Today's press conference with James Vowles, Andrea Stella, Mike Krack and Ayao Komatsu.

Q: James, can we start with you? You got your man - Carlos Sainz. What got the deal over the line?
James Vowles: I'm glad you added Carlos to it. I was confused by the statement before that point. But I think what got it there eventually is that from the very beginning, it was the same message all the way through with Carlos. So all the way back to '23, really. Here's where we are. Here's the really bad bits of it. But here's the good bits of it. And here's what will come online. And I think across a period of about eight months, he could start to see what we were talking about and what was translating, what was happening behind the scenes. It was longer than I expected, but it was a rewarding journey. It's one at the end of it where I really do believe in this partnership and I'm confident that it's a very good driver line-up for us in 2025 and something that will propel us forward.

Q: As you say, it is a very good driver line-up. Does that put increased pressure on Williams 2.0 to deliver a good car next year?
JV: You've upgraded the version number. Yes, but that's the whole point behind it. I mean, not just a good driver line-up. I think I have... the best combination or their best drivers on the grid. There's no politics between them. They're both incredibly fierce competitors but they develop the team. They are leaders at the same time and that will put pressure on the organisation. But that's the whole intent behind it. It's been many years since we've really had two drivers fighting at the front and you need that to reinvigorate the energy back into the team. When you've got two drivers fighting for the same millisecond, and I've been there quite a bit in my career, everything just shuffles upwards as a result of it. So, minute details around even just diff maps, how you get data out, how you use it, how quickly you get upgrades to the car, they migrate and change because you have a driving force behind it. So it's a good thing, not a bad thing.

Q: And how do you think Alex will react to having a driver of Carlos' quality next to him?
JV: I think with Alex, you haven't seen him fully challenged to the level where he will move forward. Like any elite athlete, you have to have someone that moves the bar beyond where you thought it was set in the sand, and then it pushes you forward again. And not in a dramatic way, without politics, but just, here's where performance is, let's go find it. And with Alex, you'll see a very different reinvigorated individual as the result of it. So I think you're going to see a better Alex as a result.

Q: What about this weekend? You're running a heavily revised car. What are you expecting?
JV: I mean, we've got another update coming fairly soon as well. This is all actually from quite a while ago, designed, but it's good performance coming over the next sort of three races or so. It should here - in a midfield that is as tight as it is - it should just give us a little bit more of an opportunity to certainly be in the points. And I mean, this weekend specifically is quite challenging out there. You've got gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour. Generally, 40 is your normal wind speed, which is more adapted to kite surfing than it is running a Formula 1 car. So it's not as easy in these conditions to evaluate how good that upgrade is, but we'll do it based on the timing sheets. Now, we were good here last year. So the proof of the pudding isn't one race. It is how it actually performs across the next two, three races.

Q: Well, best of luck this weekend and over those races. Thank you, James. Andrea, let's come to you. And while we're talking upgrades, you've got a lot that's new on your car as well. What are you expecting from them?
Andrea Stella: Well, we've been able to deliver another substantial upgrade, which is nowhere near as large as the one that we took to Miami, but it should be hopefully noticeable in terms of aerodynamic efficiency of the car. We took our time after Miami to see in development and convince ourselves that we needed to press the green light and deliver parts trackside. Also nowadays you have limitations in terms of cost, so you just can't bring everything to test at track side, you need to be diligent. So we are definitely interested in seeing how the car will respond to these novelties. There will be a few more in the coming races and hopefully this will help us improve the performance of the car overall and keep competing for good results in the race.

Q: And do both drivers have the same specification of car this weekend?
AS: They will have the same specification this weekend. They were split in P1 so that we could understand the effect of the new parts.

Q: So Andrea, how do you view the next 10 races? I mean, a lot of people think that you are the car to beat. Are you the team to beat this year?
AS: I think there's been a bit of overstatement about the performance of the car. This could have been because we have been competitive on many Fridays and I thought that this was more the result of the good work in terms of preparation that the team do and being ready straight away for a race weekend. And then we see that Red Bull, Mercedes, they kind of resolve their issues and become competitive on Saturday or on a Sunday. I think this was very apparent in Austria. On Friday, we were just a few milliseconds off Verstappen. On Saturday, he was four tenths ahead of everybody. And in the race, he was the fastest car. So I think we should be a little careful in thinking that McLaren goes to the races and has the fastest car, and separate it from like, 'oh, we are exploiting the car. We are getting the most out of it and therefore, we are readily competitive'. Said that, we are pleased with what we've been able to achieve in terms of competitiveness of the car. And like I said before, I hope that these extra developments and upgrades will give us the possibility to retain this competitive position. Because in fairness, since Miami, we had not brought much lap time to the car itself.

Q: Now, you're P2 in both world championships. Can I ask you about Lando and a comment that he made yesterday in which he said, in the opening half of this season, he hasn't been driving like a world champion. Now, you've worked with many of the great drivers of the modern era, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, to name two. What do you make of Lando's comments?
AS: The first thing I make of his comment is that it kind of confirms his style. You know, he's quite self-critical. He tends to look occasionally at the half-empty part of the glass. In reality, I think he definitely has the potential of a world champion, and he's performing at world championship level. If we compare against perfection, then definitely we have opportunities. But I like that we compare ourselves against perfection, because this is what we need to do. I've been very encouraged that every little opportunity has been actually analysed in a great level of detail. Lando has always been very open and transparent, like he does with the public, definitely with the team, and we are together in trying to nail and polish all the possible situations in which we need to be better at delivering according to the potential. Definitely World Championship material. Like in everything, Lando, Oscar, the entire team, every single opportunity to improve needs to be attacked with determination to improve.

Q: Can you give us one area where you think he could still improve? when you compare him to a Fernando or a Michael Schumacher?
AS: I don't think. in terms of driving itself, speed, consistency in the race, we are not far at all. I think, if anything, this year there's been more of the opportunities coming in some specific racing situations, like the start, the first lap. Sometimes we have lost some time in the race, just in this initial phase of the of the event, of the race, and then we kind of recovered thanks to the pace that we had later on. So it's quite specific and we've definitely been working on trying to improve it.

Q: Andrea, thank you very much for that. Mike, let's come to you now. Fernando was on the podium here last year and so far the weather conditions seem similar. Just how happy are you with the car and what is your potential this weekend?
Mike Krack: Yeah, good memories from last year. Indeed, we finished second here. The conditions were difficult. But I think we were a little bit more competitive on a general basis last year than we are this year. So that does not mean we will not try to seize any opportunity that might come. I think it will be a bit more stable in terms of weather probably on Sunday than it was last year. But that does not mean that we will not try. I think we have shown in the past that if opportunities come, normally we are there. So that's what we're going to try.

Q: And how do you view the situation in the World Championship? You're P5, you're 39 points ahead of VCARB. Is that enough of a gap to lock that in, to allow you to focus on next year's car from now on?
MK: I wish we could say that but I think you must not do predictions like that because first of all you need to respect your competitors and I recall two years ago we were after the summer break P9, more than 30 points behind P6, and we finished on the same score. So I think Formula 1 is not the discipline where you should relax and say, 'we're going to finish here' because it will come different. So we cannot rest and think about the future.

Q: Can we talk about Adrian Newey now? Newey to Aston Martin seemed to gain some momentum over the summer break. How much momentum?
MK: I was on holiday over the summer break, so I cannot really comment on that. But you keep asking me that question, and again, I can only repeat what we have said. We are becoming a more and more attractive team. We have great infrastructure developing, so again, we are honoured to be put together with that name.

Q: How would he fit in to your management structure if he were to come? Because you've got a technical director. You've got all of those senior positions filled already.
MK: Yeah, I think Formula 1 these days is so broad. It is not like you have to make huge changes. I think there was a time where there was a team that had seven technical directors in the past, so I think we are very far from that. I think someone like that, you have to make any kind of effort to integrate and adjust your structure to get the best out of it.

Q: Mike, thank you very much for that. Ayao, coming to you now. First up, can we deal with some news that broke this morning? What's the situation with Uralkali and the arbitration ruling?
Ayao Komatsu: So obviously arbitration ruling was made and then we accepted it. We're not disputing it whatsoever. And then it's a complicated process to transfer the funds across. And then we're working on it and it's been taking longer than I would like. But yeah, we are fully focused on making it across as soon as possible.

Check out our Friday gallery from Zandvoort here.