to
Formula 1, winning a race in Formula 1, and winning a race in Monaco. And we
achieved it today. So yeah, proud of the whole team, of myself, and big
accomplishment for all of us. The team haven't won since, what, 2008 or
something. So not just a good one for me, but a good one for McLaren too.
Q: From the outside, it looks like it's been the dream weekend for you,
winning the race from pole position. Were there any dramas in the race for
you?
LN: No dramas. I think there were definitely some more tense moments
in the race when I needed to push, and Charles was never that far behind.
Especially at the end with Max ahead, there were some tense moments trying
not to get too close to Max, otherwise that’s when Charles had
opportunities. But I think we managed it well with the strategy. It’s always
hard to know what we could have done better. I'm sure we can review things
and look back on it. But in the end, the result was the perfect one. Tricky
at times, with the amount of cars, there were big bunches of cars, so
getting through them without making mistakes, without any silly things
happening was always the most nerve-wracking bit. Otherwise, I felt good. I
felt good with the tyres, with the management of tyres and stints and all of
those things. So, yeah, I was happy.
Q: And Lando, how much
confidence does a weekend like this give you going forward?
LN: I think
yesterday gave me confidence. Today… Yeah, nothing new in the sense of I’ve
had confidence in every Sunday we've had this year. I've not needed the
confidence on Sundays, but yesterday was a bigger day for me. I was more
proud of yesterday than I almost was of today. Not just because a pole in
Monaco sets up a win, but the accomplishment of doing it, no matter what the
track would have been, was something I'm more proud about. So yeah, a good
weekend for me, not just in terms of result but personally, to kind of give
myself that momentum, that boost, definitely makes me feel better going into
Barcelona next week.
Q: And Lando, can we get your thoughts on the
mandatory two stops?
LN: Hated it.
Q: Why?
LN: Because it made
it a lot more scary for me. I wish it was a one-stop, it would have been a
lot more chilled. It’s not for me. The rules are not made for me. They're
not made for us to enjoy it more or whatever. They're made for the fans.
They’re made to provide more entertainment for the viewers. I don’t know if
that was the case. So maybe it's a question I should ask you. Was the
two-stop better than the one-stop?
Q: Well, can I throw it back to
you?
LN: Oh, we’re playing Uno!
Q: Would you like to see it again
next year or do you think they need to change it?
LN: Depends where I
start.
Q: Charles, great race, great weekend by you and Ferrari.
Given the season you've had so far, just how much pleasure does this P2 give
you?
CL: I don't know. I'm never really happy with second place. Then if
you do a step back and you look at our season, I think this is a very
positive result for the whole team. Especially coming here, we had very low
expectations, just because our low-speed performance has been very bad all
season. However, I think here, it's a very specific track because there are
a lot of bumps, a lot of kerb riding, and I think our car is pretty good on
that. That helped us to close the gap. So, yeah, I think we did a really
good job, and 18 points plus the 10 of Lewis are very valuable points for
the situation we are in. On that, I think we should be proud. Am I over the
moon for a second place? Not really, but it's been a very positive weekend
anyway.
Q: Where were the main opportunities for you in the race? I
mean, if the driver in front doesn't make a mistake, it’s nigh on impossible
to pass, even with a mandatory two-stop race and strategy comes into it.
CL: It's very difficult. When Max at the end was in front, I really believed
in it until the very end. I thought about it all night, the two or three
places where I could try something on Lando, and I was willing to take all
the risks possible to try and get that win. But, unfortunately, these
opportunities never came. Or at least I had maybe two or three laps where I
was like, “OK, maybe I go for it,” but Lando straight away saw those and
defended very well. So I basically couldn't really go and try something. At
the end, there were no opportunities for me.
Q: Where were those main
opportunities?
CL: I think there were maybe two laps in Rascasse, which
was the place where I was trying, and maybe one in Fairmont. But the
Fairmont one was very optimistic, maybe.
Q: Charles, can we get your
thoughts on the mandatory two stops as well? Would you like to see it back
at Monaco next year?
CL: I think being second today, I was pretty happy
that this was the case because it at least gives you a little bit more hope
that something is possible. Honestly, it was quite interesting because with
the traffic and everything, there was lots of things happening, or at least
you had to push through traffic, which is a very tricky thing to do,
especially here in Monaco. So I think it gives more opportunities. I’ve
heard also there were quite a lot of team games behind us. Whether this is
the kind of action we want to see going ahead, I don’t know. I haven’t
looked at the race yet. But, yeah, it’s always been a bit like that in
Monaco. It's special for that, especially on the Saturday when you're
pushing to the limit. That’s why it’s so important and tense for drivers to
go into qualifying in Monaco because we know that then on Sunday you don’t
have as many opportunities. That is part of the magic of Monaco. Then I
understand we need to try and find a way to make it a bit more exciting, and
maybe that’s the way to go. But I haven’t checked the race to really judge.
Q: Oscar, coming to you now. Very well done as well. Did the race pan
out pretty much as you expected?
OP: Yep. Pretty much exactly how I
expected. I think there was a lot of action behind, so maybe that was a bit
different. But from where I was at, it panned out pretty much how I thought.
It definitely made the pace of the race a bit higher, certainly compared to
last year. So from the cockpit, it was a little bit more intense. We’re
still not pushing flat out, but it just made certain points of the race a
bit more tense.
Q: Were you happier with the car today than you have
been on Friday or yesterday?
OP: Everything felt okay, but you're not
really pushing it to the limit in the race. I was pretty happy with it in
qualifying. I think we got there eventually. It was more just struggling to
get into a rhythm before qualifying. And around here, you pay the price for
not having that clean run into quali. So that’s where I think our weekend
got away from us a little bit. But the pace was still good, just trying to
get everything out of it. Every single lap was tough yesterday. And today,
we tried a few things to get higher than third, but it didn’t work.
Q: And what about those mandatory two stops? Can we get your thoughts as
well?
OP: It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points. You had
to push more at certain points to kind of recover the safety car windows to
other cars around you or put yourself outside of someone else's safety car
window. So there were some strategic elements involved. But ultimately, at
the front, I don’t think it changed a whole lot. It would have been quite a
different story if there was a red flag with five laps to go and Max would
have won. I’m sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result
like that will happen. Is that what we want to see? I don't know. But at the
front, I don't think it changed a huge amount this weekend.
QUESTIONS
FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lando, picking up on
Oscar's point about the red flag. How nervous were you when you realised
what Max was doing going all the way to the end and had it been red flagged,
they would effectively have won the race? Were you kind of accepting it's
out of my control?
LN: Yeah. What can I do? Nothing. It’s out of my
control. No real point thinking about it. If it happened, it happened. He
wins Monaco, well done. Yeah. I was happy. I’m just focusing on my own race.
Of course, praying that it didn’t happen, but I didn’t think of the rest.
Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) Lando, question for you. Congratulations.
Standing on the top step at Melbourne must have felt like quite a long time
ago, you know, given it’s been two months. A lot’s been written about that
spell since then, but you’re leaving here still just three points behind
Oscar. Does this feel like a bit of a kind of just hitting the reset button
a little bit on the championship? Because, given everything that’s been
written about you, it’s nowhere near as bad as people have been making out –
championship over and all that stuff. You’re leaving right in touching
distance.
LN: Yeah. I mean, people can write what they want. It’s not up
to me. People have their own opinions, they can do all of those things.
Thing is, none of them are true, 99% of the time. So, it’s all crap. I don’t
mind what people write as long as I know the truth and my team know the
truth, and that’s fine. I’ve been working hard over the last few months to
get back to having that momentum that I had in Australia, that confidence.
What I felt this weekend was a small step forward, but it’s not it. It’s not
like I’ve nailed it now and everything’s back. There are still things that I
need to work on, there are still things that – as a team – them giving me
the equipment – and I don’t mean just making a quicker car, because the
car’s quick enough – but giving me the things I need from the car in order
to excel and maximise results, and the differences from last year to this
year. So, still things from both sides, but I’m very proud of yesterday. I’m
happier with yesterday’s result than I am of today’s. I mean, today is
incredible, but I was more emotional yesterday than I was today. That’s how
much yesterday meant to me, to kind of get my groove back in qualifying,
because it’s something I’ve just had my whole life. It’s just always been
good, until this year. And I’ve had to work hard to try and get it back. For
no other reason apart from a couple of things that I’ve clearly struggled
with and also just having tough competition. Having Oscar, Charles, Max, I’m
against the best guys in the world. And if you’re not performing at the
highest level, you’re not going to compete against them. So, yeah, no one
knows the amount of work and effort that goes into things apart from me and
my team. And that’s the only people who need to know what goes into
everything and know the truth of everything. And that’s the way it will
stay.
Q: (Martin Businaro – La Dernière Heure des Sports). Question
for Charles. Next year, F1 cars will be smaller. If it was already the case
this year, do you think you could have passed Lando during the last stage of
the race?
CL: Oh, that’s a very difficult question to answer because
honestly, I don’t even know how much smaller they will be. I think Monaco is
always going to be tricky, and I think you just adapt the way you defend to
the width of the car you have behind. So, yeah, I don’t have the answer, but
I hope that next year overtaking will be a little bit easier here in Monaco.
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) Charles, you mentioned that Ferrari
still need to improve. So, what are the key areas that you think they need
to improve? And how steep is that development curve at the moment to catch
up to the boys next to you or even Red Bull?
CL: By far, the slow-speed
corners. I think this is our biggest weakness by far. That’s why also I came
here very pessimistic and saying that I thought top 10 would already be a
challenge. Our low-speed performance is very poor. I think on a track like
this, with so many bumps and kerbs, our car is actually performing very
well. This is helping us, but unfortunately, it’s only going to help us on
such an extreme track like here. So yeah, we’ve got to work on our low-speed
performance.
Q: (Jack Smith – Motorsport Monday) Lando,
congratulations. Regardless of what happens for the remainder of this season
and in your career, where do you think mastering Monaco this weekend will
rank in the list of all the things you’ve achieved?
LN: Well, I think the
best bit is that my kids one day will be able to tell everyone that I won in
Monaco. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud about. I think it would be
up there for sure, especially because of the weekend that it’s been – with
pole and with the race. It wasn’t just a pole or just the race. It was both
together, and I think that’s perfect. Regardless, I think that’s something
to be very proud about for the rest of my life. But I think it’s a cooler
thing to say, also from my lap time yesterday – the 1:09 – that’s very
unlikely to be beaten for a very long time unless the track changes or
whatever. The cars next year are nowhere near going to be as quick as this
year. Hopefully, that lap time lasts for a very, very long time. So, it’s
cool. It’s definitely just the saying more than anything, but also the
meaning, the history, the people that have won here in the past. They don’t
always go on to be champions, but most of them have. And just to know in 30
years’ time, I can say, “I mastered Monaco that one year” – or hopefully a
few more – but that one year is something I look forward to saying.
Q: (Tom Guerde – Pole Position Magazine) Question for Oscar. When you first
pitted, they told you it was to overtake Charles, but there was a slow pit
stop. Do you think if the pit stop was quicker you could have overtaken
Charles, or do you think it wouldn’t have worked?
OP: No. I don’t think
so. We were too far back. I think we tried to make something happen, but I
don’t think it was ever going to change our result.
Q: (Giuseppe
Marino – Motorionline.com) For all drivers: Do you think the double pit stop
rule can be a permanent rule for all the races?
LN: I don’t know. Ask the
people who make the rules. We just have to abide by them, but it depends
what you want. Do you want to manufacture races? There hasn’t been any more
overtaking here. I thought that was what was wanted. Now you just give
people opportunity by luck – by waiting for a red flag, waiting for a Safety
Car. You’re not getting a more deserved winner in the end of things, which I
don’t entirely agree with. I think it should be the person who drives the
best race and deserves to win. Of course, I’m probably slightly biased in my
opinion, but I think it needs to be improved in different ways – like,
overtaking has never been good in Monaco, ever. So, I don’t know why people
have such a high expectation. But I also think Formula 1 should not turn
into just a show to entertain people. It’s a sport. It’s who can race the
best, who can qualify the best. Like Charles said, everything was about
yesterday. That’s the way it’s been since whatever the first year – 50, 60
years ago. So, the last thing I want is manufactured racing, and I think we
definitely need to stay away from that and do a better job with cars, with
tyres. Then you might start to see more racing, but not by just introducing
so many pit stops.
Q: (Leovid Kliuev – GrandePremio.com.br) Question
for Lando. Do you think Max was intentionally backing you off into the hands
of Charles so that Charles could pass you more easily?
LN: Did you ask
Max?
Q: Yes.
LN: What did he say?
Q: He said no, and that his tyres
were just not there.
LN: I have no idea. So that’s all I’ll say.
Q: (Lorenza Binkele – The Economist) Question to all three of you. How does
the new rule impact team collaboration? Does it add additional stress when
you’re collaborating with the engineering team, etcetera, and between the
drivers as well?
CL: I think as we said, it just adds a lot of
randomness. You can either get lucky or very unlucky, and it’s a bit out of
your hands. But it’s always been a little bit the case in Monaco, probably
even more so now with two stops. But there was not any more tension on my
side.
Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) Just a question to Lando and Oscar.
McLaren’s second part of the weekend, I guess, kicks off in a couple of
hours. What are your plans tonight to watch that? And Charles, is the Indy
500 part of your usual Sunday evening plans? I know last year you probably
had better things to be doing. Yeah, just a question to all of you – where
are you going to be watching it and what do you think of that spectacle as
well?
LN: I will probably be watching on my couch at home, unless I get
an invite. Or, yeah, I mean, you’re welcome to come, if you want. But, yeah,
probably on my couch. And I’ll keep my answer short because I want to go
watch it.
CL: When is it starting exactly?
LN: About one hour. One and
a half hours.
CL: OK. I won’t be on my couch. Thanks for the invite. I
think I’ll still be in a meeting. We are very late with Ferrari. We always
leave late. But yeah, it’s a crazy race. We were just speaking with Oscar
before. I don’t think I will ever do it. I think it’s a different level of
craziness. I’m happy in F1, I love F1, and I’m fully focused on that, first
and foremost. And then when this will end, another thing I want to tick, is
doing Le Mans with my brother. So, these are probably the two things I
really want to do. Indy 500 – I’m not sure. But I have a lot of respect for
these guys, and I’ll try to follow as much as I can tonight.
LN: Ditto. I
would love to do Le Mans with my brother, but he’s been out of it for a
little bit. I just have a lot of respect for these guys. I mean, congrats to
Robert Shwartzman for pole – it was pretty impressive. I was his team-mate
back in 2015 or 2016 in Formula Renault. So to see him go on to do something
like that is pretty cool. But it is something I’ll never do. I can say it
right now. I’m not doing it. Just have no interest in doing it. Not my
thing. It’s not what I enjoy. Even though I’ve done it on the sim and that
was quite fun – but I got taken out. So, well, it didn’t hurt. I could just
press escape and I was good. I have a lot of respect for these guys. There
are a lot of incredibly talented drivers over there in America, and some of
them could do very well in Formula 1. But, yeah, I like turning right as
well. So, that’s the main thing.
Q: Lando, you’ve won Monaco. The
lure of the Triple Crown wouldn’t change your mind about Indy?
LN: Nope. |
