Azerbaijan GP: FIA Wednesday Press Conference

PART ONE – Isack HADJAR (Red Bull Racing), Charles LECLERC (Ferrari), Alex ALBON (Williams)

Q: Isack, if we could start with you. It’s great to have you back with us. You’re back racing this weekend. You have a new contract in your back pocket for 2027 as well. Today must feel like a very good day.

Isack HADJAR: It’s good to come back in these conditions, for sure. I’m really looking forward to driving again, you know. The last time I touched the steering wheel was in Budapest, so it’s been a very long time, it feels. So, it’s good to be back. It’s definitely a challenging track to come back to, but I’m excited. And it’s also good to have it announced now, so everything is great.

Q: Can we just talk about the wrist briefly? Is it 100%? Any restricted movement?

IH: Yeah, it’s good enough to drive, so that’s all I need.

Q: And tell us, what have you missed most while sitting out these last three races?

IH: Just competition, you know. Just the pressure and the fight out on track. When you step out, you realise that life is a bit… it’s just flat and boring. You just want to come back. It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks, so now it’s good to come back to the fight.

Q: And what does it mean for you to know this early in the year what you’ll be racing, what you’ll be doing next year?

IH: It’s good, it’s nice, but it’s natural. You know, I’m not here to be hopeful. I’m here to show what I do on track and naturally the rest comes, so it’s normal in a way.

Q: And have you set yourself any particular goals for this weekend here in Baku?

IH: No. The car is competitive, and I just want to be in the mix, in the fight with the guys ahead. That’s all.

Q: All right. Well, welcome back. Good luck with it this weekend. Thank you for that. And Charles, if we could come to you now. Given your qualifying record around this racetrack, it seems crazy that you haven’t won here yet. Is this the year that you can correct that?

Charles LECLERC: Well, I don’t know, but surely this year qualifying is probably where we struggle the most in terms of car performance. So, if we are in front in qualifying, then I’m hopeful for the race. But before thinking about that, I think we’ve got to prepare the weekend as we should. And with this year’s car as well, it seems that there’s a lot of variability from one weekend to the other, just based on the optimisation of your power unit. And on a track like this, it will play a big role as well. So, I think that’s where we should focus. Then it’s surely a track that I enjoy driving and that has been good for me on the Saturday mostly, but the races have been more challenging. So hopefully we can fix that for this year.

Q: Looking at the variability, as you call it, Ferrari’s performance since the summer break hasn’t been quite as strong as it was earlier in the year. Is that track-specific, or do you think you need to find more performance to challenge for the win again?

CL: It wouldn’t be fair to say that it’s track-specific because we’ve done quite a few races now since the summer break. So no, I don’t think it’s track specific. I think that McLaren has done big steps forwards. Mercedes has always been kind of the reference and is always a top team, no matter where we go or at which time of the season. But McLaren definitely came back on our side. We’ve been struggling with a few things here and there in the last few weekends, and it’s in our hands to do a better job. Surely, it’s much closer now with McLaren, and Mercedes remains the team to beat.

Q: And can we talk to you about your on-track battles with your teammate Lewis Hamilton? They’ve been great to watch, going right back to Shanghai, in fact. Are you happy with the way you guys race wheel-to-wheel?

CL: Yes, I am. Then, of course, there have been moments where I went too far, where Lewis went too far, but I think the key in that is to discuss. I mean, I’ve been with Ferrari since 2019 now and I know everything we do is overanalysed, over-discussed, and very often the conclusions that are taken after those kinds of fights are the wrong ones. We only need to speak with Lewis to kind of understand. We’ve been doing that all our life, so we both want to win and there’s competition, but we also want to win as a team and to make Ferrari come out on top eventually. So that is the priority. But I mean, I enjoy fighting with Lewis and that’s what is exciting in Formula 1, is to be fighting against the best, and Lewis is definitely up there. So, for me it’s a big challenge, but I’m enjoying it.

Q: And the rules of engagement between you are clear?

CL: Sure. I mean, Turn 2 in Monza is something that I’ve said repeatedly, that it’s not something that we want to see ever happen again, and that’s going too far on my side. But I’ve been through it already. Yeah, I think it’s pretty clear that we don’t necessarily have to write those things. I think it’s clear enough. Again, I feel like it’s being over-discussed and overanalysed when it’s about the red cars. That’s not really fair. In Monza, if you look at the four top teams, three of them had fights like this, with the car finishing in the grass, and at the end of the day the only thing we are speaking about still now is the red cars, which I don’t think is fair.

Q: Charles, thank you for that. Good luck this weekend. And Alex, if we could come to you now. You have some significant upgrades on the car here. Does this feel like a defining moment in your season?

Alex ALBON: Yeah, I mean, they’re significant if they work, so let’s see how it goes. We have to be honest with ourselves. We know what it should do on paper. I think the weight’s been a big talking point and normally weight’s a guarantee, so hopefully it’s going to put us in a good place. The team have done a massive job back at the factory. To do a chassis change in the middle of a season is not easy. So, it’s putting us in a good place. Whether that’s to fight the midfield now, time will tell.

Q: You say, “if they work”. What do they feel like on the sim?

AA: They normally work on the sim, yep. That’s where a lot of our calculations come from. I think we’ve seen before that sometimes the sim and the track don’t always correlate, but I’m hopeful. Cosmetically, you won’t see the car to be so different, but there are some small, good changes in the car that will also hopefully improve the balance as well.

Q: And irrespective of the upgrades, is Baku a track that actually lends itself more to your car anyway?

AA: Yeah, it does. It’s a track that suits us. We know we have a car generally that’s quite good at ride. We know that we have a car that’s normally quite good in these 90-degree corners. We don’t like long corners, and we like short corners. Baku is pretty much all short corner-based. So even in my time here at Williams, we’ve always gone well around here. So hopefully we can have a good result.

Q: What are the goals?

AA: Goals are progress. Goals are hopefully to be able to fight with the, you know, call it the upper-midfield fight, the RBs, the Alpine and the Audi. But we’ve been quite far away from that in previous races, so it’s still a big jump to make to be able to race with those teams. So obviously we need a lot for that to happen.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Isack, question for you. First of all, congratulations on the contract extension, well deserved. Secondly, on the injury, two-part question. A, what did you actually do? And B, tell us about the rehabilitation, what you’ve had to go through and why you’re now absolutely certain that this is a good time to come back and everything’s fine?

IH: Yeah, I mean, I have a small fracture outside of the wrist and it’s just quite a long process. I didn’t need any surgery, so it’s all natural and it takes some time. It’s still going to be painful for a while, but now it’s going to be six weeks soon and, you know, it says that it’s strong enough at the moment to resist the tensions. I had a test on the sim, it went well. So, you know, I think it’s a similar environment to the cockpit. It’s actually, if anything, nearly identical. So, if it’s fine on the sim, with the adrenaline on track and everything, I think I should be okay. And yeah, the training sessions have not been fun, you know, because I’ve been doing basically nothing with the left limb. So yeah, it’s been a bit boring.

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports). A question for Charles. Charles, there’s talk that you might go back [on the grid], to take the upgraded Ferrari power unit for this weekend. Are you still evaluating that, or has that decision been taken? And does it make sense here? How would you feel about starting at the back and trying to come through the field, a bit like Kimi the other week?

CL: Well, Kimi went from last to first, so, I mean, I don’t know if that’s realistic for us if we will have to take the penalty. But as of now, yes, I mean, it’s in the pool of our engines that we can use. I won’t go too much into the detail on what’s the plan and what engine we will use or not, because that’s still something strategic for us and we don’t want to give that away. But it’s definitely back in the pool of engines that we can use, so that’s a good thing.

Q: (Diego Campoy – DAZN Spain) Question for Isack. Isack, it’s good to see you back. I would like to know if it’s true that you spoke with Marc Márquez, the MotoGP rider, after your injury. What did he tell you?

IH: It’s true.

Q: (Diego Campoy – DAZN Spain) What did he tell you?

IH: Not to race!

Q: (Niccolò Severini – Sky Sports Italy) A question for Charles. As you said before, Mercedes is the benchmark in this season and Kimi is putting in very strong performances. In your opinion, what is his secret, and is he doing something better with these new regulations?

CL: I wish I knew, but clearly, he’s doing something that works very well. But to be honest, it’s not that it comes as a complete surprise. If I look at Kimi going through the junior ranks, I think it was quite clear for everybody that he had something very special. If you look, obviously, at the first year in Formula 1, I think he probably faced challenges. I mean, it’s not up to me to go into detail, I don’t know, but surely he had some struggles in the first year. But this year has been extremely impressive. I mean, from the first race to now, he’s been perfect and driving at a very high level against a driver that I rate extremely highly as well, which is George. So, he’s doing an incredible job. Yeah, I mean, to give you exactly why he’s so fast and why he is outstandingly fast this year compared to last year is very difficult for me. I mean, we are all here analysing the data of everybody, but we can only go up to a certain amount of detail. Then you really need the data of the actual car to dig into more detail. So, it’s difficult. But his laps look a lot on the limit, but somehow he manages to do the lap when it counts. And yeah, that’s been very impressive to watch.

Q: (Mervi Kallio – Viaplay) Isack, good to see you back in Formula 1 again. Can you tell us about that contract extension with the team? How did that go, the negotiations? You have been really strong the whole season. How did it go, and is it for one year or multi-year, please?

IH: Yeah, I didn’t even talk about it. You know, I let my people do the talking for me. I do it on the track and that’s about it. So yeah, it was very easy.

Q: And can you comment on whether it’s multi-year?

IH: I actually don’t know. I don’t care. Yeah, but, you know, if you’re good, you stay, and that’s it.

Q: (Fred Ferret – L’Équipe) Question to the three drivers, starting with Charles. What are the key points to perform on that track and what are the main traps?

CL: Main traps for me must be Turn 15. I’ve been there two or three times. I’ll try to avoid it this year. But no, I think honestly the secret to any city track is commitment and how much you’re willing to commit on a track like this. It’s always a balance between the risks you want to take. Yeah, for me it’s just commitment and precision as well. To use even those two, three, five centimetres to get closer to the wall makes a big difference on tracks like this. But yeah, it all goes back to how much you are committing yourself and going into Q3. That’s what I particularly enjoy of these tracks.

AA: Yeah, Charles is correct in what he’s saying. I think this track is quite unique because a lot of tracks we go to now, we have kerbs and then walls. Not everywhere. I mean, Madrid was a good example of a similar track to this. But when you can have a track that’s basically turning into a wall and you’re trying to get as close to that inside wall as you can, then the commitment and the lap time can be won on how much you’re willing to risk. And that’s not always the case when it’s just a kerb on the inside. So that’s one part of it. And I think just generally this track is quite technical. All the corners are 90 degrees, but they’re all different in their own ways. And so understanding what each 90-degree corner needs is what kind of gets you that extra little bit. So yeah.

IH: Yeah, no, not much to add. I would just say the confidence on the brakes, really. On a track like that, if you have the trust in your car to stop and, you know, to maybe kind of out-brake yourself and actually stop it to make the corner, you make lap time there. So yeah, if you don’t trust your car on the brakes, you’re going to be slow around the street circuits.

Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Question for Alex. In terms of the car upgrades, the team’s been sort of putting a lot on this one big upgrade. I think only the release of the Odyssey has been as keenly anticipated this season. Just beyond the weight loss, what have been the key targets in terms of the upgrade? And also, what is the level of confidence within the team and you about whether it will work?

AA: Yeah, obviously we’ve been carrying a substantial weight penalty this year so far, and I think going into this weekend we’ve got ballast on the car. So, you could imagine there’s a big swing in many ways. It’s, again, a testament to how much work we’ve actually been doing behind the scenes. And I think a lot of new technology and a lot of new innovation was done to achieve that. The weight itself is obviously a big thing, and weight is a guarantee in terms of lap time. So that’s why we kind of know it will be a good step, regardless of how the aero side performs. But yeah, it’s a good upgrade. I think what you have to also appreciate is just how well the midfield especially this year are upgrading as well. If you look at the development rate of this year, it’s huge. And so even though we have a big upgrade, it’s not a magnitude that can outpace the midfield at the minute. So, it’s a good one and I think in any other year it would have been a massive one, but because of this year, the way it’s going, it’s not only going to get us back into contention with that group.

Q: (Leonid Kliuev – GrandePremio.com) Question mainly for Isack. Did the team restrict some activities, including boxing, following the injury? And for Charles and Alex, what are the things you are restricted to do as part of the agreements with your teams? Are those lists becoming more and more restrictive?

IH: No. I mean, next time I’ll just be more careful. You know, maybe strap myself and, yeah, that’s it. It happens. There are no restrictions. I’m not five years old, so I just need to think twice before, you know…

CL: Well, I’m not five years old either, but I’ve got some restrictions. But not too many, and actually I ask nicely, then most of the time they accept. But yes, skydiving is probably not recommended, but that’s also what I thought. It’s a bit strange to restrict skydiving. Anyway, let’s not get into this discussion. I’m not that obsessed with skydiving anyway, but the only time I did it they were not so happy, so I don’t do it anymore. Yes, skiing, it’s not that we are restricted, but we are also kind of responsible in a way, and skiing is not the safest kind of sport. So, you can do it right after the season, then the closer you get to the season, the less risky kind of sports I will do.

AA: Yeah, same. I think Red Bull might have a bit more of a tolerance to extreme sports, but at least for us we’re kind of monitored a little bit. But I have the same kind of things. Bungee jumping, I think, is another one. I’m not much of a bungee jumper either. And I can’t think of any. Skiing is also one on mine, yeah.

Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova – F1Maximaal.nl) Question to Isack. Liam has now had three consecutive weekends in your car. Is there anything in his feedback or the way he approached the car that has actually given you a new reference for your own return?

IH: I think it’s good to have a driver that’s actually driving another car coming into ours to, you know… Of course, the Red Bull is superior to the RB, but it’s good to hear from him about the weaknesses of our car, if there are any. And I’d say it’s interesting in that way. And yeah, I won’t go into details, but it’s very good feedback for us. Yeah, he’s done very well.

Q: (Josh Suttill – The Race) Question for Charles and for Alex. The Virtual Safety Car had a big impact on the result in Madrid. Do you think rule changes are necessary going forward, or is it just the way it is?

CL: If I’m honest, I didn’t overthink that too much. Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, these kinds of things can go your way or can go completely against your race. And we might think of solutions, but then these solutions bring other problems in particular scenarios. So, I feel like, I don’t know, I’m not too unhappy with the way it stands. Then, of course, I mean, for me it wasn’t great timing, but sometimes I will be on the good side of things and sometimes I won’t be, and that’s a little bit part of the process. But of course, I mean, I’m still open to suggestions, and if the FIA and drivers come up with a solution that is taking off all the unpredictability in all scenarios, then it would be great. But to be honest, I didn’t truly think about change.

AA: Honestly, same as Charles. I didn’t think about it too much, to be honest with you. I think we’ve all benefited from VSCs at certain points in our F1 careers, and likewise we’ve also lost out on other ones. I think it just happened to be that Lando was obviously winning the race, so it gets a lot of attention on it. But I quite like how it is. I think it’s just a part of racing in the end.



PART TWO – Sergio PÉREZ (Cadillac), Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren), George RUSSELL (Mercedes)

Q: Sergio, let’s talk about you and this racetrack here in Baku first of all. You have two wins, your most recent victory coming in 2023. What is it about this track that brings out the best in you?

Sergio PÉREZ: Well, I think Baku, just in general… First of all, you have to make it to the end. If you succeed on that, then there are always good opportunities. And then secondly, you need a lot of confidence, you know, in this place. You need to be able to attack while not making mistakes because this track, especially with the wind on race day, can be very… I mean, it has something, Baku, that always on race day it picks up the wind massively. So, it makes it very tricky. The last few years I’ve raced here, the wind has been a big factor. So, yeah, just being able to keep it on track has been very rewarding, and obviously being confident out there pays big dividends.

Q: And do you think the layout, with all the 90-degree corners, will play to the car’s strengths?

SP: It has a lot of straights, and at the moment we’re very draggy. That’s one of our biggest weaknesses at the moment. So, I don’t expect many miracles. Madrid was a good step forwards. We were really close, we were battling the Williams, and we had Yuki the whole race behind us, so I think it was a step forward. So hopefully here we have the new engine, the new Ferrari engine. Hopefully, yeah, we can be in the mix and we can have a very chaotic Baku.

Q: You talk about the progress in Madrid. Just can you tell us a bit more about the progress you’re making with this car? In what areas is it getting better?

SP: I think in understanding the car, first of all, to be able to maximise the performance. All areas, because we haven’t been able to bring any big upgrades for this year. I think everything has been planned for next year, and I think it’s definitely the right decision, but obviously means that it’s going to be a very painful final races. So, I think at the moment we’re just relying on a bit of luck to be able to get some good results.

Q: You say they’re going to be painful. The races come thick and fast. I mean, what goals have you set between now and the end of the year? Is it all about building towards 2027?

SP: Yes, I think so. I think we as a team have to make sure that we are able to deliver our best weekends, you know, with whatever we have in terms of strategy, pit stops, weekend as a whole, you know, being able to progress throughout. That’s really the priority, you know, to be able to make sure that we have the race team ready so that when the car comes, we are able to succeed.

Q: Oscar, if we could come to you next. Thank you, Checo. Good luck this weekend. Oscar, you won here a couple of years ago and you’ve had frustrating weekends here, like you had last year. How would you describe your relationship with this circuit?

Oscar PIASTRI: Love-hate in some ways. I think probably my best race ever has been at this track and probably my worst race ever has been at this track. So, always eventful, which I know. So yeah, I think it’s always, like Checo said, a big confidence track, and obviously you need to push the limits a lot. It’s quite a rare combination of a street circuit with so many massive braking zones. So yeah, it’s an interesting track, but hopefully this year is more like 2024.

Q: Can we talk a little bit about your own performance now? Do you feel like you’re turning a corner with this race car now?

OP: A little bit, yes. I mean, the progress isn’t linear. You know, you’re always going to find some things that work, go down some paths that don’t work, and we’re still very much kind of in that phase at the moment. I think last weekend, you know, the car was quick eventually, but again very difficult to get the lap time out of it. So that’s probably the biggest thing. But I feel like we’re making progress and at least exploring different things, and some are working, some aren’t. But, you know, we’re not standing still, which is the most important thing.

Q: McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says he’s throwing more engineering resources behind you. Can you feel that making a difference?

OP: Yes. I mean, I’ve definitely felt that we’re throwing everything we can at trying to improve, which has been good. You know, again, there’s only so many things you can do without just jumping in the car and trying stuff. But I think, you know, with the limited time we have, you need to have a good idea of, or a good set of ideas that you want to action. You can’t just try random stuff. So yeah, I feel like it’s been a very good team response in trying to improve things as quickly as we can. And yeah, I feel like I’m being well supported.

Q: Andrea also says that you’re driving and thinking. What do you need from the car to drive more intuitively?

OP: I mean, for it to behave a bit differently. You know, we’ve been able to find that at a few races this year. Obviously, the cars this year, you know, power units to one side, the cars this year are quite different to what we’ve had previously. And yeah, a lot of the things that have worked for me previously don’t really seem to work this year. So, it’s about trying to find different things that do work. And again, you know, I feel like I’m making some progress on that, but it’s not as simple as you find one direction and that just works for you all the time. You need to constantly adapt and change things, and that is part of what makes finding a solution difficult, because the solution is always a little bit different every time. So we’re trying our best and I think we are making progress, but yeah, we’re certainly not in the place we want to be when we feel like we’re on top of this.

Q: Okay, Oscar. Thank you. Good luck to you this weekend. George, let’s come to you. Three podiums in your last four races here in Baku. Do you come here with a fair bit of confidence?

George RUSSELL: Yeah, I mean, it’s a circuit that I’ve enjoyed. It’s very challenging, this circuit, as Oscar mentioned, you know. A lot of braking zones, tight corners. The conditions also have a bit of an impact as well. But it’s a place I enjoy. It’s a nice race overall, so looking forward to it.

Q: Oscar’s just been explaining his journey with this year’s car. Just to talk to you about that with you, are you now happy that you can unlock the full potential of the car at every race?

GR: I’m definitely much happier in recent races. I think even, you know, Madrid, we showed really great signs of strong pace on Sunday. Just unfortunately nobody could overtake, and that was a shame. I think I could have recovered to the podium with that pace at any other circuit bar Monaco, but with the layout in Madrid that made it slightly challenging. So, I am more pleased. As you know, I think Oscar and I have been dealing with similar sort of struggles this year where the car is very different, the tyres are different, power unit aside, and what’s probably worked so well for the two of us, and maybe a couple of other drivers on the grid, this year isn’t working as well. But I feel I’ve been making very good progress and feel confident I can fight for victories again.

Q: You said after the race in Madrid that you think you’re no longer, or you no longer see yourself, in this year’s title fight. Does that change your approach to a race weekend?

GR: I’m going to keep fighting every single race until, you know, it’s mathematically impossible. But it doesn’t change how I go about my job. I want to try and win every single race and put it on pole every single race. That’s my goal. That’s what I’m working towards every single weekend, and what happens thereafter will be. And there’s obviously a huge deficit, but it’s not even really a consideration right now. It’s just the performance is the biggest priority.

Q: Are you putting less pressure on yourself now?

GR: I don’t think I was really putting any pressure on myself before from a championship standpoint. I was putting pressure on myself from a performance perspective. I’m in this position in the championship because the performance hasn’t been strong enough. So it’s been the case for a while where the pressure has come from trying to improve the performance rather than thinking, “I need to fight for the championship,” because you can only fight for a championship if you’ve got the performance.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) A question for George. Just picking up on that, the points gap this big. But is the performance gap between you and Kimi considerably narrower? And as a target for these remaining races of the season, how important would it be for you to gain the upper hand by Abu Dhabi, with maybe, if it doesn’t work out this year, a view to next year’s championship and how you start that?

GR: Yeah, I think it is very important to try and resolve some issues, which, as I mentioned before, I think I’ve been pleased with that progress since the summer break. The race pace, which was a weakness, has been substantially better and has been in the mix every single race since the break. And I now feel more comfortable that I can fight for great results. So, you know, let’s talk this being zero again. Let’s see from now until the end of the season how the points could fall out. But, you know, next year is going to be pretty similar. Not much has changed with the chassis, not much has changed with the power units. Maybe the tyres are going to be slightly different from what we hear. So, it’s important I continue to build.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) With 2027 in mind, last week we had a calendar revealed and you know where you’re going racing. Can you give me your honest answer here as to what your reaction was when you found out that Monaco was hosting a Sprint race next season?

SP: I found out through our group, actually. There were some comments there. It was a bit busy, the group. More than that, I didn’t pay much attention other than what happened on the group.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) What happened in the group?

SP: It stays on the group. You can imagine.

Q: But Checo, give us your thoughts on Monaco being a Sprint.

SP: Well, I think, yeah, Monaco, I think you just make it a little bit more variable, to be honest. I think it was just a Saturday event in the last few years. Whatever happened on Saturday was basically done. So, I think right now it can mix things around a little bit more. I think it’s going to be an interesting weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

OP: Yeah, I mean, I was surprised at first, but I think I get the understanding behind it, trying to have two qualifying sessions mainly. You know, obviously it’s probably not going to be the best Sprint race that we have, but I think having two qualifying sessions is going to be an interesting thing. And, you know, normally in Monaco you obviously build up through the weekend quite a lot, and then Saturday afternoon is when everyone goes, you know, really gets that last percent out. But we’re not going to have that luxury next year. So yeah, it maybe didn’t make complete sense at first, but I think trying to have two qualifying sessions makes it interesting.

GR: Yeah, I personally think it’s good because I think now we’ve had Sprints for quite a while, normal race weekends feel quite long-winded. And we all want to fight. You know, as much fun as driving a Formula 1 car around the track is, the enjoyment comes from the competition and that adrenaline you get from a qualifying session. And yeah, of course the race isn’t going to be the most exciting one, but that will be compensated by having a more exciting Friday. You know, Sprint Quali is way more exciting than FP2. So yeah, I think on the whole it makes sense.

Q: George, staying with 2027, the F1 Commission met earlier this week and agreed to shorten the races next year from 305 kilometres to 290. Does that change much for you guys?

GR: Slightly earlier bath on Sunday afternoon, I guess, but it’s, you know, three races. Yeah, I think some races you’ll be thankful. You know, Singapore, when it’s an hour and 50 to two hours long, it does feel too long. Then some races like Monza, that’s only an hour and 15 minutes, feel a little bit short. But it doesn’t change a lot.

Q: (Mariana Becker – TV Globo Brazil) For George and Oscar, you both are fighting to try to understand a new way of driving, different from your instincts and nature. And as next year, as you said, George, nothing much is going to change in the car that is going to maybe change the way you drive. Do you see any possibility that you could find a common ground or feel as confident and natural driving in this new car by all the work you’ve been doing?

GR: Yeah, 100%. I think the big challenge in Formula 1 is we can’t practice and we cannot test. You know, if, like I use the golf analogy, if you want to change your golf swing, you go to the driving range and you practice, practice, practice until your next tournament. We have to practise at the event. We have to practice in qualifying. We have to practice in the race because it’s our only opportunity. So, the progression of making these changes takes longer than any other sport because we just don’t have the… we’re just not allowed to practise. So that is the challenge. I’ve got no doubt we can achieve it because, you know, we’ve both been racing for a long time. We’re two of the few drivers who have won F4, F3 and F2, which are all different race cars made by different manufacturers and different tyres on different racetracks. So, you know, I’ve got no doubt in my ability. I’m sure Oscar has no doubt in his ability. But, you know, right now we’re racing against the very best in the world, and yeah, it just takes a little bit of time. But yeah, I’ve got no doubt.

OP: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, in some ways every F1 car I’ve driven is a bit different as well. Obviously, the regulations for the first three years of my career were the same, but the three cars we had across those three years had some big differences, even in the same regs, and the tyres changed a bit in certain years. So, things are always changing, even from year to year in the same regulation, and things will change next year. So, I’m confident that we’re going to make progress. Like George said, it’s very difficult to find a good time because obviously you’re trying to balance trying to learn, try stuff that might not necessarily be the fastest way around the track, with trying to score points and get good results. So it’s always a tricky balancing act like that. But no, I’ve got confidence that I can find a way, and we are finding ways. It’s just that some weekends it’s going to look a bit better than others.

Q: (Mervi Kallio – Viaplay) This is for George. There was a lot of speculation whether you would have an engine-change penalty for this weekend, but nothing has been announced. What is the situation? And if you don’t have it, how much is that hurting your performance?

GR: Yeah, it won’t be this weekend. I will take a penalty slightly further down the line. So, you know, there is a bit of a deficit, but that is swings and roundabouts over the season because all the drivers have new engines at different points. So, one race you’ll have a fresher one, one race you’ll have an older one. So, you know, this one is coming to the end of its life, let’s say. But yeah, it won’t be long until, unfortunately or fortunately, you’re taking a penalty because depending where you do it, it might not be so harmful.

Q: (Nicolò Severini – Sky Sports Italy) For Oscar and George, you were speaking about your difficulties in driving this car over this year. What do you think about Kimi instead? He has a strong performance. Do you think he has a secret or is a son of this new regulation? George, maybe you start.

GR: Yeah, no, I think, you know, of course Kimi is extremely talented. You know, he’s an incredible driver and has been fast his whole career. I think his driving style is very similar to what he had last year, and I think with just how things have fallen this year, it’s kind of the perfect driving style for these cars. And, you know, you look last year, there are definitely trends. You look at Brazil last year, Kimi had a really strong race and Lando won in Brazil, and they are two drivers who are always very strong on the low-grip tracks, and they are two drivers who are arguably the best-performing drivers of this season. So let’s see. You know, he’s an amazing driver and he was, of course, doing extremely well last year as well. Let’s see next year if it changes or not, but certainly his natural driving style suits very well for this regulation.

Q: (Rosanna Tennant – BBC Radio 5 Live) George, why did you choose not to take the penalty this weekend?

GR: Because we have the aero update coming, which means I would have had to have taken another penalty because in Budapest, when I had to change my power unit, I also had to change my turbo there. And now I’ve… it’s all a bit complicated. But long story short, if I took one now, I would have had to have taken another one.

Q: (Raphael Sampt – ServusTV) A question regarding the importance of mindset and self-confidence to all three of you. You’re all three race winners, so how much of a race is won in the head?

SP: A lot. I think being able to be confident with your car, coming to the weekend knowing how to extract the maximum and not thinking about how to extract the maximum, is the best you can have as a driver. You know, when you as a driver have to be thinking and you don’t feel comfortable with your balance, with your car, automatically you start making mistakes, you start making a lot of compromises, and it’s really difficult to get out of that sequence. So just being confident with your car, it’s a massive boost.

OP: Yeah, I mean, being confident is a massively important thing. Obviously, you can never really put a lap time to it, but it’s obviously always there. So, it’s an important thing, especially when you… You know, it’s also a kind of cumulative thing. Once you’ve got good confidence, you know, we talk about kind of spirals or snowballs, and we’ve seen it time and time again, but it can go both ways. You know, you gain confidence and it unlocks one thing, that unlocks the next, that unlocks the next, and all of a sudden you’ve gone a lot quicker. And it goes the opposite way as well. So, it’s a very important part of the game. Obviously, your technical skills in terms of driving are one thing, but how you use them and get the best out of them all the time, that’s really the… You know, when you’re competing in Formula 1, everyone is incredibly talented, and whoever can stay at the top of their talent as long as possible, that’s normally the difference.

GR: Yeah, I think the psychology is a huge part of it. And confidence, you know, when you’re driving an F1 car at 330 between the streets, you need to have that confidence to push the braking zones a little bit later or turn in and trust the car is going to do as you expect. And when you don’t have that 100% confidence, you need to leave that bit of margin because you’re kind of unsure what the car is going to do. So yeah, it can very quickly go both ways, and especially when it comes to those high-pressure moments, such as a Q3 lap. Yeah, the psychology is a big part.

Q: (Josh Suttill – The Race) George, just to follow up on what you said earlier about the tyres changing for next year, can you expand a bit on that? And is there a hope that that could bring things into a bit more of a natural style?

GR: Well, I think it’s been clear this season that the tyres, front to rear, probably have not been well balanced enough. You know, you look at some tracks that are clearly front-limited and the fronts have stayed pretty strong throughout. So, it could also be because of the extra power we’ve got coming off the corners, so the rear tyres are getting a harder time. It is quite interesting, I spoke with Antonio Giovinazzi, who drove this new generation of car for the first time not so long ago, a couple of days ago in Imola, and he said how impressed he was at the power of these new cars off the corner. And I think that has quite an impact on the rear tyres. So obviously, last year when we developed these tyres, they were with the previous generation of power unit, which had much less power off the corners. So, I don’t think it’s a big surprise the rear tyres are getting a harder time than we all anticipated.

Q: (Leonid Kliuev – GrandePremio.com) A question for all three, going back to the topic of Monaco. Arvid said, “Let’s do two qualies, give points in the first one and one race.” Is that something we could implement, or is keeping the weekend structure stable more important?

OP: I mean, I think for me, either you choose to have a Sprint weekend or a normal weekend. I think what will be interesting to see with the Sprint is, you know, I think Monaco more than any other circuit, there’s a big sense of anticipation for Saturday afternoon because everyone knows that that’s where the weekend in Monaco is more or less won or lost. So, you know, I just hope that we don’t lose that big build-up by having two qualifying sessions and the Sprint in the middle. But we’ll have to wait and see. I think a Sprint weekend is going to be interesting to see whether it creates more chaos and more unpredictability. But yeah, I think we’ve already spoken about the Sprint race itself being a bit of a non-event.

SP: I just think that two races in Monaco, it’s a little bit too much. One race will be enough, and probably we can do three qualifying, you know. I think the qualifying is really the best part of Monaco, so I will definitely be in favour of doing more qualies and no more racing, because two races in Monaco, I think it’s going to be too much.

GR: Yeah, I mean, I do agree that qualifying is the best part of Monaco, but at one point you’ve just got to keep things simple, I think. So yeah, give it a go and review it after.

Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Question for George and Oscar. This is a track where you’ve got a long back straight and a tricky final corner preceding it. Just wanted to know, do you think that makes it the kind of circuit where we’ll see these kinds of small but telling and quite frustrating differences in top speed coming from small differences in driving style? And if so, what have you done specifically in your prep to start trying to avoid that happening?

OP: I don’t think it will be too bad. You’ve got quite a lot of harvest around here and, you know, it’s probably not a surprise where most people are going to be looking to spend their energy. So, there are some further complications. You know, it’s always a bit of a balancing act between having the full battery capacity, but then also not letting the turbo spool down, or some of the other intricacies with these power units. So, it is important, but I don’t think, especially with three practice sessions, there’ll be too much of this kind of stuff we saw at Spa, for example.

GR: Yeah, I tend to agree, to be honest. I think considering there’s only one straight, it’s pretty clear what everybody’s going to be trying to achieve, so I don’t foresee it being an issue.