Today's post-Sprint press conference with Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Track Interviews Conducted by Alex Wurz

Well done. Third position. I'm pretty sure you would like to be a bit higher than this. But nevertheless, it was a sensational Sprint for us to watch. But please, talk us through the race?
Lando Norris: I mean, a good race. A good race between us, especially with Max at the beginning, it was good fun. Yeah, probably some things I definitely should have done a bit better in my battle, but I understand that, and the pace of the car was very strong, especially the end of the race and I had a good battle trying to get past Oscar, but I just didn't have enough speed with how much you lose in the middle sector with the dirty air. So it was a good race, a good load of points for us as McLaren, so a good job to the team, and, of course, Max and Oscar for the podium.

Yeah, you think as a team you could have played more together with Oscar and you to get Max today?
LN: I don't think so, honestly. We're fair to race, and, yeah, it was just too difficult to get past. But the pace was good. I don't think we would have had probably the pace to go with Max. I think he was maybe that little bit too quick for us today. But tomorrow's another day, and we'll try again.

Yeah, thank you. A quick one before the other colleagues are ready. I think you've worn them out today with the pressure you applied. Lap 3, fantastic divebomb. So, my hat's off to you. Maybe talk me through your mindset in this aggressive move.
LN: Yeah, I think a little bit like I saw at the end. I think once things settle in too much, it's difficult to... Once the tyres get too hot, it's difficult to do too much. So I had to make the most of my opportunity. Yeah, then I messed it up and left the door open like an amateur. So, yeah, like I said, some things to improve, but we're there and we can definitely give them a fight tomorrow.

Thank you. Oscar Piastri, you are already a Sprint winner and today you finished second. Are you happy with that position?
Oscar Piastri: Yes and no, I think. I obviously finished one spot higher than I started but yeah, I just didn't quite have the pace in the in the second half of that one. I thought Max and Lando were going to pave the way for me to come through at one point but not quite. Some things to look at for this afternoon and for tomorrow's race, but we'll definitely take the points, a really good haul compared to the other teams around us.

We still need to ask you, lap 5, an ice-cold, beautifully executed manouevre. I mean, you just needed popcorn. You had the best seats in this battle. Talk us through it, what did you think about when they battled? Did you plan it and your execution?
OP: Yeah, I could see that they were battling quite hard. And into Turn 4 , I saw the move was quite late. And yeah, I knew that there'd be an opportunity on the exit. I was hoping I would get both but I just bided my time and tried my best. I think I had probably one opportunity to try and get Max the lap after. But yeah, just didn't quite have the pace after that. So yeah, in that one, being patient in the start paid off a bit.

Thank you. And all the best for tomorrow. Max Verstappen, winner. Let's not talk about football. Sorry to beat you. Austria won against Holland. Unless you really want to talk about it? But well done for such a strong comeback. Amazing start. Maybe the perception of the race for you?
Max Verstappen: Yeah, it was a good first lap, I would say. But then, yeah, once the DRS opens, it's very hard to get out of it. Took a few laps, a few exciting battles as well. But I think once we cleared the DRS, then I could do a bit more of my own race, and then it looked all a bit better. But you could see they have two cars, they are pushing flat out, trying to, of course, make it difficult for me. And, yeah, we had to work for it in that race. So, yeah, a few things to think about what we could do better for tomorrow, especially, because I think tomorrow is going to be even longer races and harder on the tyres, so it's going to be quite interesting to see how that will evolve.

Okay, Max, but you spoke about learning things for tomorrow. We've seen around lap four, five, you had a lot of clipping. For those who don't know, it's the energy recovery and that slowed you down on the straight. Is that maybe your weak spot for tomorrow as well?
MV: I mean, it's just because they're in the DRS, so they use, of course, a bit less energy because naturally they spend less time on the straight just catching up to me. And I think, you know, once they were out, then I could go back to my normal management and then everything was fine again.

Okay, Max, so tomorrow you expect still a tough battle. Do you have anyone else on the cards in your rearview mirror, as the McLarens, for tomorrow?
MV: Yeah, I need to have a look at the whole race. Of course, I was very busy with myself, so we have to look into the data about the others as well. And, yeah, we'll see if we can do better tomorrow.

Good. You love it in Austria? You're loving it in Austria?
MV: Yeah, it's always good to be here. Very good.

Press Conference

Very well done, Max. That was a very exciting race in the early laps. How hard was it to come out on top today?
MV: Yeah, definitely in the beginning was quite tricky. I mean, Lando stayed in my DRS and I was just struggling a little bit for grip at that point as well. And yeah, it's just very difficult to judge around here how much you lose through the corners following and how much you gain with the DRS around the lap, because of course it's a triple activation, which is a lot. So yeah, we had to really fight for it. We had a few good close battles here and there, defending, overtaking. And basically, once I could clear the DRS, then you could settle in a bit more and you could drive around your own pace. But the pace was high. It was really not looking after tyres much, I think, and surviving a bit to the end because, of course, the tyres drop off quite a bit the last few laps. But it was cool. It was fun.

Well, I was going to say, how much fun was it? And can you talk us through the battle with Lando in particular?
MV: Yeah, I think I didn't expect him to go up the inside in Turn 3. But yeah, I was just struggling with clipping, grip. So he went for it. Then I still had, of course, the tow, not the DRS. And yeah, I decided to go back into Turn 4. And it was good fighting.

Were you worried about Oscar as well?
MV: Yeah, I knew that Oscar was very close to the battle. And I knew that once we were braking late into four on the exit, you know, you're looking around, where is everyone? And then I could see Oscar in my mirror as well. So then I had, you know, the two McLarens side by side behind me. So yeah, they pushed me very hard today in the race.

Max, the focus turns now to the Grand Prix itself, qualifying next, the race tomorrow. What have you learned so far this weekend? that's going to help you for the remainder?
MV: That it's close. It's a tight battle. Ideally, you look in a few details what you can do better. But I need to go back to the team, you know, and look back at the race as well, as a whole. But, yeah, you always try to look for improvements in the car when you can. And you can change the car around then.

Very well done. Thank you, Max. Oscar, let's come to you now. And can we start by getting your take on those frenetic early laps? Did you think Max was beatable at that point?
OP: I thought so, yes. Yeah, he obviously had quite a good start compared to Lando and I. And then, I just managed to stay in the DRS and got to the back of him. And yeah, Alex [Wurz] on the grid summed it up well, I was sitting there with my popcorn waiting for whatever was going to unfold. And yeah, obviously just stayed patient and I managed to get Lando and not quite enough to get Max. I just struggled a little bit in the second half of it. I think everyone was probably struggling with tyres a bit. Yeah, just didn't quite have the pace to keep challenging in the second half of the sprint.

So Max slips away and you spent the majority of that race protecting your second place from your teammate. How tough was it to stay ahead of him without DRS?
OP: It was tough at the start definitely I think. Once the car behind gets into the DRS, you know, they have three shots at it. I think to be honest the tyres at that point were so hot for everybody that the DRS wasn't having anywhere near as much of an impact as it did at the start of the race, so in the last few laps it was a little bit more comfortable but all it would take was one mistake. So yeah, a difficult Sprint.

Oscar, you came out of Barcelona last weekend feeling a little frustrated. Is this result proof that you're in a happier place with the car here in Austria?
OP: Yeah, definitely. I think we've got all the answers from Barcelona on what we did wrong and what went wrong in the weekend. I think, yeah, I was much happier with the car in practice straight away. And, yeah, obviously in Sprint quali yesterday it was a good result and today as well. So, yeah, I'm hoping Barcelona stays as a one-off.

Alright. Thanks, Oscar. Lando, let's come to you now. You gave us plenty of excitement during those early laps. Can you just give us your take on the battle with Max?
LN: Yeah, I mean, it was a good battle. I knew there were not going to be too many opportunities to try to do it. So yeah, I had to go for a bit of a move into Turn 3. And then I was just pretty stupid into Turn 4 and left the door open. So yeah, not a lot, to be honest. It was two corners we battled, and that was it. And then Oscar managed to come past. I tried. Obviously it didn't go to plan, but the pace in the car was pretty good and I think we gave it a good shot, but it wasn't quite enough today. It's nice to have two cars up there, nice to have two cars trying to fight against Max, and that's what we need on Sunday.

Have you come away from this feeling a little frustrated? Do you think that was one that got away?
LN: I mean, we're saying this every weekend now, so I'm not going to say it again, but I could have just, I should have done, I'm not going to say should have done, but I needed to do a better job. And I just did something pretty stupid and silly, which was not very smart of me. So, no, I think a good amount of points, it could have been a lot worse. And for the team, it was a good result, the result we wanted. So I'm happy. But yeah, I need to do things better.

Let's look at the positives, Lando. How much confidence does your pace today and yesterday in the Sprint Qualifying give you for the remainder of the weekend?
LN: A lot. I think we're in good shape. We're in good form. It's clear that Max is still just a bit ahead of us. So, you know, if he doesn't make any mistakes, he's kind of got it for the time being. So we just need to execute what we're doing and do what we have been doing, which is a good job. But we need that little bit more and we're going to try to find that over lunchtime, into qualifying to try and give ourselves one step better position than what I had today. But otherwise, yeah, we're just missing that little bit. And we'll do as much as we can to find it.

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