Present: Mattia Binotto, Zak Brown and Christian Horner.

Q: Christian, let's start with you. Let's throw it back to last weekend and the victory, your first, well, your best dry performance in something like five months. Just how much of a shot in the arm was that performance for the team?
Christian Horner: Well, it was a great result. And obviously, to get that win in the Grand Prix and having turned things around from the Sprint race, I thought that Max drove a stunning race last weekend, very much in control. And we managed to turn the car around to give him a better car for qualifying and then for him to make use of that in the Grand Prix. And we've seen flashes of performance really coming over the last few races, Brazil in the dry Sprint race. We've been starting to get more understanding with the car. Austin, again, the Sprint victory that he had there. So it was great to see. It was a tough race, but a great one to win.

Q: And will it translate here in Abu Dhabi?
CH: A different type of circuit, so different challenges here. But hopefully, we've got a bit of a direction with the car now. And we've got nothing to lose this weekend. The pressure is all on these guys here. But, you know, so we just go for it. We just treat it like a cup final, basically, and try and, again, finish the season on a very positive note.

Q: Christian, you say you've got direction with the car. Does that apply for 2025 as well?
CH: Well, the regulations obviously are stable for next year. So I think '25 looks to be a fantastic championship. If you look at the convergence that we've seen this year and how tight it is between particularly the four teams, it promises to be a thriller next year. Such a long season as well. It's going to be fascinating to see what steps people make over this winter before we arrive, in a couple of months, in Bahrain.

Q: Now, in terms of championship positions, you have nothing to play for this weekend. But there's no lack of media scrutiny, thanks to this row that has broken out between Max and George Russell. Neither of them held back yesterday. Are you concerned that the row will spill over onto the racetrack this weekend?
CH: No, not at all. I think that... Look, Max, he's a very straight shooter. He just tells you exactly how he sees it. He tells the truth exactly, you know, what he feels. And obviously he had a large amount of frustration, you know, last weekend, the way things played out in a scenario that we haven't seen before and a subsequent grid penalty. And then, you know, he turned that into motivation and made a blinding start, led the race into the first corner and won the Grand Prix, which is the best possible response. Now obviously, a lot's been made of it yesterday. It's pantomime season. You know, we're getting ready for Christmas. So there's maybe an element of end-of-term blues there. But I don't think it'll have any effect on the Grand Prix itself.

Q: And does it bother you when Toto Wolff describes you as a, and I'm quoting him, a "yapping little terrier"?
CH: Well, look, I love terriers. I think they're great dogs. And I've had four of them. I had a couple of Airedales, which are the king of the terriers. I had a couple of West Highland terriers, called Bernie and Flavio. And the good thing about a terrier is they're tremendously loyal. I mean, Bernie, he was an aggressive little dog. He'd go for anybody. And Flavio, he was a bit more chilled out. He probably ate a bit too much as well. But look, I think to be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing? They're not afraid of having to go at the bigger dogs? I'd rather be a terrier than a wolf, maybe.

Q: Look, Christian, final one from me. There's still a lot of speculation about Checo Perez's future. Yesterday, Liam Lawson said that he'll know about his future next week. You also have Yuki Tsunoda testing the car next week. Have you already made up your mind or will results this weekend and will Yuki's performance in the test next week still have an influence?
CH: First of all, the test with Yuki has been planned for some time. So it's been on the cards for, I think, three months or something like that. So that's something that's been scheduled. Now, obviously, Checo is our driver. He remains our driver, contracted to the team. And obviously, this season hasn't gone to anyone's plan, particularly with Checo's performance and since Monaco, it's been very, very tough for him. And so inevitably, once we get this race out of the way, we'll sit down and discuss the future. But Checo has been a very important part of our team. He's done a tremendous job for us. If you think back, you know, only three years to that 2021 final, you know, two Constructors' Championship that he's contributed to as well. So there's huge respect for Checo within the team and nobody likes to see him struggling like the way he has. And, you know, we'll sit down and discuss things after the season.

Q: Have you made up your mind already?
CH: We're fortunate that we've got a tremendous pool of talent. It was good to see Isack Hadjar getting a run out as well in free practice there. We've got two talented drivers in VCARB. But until the situation is clear with Sergio and what he wants to do, everything else is purely speculation.

Q: Alright, Christian, thank you for that. Andrea, let's now come to you. It's all come down to the last race? How are the nerves? What's the mood in the camp?
Andrea Stella: I was in a meeting with the entire team yesterday evening. And the message I wanted to share with the team is how impressed I am with the maturity that I see when I interact with all the team members. It's been a fast, steep trajectory for us. We had a lot to learn. It's almost a change of status. For the team, in terms of our competitiveness and what we are competing for, I see that people have learned very fast, even from our people have learned very fast, even from a mindset point of view. And this had led us to be calm at this final race, focused, and full of energy.

Q: And Charles Leclerc now has a 10-place grid penalty for a change of battery. Does that take the pressure off a little bit?
AS: Not at all. I guess you expected this answer. Not at all. We talk about Charles Leclerc. We talk about Ferrari. It's a very strong combination. I think even with the penalty, I wouldn't be surprised if we can see them very rapidly fighting for the front, for the top positions. So nothing changes. We keep remaining calm, focused and full of energy.

Q: Now, Andrea, you've had a lot of success in your career, including many championship titles with Ferrari. What would it mean to you to win the Constructors' Championship as a team principal at McLaren?
AS: Well, I understand that this is a personal question, like you asked about meaning for me. But very genuinely, I can say that my thoughts are in relation to the team, what this means for the team. McLaren is iconic, prestigious, one of the most important teams in Formula 1. We have not won a championship since 1998. So I guess the meaning is making a piece of history. And for me personally, and for the entire team, we will be extremely proud to add to this great legacy.

Q: Can I bring it back to you? Would it be your proudest achievement in Formula 1?
AS: I think all the achievements are so difficult in Formula 1. It's so competitive. It will be completely different though, completely different position. When I was winning at Ferrari, Mattia was sitting next to me for some of the championships. And now we are sitting next to each other in a completely different role and capacity. Very different, but certainly will be one of the ones that I will be most proud of in my professional career.

Q: Alright. Thank you very much. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you in a minute. Mattia, welcome back to the FIA Press Conference. Can we start just by getting your thoughts on Zhou's eighth place in Qatar last weekend and how much of a boost it was for the team to get its first points of the season?
Mattia Binotto: It has been an important race for us. It has been an important result. We were at zero points all through the season and when it's like that it's somehow very painful for the entire team and you would like to see progress, and more than that trying to score points. I think we had some great updates in the last races, especially from Las Vegas. We know somehow for us to score points we need someone ahead of us making mistakes or something happening, but being just behind, somehow, to take the opportunity. And it's what happened in Qatar. And then scoring points has been great, four points which are very important, showing that the progress is going in the right direction, showing that whatever we're delivering is somehow correlating as well with the wind tunnel and the simulator, which for us is very encouraging. So it's encouraging for the team. It has been emotional as well, I have to say, for the entire team. I saw really people in the garage being emotional. someone crying. It has been emotional as well for myself, finishing P8. I was not used to be emotional to finish in P8, but now it's happening, because we know where we are, we know where it's coming from. And again, as I said, I think it's four points which are very important, looking ahead, looking at the wintertime, looking at the next seasons.

Q: You talk about the wind tunnel, you talk about the simulator. You've now been at the team for just over four months. What are your first impressions of Hinwil and the job that the team has ahead of it before 2026?
MB: I think the impressions after four months are very similar to the one after two weeks at the end, because when you join, the first impressions you've got often are the right one. Obviously I've got the benchmark of my past life, different team, but certainly a top competitor. and the comparison is straightforward in all the areas. I don't think there is something, it's about everything at the end. The team in there is a great team. The people are great people. I think we've got good people for our foundations for the future, but then you look at the gap and dimensions, it's 400 people less to a top team. It's a lot of less manufacturing capacity, engineering capacity, a simulator which is very old. So I think the entire facility, so it's everything at the end that's required. But we knew that, we know that, we know it's a long journey for us. It's not something that you can turn in a couple of months or a couple of seasons. We always said that our objective is becoming successful by 2030, the end of the decade. But I think it's exactly what it's required in terms of time to get there. And even that time, I think, is very challenging, by the way.

Q: Mattia, you talk about the people. Valtteri Bottas said a while back that you need to instil a winning mentality into everyone at Hinwil. Do you agree with him? And how big a job is that if you do?
MB: I fully agree with him. As a matter of fact, I think that team in the last year's decade has been there surviving, in a survival mode. So at the end, it was about surviving, participating, trying to get the best out of it. But a winning mentality, a winning mindset, it's a different approach. So there is certainly a lot that needs to be done in terms of culture, in terms of behaviours. Again, I think it's going together with what we just mentioned before. It's a long journey, we know about that, and acting on behaviours, maybe it's even the most difficult. But we have started our journey. I think we've got a few projects. You mentioned the last four months. I have to say that since I started already, a lot has happened since then, which is not only the improvement at the racetrack, signing Bortoleto, having a new line-up for next year. It's about Qatar as well, investment and partnership, which for us it's a lot of capital injection but showing that overall as a team we are moving in in that direction with I think the right approach, the right thinking, thinking big, which is exactly the mindset we're discussing about.

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