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1 – Kimi ANTONELLI
(Mercedes)
2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Lando NORRIS
(McLaren)
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Naomi Schiff)
Q:
Congratulations, Kimi Antonelli. Another pole position for you this season.
How does it feel? You’re standing next to two half-Belgians. Does it feel
good to steal the glory from them here?
Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, I mean,
it’s great to be on pole. It was not a very straightforward session. The
track changed a lot, but we were able to improve lap by lap and bring home
pole, which was nice. But, of course, tomorrow is another day. Obviously, I
have Max starting next to me, so it’s going to be important to get a good
start and then try to be ahead into Turn 5.
Q: You mentioned early on
in the session that the balance wasn’t quite right, but you were able to
change that quite quickly. How proud are you of your lap? You’ve been
looking in a league of your own.
KA: Yeah, I mean, the last lap was good.
I improved a lot in Sector 2 especially, so it was a nice lap. Of course,
there was still a little bit here and there, but it was very clean, so I’m
very happy with that.
Q: Fantastic. Well, coming over to you, Max,
you’ve been looking like you’re in with a fighting chance all weekend so
far. At the end of that session, it looked like maybe the tow cost you
rather than gave you an advantage. How did you view it from your point of
view?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Oh, no. I mean, it was definitely helping me.
Otherwise, I would not be standing here. I think otherwise you are, like, P6
or something. I think Isack, today, knowing that he has to start at the back
of the grid, did a really good job giving me a tow in the final sector, and
that’s why we’re standing right here. For sure, tomorrow I think I’ll be
looking in my mirrors with the people around me, but at least today I think
we had a really good result. I think the car, honestly, has been quite
decent the whole weekend. Of course, not on the level of what Kimi was
doing, but we’re happy to be on the front row with how we executed it as a
team.
Q: The long runs did look quite positive on Friday afternoon,
so with that, in front of what I guess we can call a home crowd, what can
you do for them tomorrow?
MV: Yeah, I mean, it’s always tough around here
with the tyres in the long run, but I’ll just do my best and then see if we
can hang in there or not.
Q: Lando, coming over to you. A positive
weekend for you as well. You were best of the rest yesterday, best of the
rest this morning. Unfortunately, you’re taking a ten-place grid penalty
here. Is it the wrong weekend to be doing that now that you feel the
performance is back?
Lando NORRIS: I mean, we’ve not really changed
anything. We’re just a bit quicker on this track. But it’s nice to be
standing here, just not nice knowing I have to go ten places back tomorrow.
It’s unfortunate that this isn’t where we’re genuinely starting tomorrow,
because it would be nice to have a little fight with these guys. But we made
the most of it. It was still a very good qualifying, a very good lap for me.
So, honestly, I’ve been pretty happy all weekend. It’s a little bit of a
home race, like you said, for me, so it’s always a little boost here, and
I’ve performed well all weekend so far. Hopefully, we can still have a good
race tomorrow and have some fun.
Q: So, what do you think is going to
be possible? Will you be fighting through the grid tomorrow?
LN: I mean,
that’s certainly the plan. I don’t know how far up you’ll get, but the car
is obviously performing well and good enough for P3 today. So, we’ll see. I
think there’s plenty of opportunity. It’s a long race. Hopefully, it’s good
for overtaking and we can put on a bit of a show for everyone.
Q:
Fantastic. Well, Kimi, just one more for you. You have an 80 percent
conversion rate from pole position. What can you do tomorrow to improve
those stats?
KA: Yeah, a good start and try to have good pace. Of course,
the degradation is going to be very big, but we’ll try our best in order to
maximise the performance. It’s going to be fun tomorrow and, of course,
thanks to everyone for coming this weekend. It’s been amazing seeing you
all.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Brilliant lap, Kimi. You looked very
confident out there. Just tell us about that pole lap.
KA: Yeah, it was a
weird qualifying because in Q1 I felt a bit lost, because the wind picked up
a little bit and the balance was a bit more on the edge. But then,
obviously, the session came to us, and Q3 was good because we did a decent
first lap and then, on the second lap, found a lot of time. But, yeah, I
feel like the track was cooling down and it was helping us a little bit. It
was a good lap, and now we’ll focus on tomorrow.
Q: Tell us about the
jump between Q1 and Q2. Did you change anything on the car? Because you
found more than a second.
KA: Front wing. Just changed a little bit of
flap, and that’s it. Also, the lap was much tidier. Q1 was a bit all over
the place.
Q: And in Q3, tell us about the sectors. Where was the car
strongest?
KA: Well, we brought a little package that helped us a little
bit more on the straights, but in Sector 2 the car still felt good.
Especially in Q3, it was good that we were strong in all the sectors.
Q: Okay, and let’s throw it forward to tomorrow. What kind of race are
you expecting? Lots of overtaking?
KA: Well, I don’t know. Hopefully not.
Hopefully, it’s just off in the distance. But we’ll see tomorrow. We’ll see
what the weather is going to be like. For sure, it’s a long run into Turn 5,
and of course we’ll try to get a good start. But also, the degradation is
going to be fairly big, so we’re just going to try to manage those tyres in
the best way possible.
Q: Okay, very well done to you. Thank you,
Kimi. Max, let’s come to you. Great performance by you, your third front-row
start of the season. How pleased are you with the session?
MV: I mean, I
think overall, the whole weekend, the balance of the car has been quite
decent. I think we’re just a bit slow on the straight, but the car has been
in the window, just trying to fine-tune it a little bit. It was the same in
qualifying. At one point, you’re a bit stuck in terms of how much more lap
time you can extract out of it, to be honest, because every lap that I did
was a little bit faster. But at one point, flat is flat, so there’s no more
time to gain in corners. That’s something maybe we have to review. Maybe
we’re too easily flat, I don’t know. But the car was good, and then, of
course, Isack in Q3 helped me a lot with the tow in the final sector. That’s
why, of course, I’m sitting here. Otherwise, it could have easily been P6
because the gaps behind were so close. So, yeah, thank you to him for that.
I think, as a team, we did everything we could.
Q: Can you tell us
more about the tow from Isack? Because it looked for all the world like you
had to back off on that last lap.
MV: No, it was flat out. I would have
just pushed him! It was close, but he did amazing. I initially thought, “Oh
my God, it’s too close,” but then actually it worked out well to the last
corner. It was close, but I trusted him.
Q: Now, we’ve just heard
Kimi say that the straight-line speed of the Mercedes is very good. What
does this all mean for your race tomorrow?
MV: Difficult at the start, I
guess, as well. Plus, honestly, I just want to do my own race. I mean, the
gap, even in qualifying with a massive tow, is still over three tenths, so I
don’t really expect to race them tomorrow. I think it’s more for me looking
in the mirrors and fighting them, or trying to fight them, but mainly just
trying to do my own race and see where we end up.
Q: Very well done.
Thank you, Max. Lando, if we could come to you now. Very well done. You were
fastest after the first run of Q3. How much did that moment at the Fagnes
chicane cost you, do you think, on that second lap?
Lando NORRIS: Which
chicane is that?
Q: How much did it cost you? You went off, but
without that, do you think you could be sitting in the middle?
LN: No, I
don’t know. I don’t have a delta on my dash, so I don’t know if I was up or
not. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going any better than my first lap. My
first lap was pretty amazing. I was quite shocked to be at the top, so I was
very pleased. I just don’t know if I was up or not. I don’t know if I was
green, yellow, white or purple, so that was a shame. The thing is, I knew if
Kimi was going quicker, he wasn’t going quicker by half a tenth. That’s
never been the case all season. So, again, I guess it just hurts when you
see a car go four tenths quicker. But he’s done a good job, and I’m so happy
with P3. Honestly, I’m pretty pleased to be here. It’s just a shame I have a
ten-place grid penalty, so I won’t be anywhere close to here tomorrow
morning.
Q: Focusing on you for a minute, how pleased are you with
this performance, and where has it come from? Because the team, at least,
tells us that there’s nothing new on the car this weekend.
LN: No,
there’s not really. I mean, we have a different rear wing, which is probably
not even a tenth, more like half a tenth, which still makes a difference
when you say how close it is. But really, over the last three or four weeks,
we’ve not had anything that’s helped that much in performance or is really
going to move us forward. I think there have always been little bits, and we
always try to bring little bits every weekend, but there’s not been
anything. It’s simply the car performing better on a different track. We
performed well in Miami. We’ve had a couple of other races that were not so
good, but we’re up and down simply because of how the track suits the car
each time. I also feel like, honestly, I’ve been doing a very good job. I
feel like all weekend I’ve been very confident with the car and getting
everything out of it since FP1. My lap in Q3, honestly, was probably one of
the best laps I’ve ever done in qualifying, so I’ve been very pleased with
my performance all season. But, like I said on Thursday, it doesn’t matter
if you do the best lap of your life. It doesn’t mean you’re on pole all of a
sudden. We just need to add more performance to the car. It’s quite simple,
and everyone in the factory is working on that.
Q: With the ten-place
penalty, you’re going to start P12 tomorrow. What’s possible?
LN: It’s
tough to say. I’ll just do my best to come back through and get well into
the points. I think we’re clearly much quicker than quite a few of the cars.
Gabi has done a good job, as always. The AlphaTauri, or the upgraded one of
Arvid, looks pretty racy at times, so I’m confident we can at least get past
all of these guys. It’s more about how far into the top six or eight, from a
Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari point of view, we can get back in the race
with these guys. So that’s just the target.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Kimi, could you explain where
you pushed more in sector two on your last lap in Q3? Because you improved
by half a second.
KA: Every corner. I was just carrying a bit more speed.
It was a bit hard to judge at times because superclipping was coming more
and more, so it was changing the reference a little bit. That was the tricky
bit in qualifying. But on the last lap, I just tried to carry a bit more
speed everywhere, and the car stuck, so I’m happy with that.
Q:
(Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) A question for Max on the towing
you had in Q3. Was there a lot of talk going on before qualifying with Isack
and the team? Why did you choose Sector 3 and not Sector 1? And did you
readjust after the first run in Q3, because there you were a bit further
away?
MV: Yeah, I mean, we talked about it, and I think it was quite
easily agreed, so we knew what to do. You always, of course, try to make it
better from run one to run two. I think Isack did that really well. And why
do it on that straight? I think you have a little bit less of an SM mode, so
it’s a bit more draggy. That’s why, I guess, it helps maybe a little bit
more. I think it’s very even. In FP3, for whatever reason, I had two times a
tow in Sector 1 and 3, and they were quite equal.
Q: (Andrew Benson –
BBC Sport) For all three of you, can you tell us how the energy recovery
affected Pouhon, particularly? For example, Kimi, from the onboard camera,
it seemed, although it’s hard to tell, that you were maybe turning in flat
and then it was starting to recover midway through the corner. But for all
three of you, how did that work in terms of the challenge?
KA: Yes, from
the apex afterwards, we had no deployment, so it was easy. It was flat all
the way. It was not like last year.
Q: Max, please.
MV: I mean,
it’s not Turn 24. It’s the whole track. It’s a different Spa, but I mentally
readjust to it.
LN: It’s not a corner anymore. It was easy flat.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Max, just on the tow with Isack as well, how
have you found your experience working with him this year? Obviously, it’s
only his second year in the sport. To be able to put your trust in him in
something like that, does that show the good dynamic between you guys?
MV: Yeah, well, I mean, he’s been very easy to work with. Come on, we’re
Formula 1 drivers. I think you should be able to do stuff like that, and I
think he’s a smart kid, so he knows what to do in that circumstance.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets - SB Belarus Segodnya) Max, my question to you: where
did you expect to be if Isack Hadjar didn’t help you?
MV: I guess
whatever three tenths puts me back. P6 or something, P7. I have no idea. I
have not seen the gaps, but it was very close behind me, from P2 all the way
to P6, I think. So, three tenths.
Q: (Joost Nederpelt – Nu.nl) A
question to Max about the energy management. Can you describe a little bit
more about the worst parts of the track? What is it like doing a qualifying
lap with these cars on your favourite track?
MV: Well, I mean, for most
of sector two, you run just on the engine, so what is that? Four hundred and
fifty, five hundred horsepower, something like that, which is, I guess, more
or less what a Formula 3 car has, but with F1 downforce. So, you can
imagine, of course, that that is not very exciting to drive. But honestly, I
don’t want to sit here and complain again because probably someone will
shoot me outside the door. Like I said before, I’m mentally just adjusting
to it, and I’m trying to make the best out of it, even though, of course,
it’s not what I like or what I love to do in Formula 1. But I can also sit
at home and drive nothing, and that also doesn’t do anything, so I’m just
trying my best.
Q: (James Phillips – Motorsport Monday) A question
for Lando. You’ve spoken about fighting back through the field tomorrow. Can
you just give us a bit of an insight into the mindset that you and the team
bring into that scenario, and how it’s different from another race?
LN:
Honestly, it’s not too different. You’re trying to do your best in every
race. You put together as many good plans as you can. Clearly, the pace is
pretty good. It’s close, so it’s not like we’re easily going to be able to
get back in the fight with the top group. But, of course, a good start and a
good first lap can easily get me back where I want to be quickly. From then
on, it just depends on how easy overtaking is or how difficult it is. I
don’t think it’s going to be crazy easy, but there are a lot of
possibilities. Honestly, it’s not that different because you do your best in
every race. You’re always attacking. For me, that’s always what works best.
I guess we’ll probably come up with a few more scenarios. If overtaking is
easy or hard, and we can’t get back into the top six, seven or eight that
quickly, what else can we do to bring us back into the fight? But apart from
that, I’m confident we’ll be able to get up there pretty quickly.
Q:
(Luke Smith – The Athletic) Kimi, one for you. Your advantage over George so
far this weekend through the high-speed corners in particular has looked
quite telling, and Pouhon was quite a big difference through some of your
practice laps. Just how confident have you been with the car through those
kinds of sections this weekend?
KA: I mean, I’ve been feeling good with
the car overall during the whole year. So, yeah, I’ve had good confidence
with the car overall in low-speed and medium-speed. Mainly, the high-speed
in qualifying was not that challenging. It was more about after Pouhon, the
chicane, and also Turns 5 and 6 as well. So, yeah, I’ve been feeling good
with the car, and it’s good to be more and more confident whenever I jump in
it. Now we’ll focus on tomorrow. |
