DRIVERS
1 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
2 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Alice Powell)
Q: Lando, congratulations, another pole position to add to the list. it was so close out there. Real fine margins. So you must be over the moon.
Lando NORRIS: I am, yes. Very, very, very happy. Not an easy qualifying. Different conditions, like you said, but always ending up on top is the best part of it. Also happy, especially, for the team, a one-two is even better to see. So congrats to the team.
Q: McLaren are really cementing themselves as a front-running team. A lot of hard work has clearly gone on behind the scenes. So this must give you lots of confidence heading in tomorrow and for the remainder of the season?
LN: I mean, it does, but we’ve already got confidence. So it’s not like we need a lot more of it or we’re searching for it, you know? I think we’ve come into this weekend and the last few happy and confident that we can do a good job and we have a good car to fight for pole, and that’s exactly what we did today. So, yeah, like I said, a great job by the team. We’ve been improving every weekend, and to end up on pole today is sweet.
Q: And race pace earlier on in the weekend from the long runs looked pretty decent. It’s going to be a slightly different weather conditions we’re expecting tomorrow. So is that going to give you confidence either in the hotter conditions?
LN: I mean, we’re in the best position for whatever the conditions throw at us. So I’m looking forward to it. Two cars at the front row, we can control it from there. So as long as we stay where we are, we’ll be happy.
Q: So you finished P2 here last year. You’re expecting to go one more, clearly.
LN: I mean, I’m expecting to. So if I don’t, it’s not been a good day. No, the car’s doing well. I feel like I’m driving well. So it’s obvious what the aim is for tomorrow.
Q: Brilliant. Congratulations.
LN: Thank you. Cheers.
Q: Oscar, a big congratulations. A big cheer when you walked over here. A big crowd of Papaya fans here. There’s a lot of support for you and Lando this weekend.
Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah, it’s cool to be here, especially when you get a result like this. I think the first one-two in qualifying for McLaren for a very long time, so very happy. Of course, when I miss out by two hundredths, you think of all the little things you can do a bit better, but an amazing result for the team. We had a bit of a tricky day on my side yesterday, so it was nice to bounce back this morning, and then obviously this afternoon in quali, it wasn’t easy. A lot of decisions on the fly, and to end up with both cars on the front row is an amazing result.
Q: You said it’s super close, it certainly was. Is there anything that you could have done slightly different out there? Anything sort of left on the table? Was there a small mistake along the lap?
OP: Not really. The first lap, yes, but the second lap, honestly, it was pretty good. I’ve already seen where I was a little bit slower, and then you think, ‘ah yeah, I could have done this a bit better, that a bit better’, but still a good lap. I’m happy with my day’s work, and it’s a long run down to Turn 1, so everything is still to play for tomorrow, and a lot of points are on the table.
Q: So Lando’s just in front of you. What’s the mindset heading down into Turn 1 tomorrow?
OP: I mean, of course, I want to get into the lead, but, yeah, we have both cars on the front row. We’ve got a big task ahead of us trying to win this championship as a team, and we’ll be smart. We’ve got a very quick car. It’s been working extremely well this weekend, and, yeah, we want to keep it one-two, and I think we’ll fight amongst ourselves for who gets one.
Q: Max, well done. A bit of frustration there though at the end of that run, a bit of frustration over the line?
MV: Yeah, I mean, I tried. The whole weekend I think we have been a little bit behind, and I think that was also the case in qualifying. I tried to make it as close as possible, but unfortunately, yeah, just not enough. A bit difficult to pinpoint why that is. Yeah, I would have liked a bit more grip, but it’s not there at the moment. But P3 is still very close. I just hope that for tomorrow, of course, the car is good in the race, and at least that we can follow them and see what we can do there.
Q: It is very close, a lot closer than we have seen in previous years. Are you enjoying having this battle with other teams joining you for that battle for pole position?
MV: Of course, I love competition, but I would like to be on top of the competition. And at the moment, I feel like we are chasing and having a few more difficult weekends. But, you know, I don’t back out of a fight. But, yeah, we’re just in a bit of a tricky situation, I guess.
Q: And it’s a long race tomorrow. It’s going to be a hot race tomorrow. It’s hard to overtake here. Do you feel you’ve got the car underneath you to move forward?
MV: Let’s see. I mean, the last few races, I think, especially McLaren, has been really, really good in the race, even compared to qualifying. So, of course, today was a lot colder than expected, I guess, with the clouds and a bit of the rain. Tomorrow is going to be quite a different day, and I just hope that that will help us.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lando, many congratulations. That was a difficult qualifying session to navigate. How satisfying is it to come away with pole position?
LN: I mean, always pole positions are satisfying, I guess. So yeah, good. I think great for us as a team. We’re first and second. I don’t know when we’ve last locked out a front row. But yeah, great run for the team and tricky conditions to do it in especially. So not easy, but always good fun around here. And same time, as much as the conditions are difficult, it’s still fun out there. So yeah, some nice laps, especially my Q3 lap. I only had one set of new tyres. And we decided to put them on early just in case the rain came, which it kind of didn’t. But it was still have a good enough lap to stay on pole, so happy with it.
Q: McLaren’s first front row lockout since 2012. Tell us a little bit more about grip levels. They seemed to change from lap to lap. Just how difficult was it to find the limit without going over it?
LN: Honestly, it wasn’t too difficult, apart from I think when the rain started to come back at the end of Q1, I think it was. Yeah, before there was the crash, that was the only time when I backed off probably a bit more just to be safe. It’s that time when you’re like, ‘do I push and take the risk or do I not?’ But apart from that, honestly, the track dried so quickly. So as soon as it stopped raining, it was perfect. And yeah, it could push. I mean, the grip was high compared to yesterday. It was night and day. It was like two-and-a-half or two seconds quicker. So it felt a lot better today in general. The car came alive a lot more today than it was yesterday as well. So I think maybe that played into our hands a little bit. And then tomorrow it flips back to being pretty hot. So yeah, looking forward to it.
Q: Well, let’s throw it forward to tomorrow. How confident are you in the long run pace of the car?
LN: As confident, I think, as we have been for a while, like both quali and races, we’ve been strong. I think our bad one is still, you know, it’s been third or fourth, but our good ones have been chances to win. So definitely, once again, a good opportunity for that, for both of us and for us as a team to score some big points. And that’s our target tomorrow.
Q: And Lando, this is the first time you and Oscar have been on the front row together. What are the rules of engagement? as you go down to Turn 1?
LN: I mean, we’ll get… We did have a front row somewhere, or we were just side by side at another time? Maybe Qatar, yeah. [To Max] You’re coming over the back of my car? That’s not very nice. The Bottas! Honestly, it’s something we’ll talk about, and the same as we’ve always done. We’ve always kept it clean. I think we’ve treated each other well and given each other respect, helped each other when we needed to. So, yeah, no worries from our part.
Q: Alright, look, very well done. Thank you. Oscar, let’s come to you now. Just a couple of hundredths off your teammate. You found a lot of time on that second run in Q3. Where did you find it?
OP: Turn 4. In the first lap of Q3, I made a massive mistake in Turn 4. Yeah, it was just a pretty poor lap. And yeah, the last lap was pretty solid. Of course, when you cross the line and see it’s so close you think of all the little things you could have done better. But honestly, it was a solid lap. There’s nothing I would massively change on it. So no, pretty happy with it. Obviously, the car’s been really quick this weekend and a good opportunity to win.
Q: And was it a smooth session for you through Q1, Q2?
OP: Pretty smooth, yeah. I think, you know, the rain was a bit tricky at the start of Q1. You know, some of the kerbs were a bit wet and it was just enough rain that you couldn’t actually improve. And then DRS got disabled and then… It was a bit of a weird session. And from that point on, it was relatively smooth. But yeah, not the easiest of conditions.
Q: And Oscar, let’s throw it forward. I mean you had a slightly complicated day yesterday. Have you done all the prep you wanted to do ahead of the race?
OP: Yes and no. I mean, I think FP1, there was good learning in that yesterday. I think we’re starting from a great position tomorrow. So, yeah, I think maybe not quite as much as I would have liked, but I would say 90% of it, let’s say. So, no, feeling pretty confident for tomorrow and see what we can do.
Q: You’ve only done one Grand Prix at this track before, but you’ve raced in other formulas around here. Just talk us through Turn 1. It’s a very wide corner. Obviously, there’s you and Lando, but how concerned are you about someone like Max coming behind you? Lots of different lines through that corner?
OP: I don’t think I’ve started this high up at Budapest before. It’s obviously a long run to Turn 1, and it gives an opportunity for the slipstream behind. Yeah, from starting fourth last year, I had a clean start and got to second. So I know that, you know, there’s a lot that can happen at Turn 1. Bottas, as you mentioned. So let’s see. I think, you know, I think get a good start and that always helps things. But it is a long run. And, you know, there’ll be other people involved, I’m sure.
Q: Best of luck tomorrow. Thanks for that. And Max, coming to you, just a tiny amount of pole position. First up, tell us about your fastest lap of Q3.
MV: Yeah, it was alright, but not good enough. I mean, the whole weekend, just a little bit too slow. I mean, we tried to optimise everything, tried quite a few things, actually, with the car. And at the end, still too slow. So, yeah. That’s what it is.
Q: You were the first car to set a lap time in Q3. What were the pros and cons of that strategic call?
MV: I think that was good. The rain was coming in like little drizzles, so I thought it was good that we went out first. So yeah, that was all good.
Q: You’ve said that you’re lacking to the McLarens a little bit this weekend, but you are running a lot of new bits on the car. What feedback are you getting from it? What feeling are you getting inside the car?
MV: I mean, for sure they work, but we’re still not first, right? So we need more. It’s as simple as that. I mean, I think looking back at my qualifying, I was very happy with the laps, but yeah, balance wise, everything is really on the edge. I’m pushing as hard as I can. And then, of course, you have little moments here and there. I feel like I probably push harder than I did last year, but it’s just not coming anymore to have these great lap times. So I guess it just means that we are a bit slower. So we have work to do. Simple as that.
Q: What’s your approach going into this race? How do you beat these guys?
MV: I don’t know at the moment. But what can I do? I mean, we’ll try our very best. Try to have a good, stable balance with the car. And I hope if I find that, that I can follow them. But I don’t know. I mean, honestly, my long runs have been OK, but nothing fantastic or special. I think it’s better to be realistic than sitting here and spreading false hope. But yeah, we’ll see tomorrow. I mean, it’s what it is.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to Lando, please. Just about the tactics at the very end of Q3 after the red flag. You were sat at the end of the pit lane for quite a long time. What was that all about? Was it more about defending pole position in a way, or was there the possibility of any more time from those tyres?
LN: A little bit of both. I still wanted to, just in case any hope was there, but I didn’t really expect it to. And it’s just, yeah, you just want to be in the running in case something else happened. But I don’t think many people expected, like we’re all on old tyres, I don’t think anyone expected to go quicker, but it was just be there if we needed to be, that was all.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Max. Hello. The whole of Finland has been missing Kimi for the last three seasons. And when you started to get podiums, Kimi was quite often your main competitor. Have you been missing him at all?
MV: Well, I think it’s more important if he misses it. I don’t think he does, so who cares, right? I like Kimi. He’s a great guy, but I’m also happy for him now that he’s busy with his son go-karting, you know, trying to… bring up a new Räikkönen, it’s great. I mean, he has done his career in Formula 1. Now it’s time for the young one, time to spend time with his family as well. And yeah, spend more time on the go-kart track. So I think he is alright. We don’t need to worry about him.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) A question is for Lando over here. You only had one set of fresh Soft tyres in Q3. Where did you lose the extra set, and why? And how much was the extra pressure? just having one proper shot?
LN: We lost it in Q2, just because my first lap on the used tyre wasn’t good enough. I did almost three quarters of a lap on a new tyre at the end of Q1, so I’ll probably say that’s where we messed it up. Bit silly, I think, and we went out on a new tyre at the end of Q1, just to be safe. But we were safe anyway. So we boxed, and I did pretty much a whole lap on a new tyre, which meant my lap in Q2, on a pretty much full lap used, was never going to be fantastic, comparing to others on a new, which meant I had to put on another set of new on for Q2, run two, and I lost it there. So, I mean, after what happened, and in hindsight, I would say I’m not going to complain about it, but I should have had two sets coming into Q3. Obviously, it’s worked out. But if it didn’t work out for whatever reason and I made a mistake on my first lap, I would have been a bit more unhappy, the fact I didn’t have two sets for Q3. So, yes, something we’ll review.
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Max, you got out of the car at the end and so did Fernando, and apparently Fernando did it because he was told to, because they’d closed the pit lane and then reopened it. Is that what happened to you? And to all three of you, do any of you know what happened in that situation?
MV: No, I didn’t want to drive anymore. I had no tyres, so they were used, so I was never going to improve. So there was no point for me to be in the pit lane waiting.
Q: What info were you getting, Lando?
LN: Just it was, I mean, it’s going to go green at some point. So like we do in every single run, you always wait at the end of the pit lane sometimes. And yeah, nothing extraordinary. It’s just normal. Just didn’t want to be at the back. And in case someone had a slightly fresher tyre and whatever, didn’t manage to complete the lap before, maybe they had a fresh tyre, that strategically you want to be at the front and not give them a chance.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lando, you’ve obviously had a number of near misses in recent races. How vital is it that you convert this pole into a victory? And also, how vital is it for you that you beat Max and lay down a bit of a championship marker?
LN: I mean, I don’t think it’s, like, important. Every single quali is important. Every race is important. So it’s not all of a sudden I need to do it and I need to prove my point. I don’t. We’ve done the best we could in every race. I think we’ve shown great pace and great opportunities. And I know we’ve missed out on some. We don’t need to get back into all of that stuff. But yeah, I would love to have a clean, strong weekend. From yesterday already, we were very strong in the beginning in FP2, FP3 quali now. So it would be nice, yeah, just to have a nice Turn 1 and see what happens from there. But I’m not expecting it. I’m expecting still a difficult race with Oscar and Max behind. But every one is important. Every time we’re trying to maximise every place, every point. And yeah, the more we can try to get back on Max, the more we as a team can get on Red Bull and other constructors, the better. So no point or emphasis on trying to beat a particular someone or something. It’s just go out and do what we do because we’re doing a good job.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for Max. It’s been clear that obviously this car, the direction the Red Bull’s gone, it’s got quite a narrow window. It’s quite tricky to get the best out of it. Given that you’re up against a car that seems to be becoming quite an all-rounder, how concerned are you that that direction could really limit you consistently to being in this sort of position? Because it’s so hard to extract that pace. And even if you execute superbly, too often it’s going to be the wrong side of this kind of narrow gap.
MV: It’s been like that already for a while, so we are well aware of that. We are pushing as hard as we can, but clearly at the moment it’s still not how we want it to be. We’ll continue to do so. We’ll try to find more performance, but I’m also well aware that that’s not very easy to find suddenly throughout the season, with things already just planned, and just the way the car is. But we’ll see. I mean, there are many races. There are a lot of things that can happen in qualifying with conditions, stuff like that. So we just need to stay focused and do the best we can every single time and optimise our performances.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) It’s a follow-up to that for Max. How was the car feeling today with the upgrade packages, just balance-wise? Because you said on Thursday that the Red Bull car for weeks now is tricky to drive. The team says that’s also something they want to address with the upgrades this weekend. So did you feel any difference at all in that regard?
MV: No, it’s similar. Yep.
Q: (Carlo Plastella – FormulaPassion.it) Question for Max. At the start of Q3, GP said, ‘make that lack of tow count’. What he was referring to?
MV: I was the first car on track. So naturally, you don’t have the effect of the wind around the track. But I think it’s fine to be first on track. You have a clear track in front of you. Of course, maybe I had one or two cars that I had to go through in my fast lap. But overall, I think it was the right call.
Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Vilag.hu) Can you please tell me how did the changes in weather conditions since yesterday influence your car performance and what are your expectations for tomorrow in terms of the weather and tyre degradation?
LN: It’s tough. I mean, clearly in terms of lap times, you’ve gone two seconds quicker than yesterday. So the temperatures make a big difference. The tyres just work better, pretty much. I mean, aero works slightly better, but the tyres just give you a lot more grip in these conditions comparing to yesterday. Obviously that flips again tomorrow. So lap times and degradation will probably increase again. It’s hard to say what it’s done exactly to the car. I’d say maybe the balance came together a little bit. As the grip comes up, the balance improves slightly and I think starts to maybe improve a little bit of some of our weaknesses. And I think maybe that’s why our performance today was fractionally better than what it was yesterday, I would say. But when I say that, I mean maybe half a tenth or something. But when you look at the times half a tenth is all you need. So difficult to give an exact answer but just the car works better, the grip comes together, the car balance is more well balanced throughout the whole lap and that’s always a good feeling.
OP: Yeah, I don’t really have much else to add. Pretty much exactly the same thing. I mean, it definitely feels nicer to drive when you’re two, two and a half seconds a lap faster than yesterday. Yeah, I mean, yesterday was quite tricky trying to manage the tyres, you know, even over one lap. Yeah. you can destroy them in basically or could have destroyed them basically in half a lap. Today was a little bit more forgiving let’s say, but tomorrow I think it’s going to be much more like yesterday in terms of weather. So it changes the game a little bit
MV: Same. I agree.
Q: (Frederick Hackbarth – Motorsport-total.com) Max, can we have a word on Checo? Because he seems to struggle a lot at the moment under a lot of pressure. Do you feel for him seeing him out so early today again? And also from a personal point, you have got quite a strong opposition now with McLaren always up against like two cars. How much do you miss a strong team-mate at the moment?
MV: I don’t think we need to go into too much detail about that. It’s just a shame for Checo, also himself, you know, that that happened in Q1, because I thought up until that point, actually, he was having quite a decent weekend. So, yeah, it’s just very unfortunate. That’s the only thing that I want to say about that.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Max, as you crossed the line on your Q3 run before the red flag, what was your reaction? You seemed to be banging the steering wheel a little bit. What were you thinking at that point?
MV: I’m not allowed to be frustrated? Yeah, that’s what happened.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-magazin.com) Max, yesterday, it sounded like you wanted to save one set of the Hard tyres for the race. You used the set today in FP3. What was behind that?
MV: It’s just a different strategy to how others use their tyres throughout the weekend, probably. And yeah, we decided to then use the Hard tyre in FP3 to get rid of it and keep the tyres for the race we wanted it. I think it’s fairly similar to a few teams around, some opt to have a hard, whatever, but I guess we’ll see tomorrow what is the right call. We feel that that is the right way, but we’ll see tomorrow.
ENDS
