Track Interviews - Conducted by Ho Pin Tung
Oscar, very dominant win, 1-2 for McLaren. Is this the start of your title campaign?
Oscar Piastri: I hope so. No, it's been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car's been pretty mega the whole time. I think today was a bit of a surprise with how different the tyres behaved, but no, super... yeah, just proud of the whole weekend. This is what I feel like I deserved from last week. No, extremely happy. The team did an amazing job, 1-2 obviously. So yeah, very, very happy.
Very happy with the track rubbering in. Were the tyre wear less than expected?
OP: Yes, I think on the Medium it was still a bit tricky, but much better than yesterday. And the Hard was a much better tyre than everyone expected, I think, or certainly than we expected. So yeah, to go all the way to the end like that was a bit of a surprise. But a happy surprise. So, very, very proud of the race we managed to pull off. It wasn't an easy one going in and yeah, just proud of the whole team and the weekend I've been able to pull off.
Yesterday, you joked about being 1/16th Chinese. Anything to say to your home crowd?
OP: Thank you. It's not a joke, by the way! I do have Chinese heritage somewhere. But no, thanks for the support. The crowd's been exceptional this week. There's a few too many Lewis Hamilton fans, but that's OK. We'll convert some of you next year, so thanks for coming out. The support's been incredible this year, so I have really enjoyed it. Thank you.
Lando, lots of support behind us. Can I say, two crucial moments in the race for you: the start overtaking George in T1, and then off the pit stops again into T1 on George?
Lando Norris: Yeah, a few fun moments. The start, I was kind of hoping for exactly that, so Turn 1 went to plan. But then George got me on the pit stops and I was a little bit nervous, but our pace was a lot better in the second stint. So, tough race, just with the management, and I don't think many people expected a one-stop today. So it was good. Oscar drove well. He was quick the whole race. I tried to get close, but in the end just couldn't.
Did you feel at any stage of the race you were able to challenge Oscar for the win?
LN: It doesn't matter now, really, does it? It doesn't matter. He deserved the win and he drove very well all weekend. So I'm happy with second. It's good points. It's great points for us as a team with a 1-2. So a big thanks to everyone in papaya and yeah, just how we wanted the race to go, so very happy, yeah.
And then at the end, probably the worst feeling a driver can have - a brake pedal going long. How difficult was it to nurse that?
LN: It's scary. It's like my worst nightmare. You know, whenever I have a nightmare, it's when the brakes are failing, and I was losing 2, 3, 4 seconds the last couple of laps. So I was a bit scared, but we survived and we made it to the end. I would have loved to have given it a little try and put Oscar under a little bit of pressure, but not today. So we're satisfied. Great result and we'll go again next time.
George, P3, congratulations. You looked quite racy in the beginning. Did you feel at any moment there was more possible than P3, perhaps?
George Russell: Yeah, it's a great result finishing P3, especially in front of all these fans here. It's just been amazing support for everybody this weekend, so thank you so much for that. But yeah, really great race, really pleased with the P3. We knew the McLarens were a smidge quicker than us at a few crucial points, but well done to them.
Yeah, it looked like you kind of set the path for all the others as well. You were one of the first to call that a one-stop strategy was possible.
GR: Yeah, I felt it from quite early on that a one-stop could be possible and it turned out to be slightly easier than we probably all anticipated. But nevertheless, the car's been great this weekend. Probably one of my best weekends in Formula 1 in terms of the overall performance, so I'm really pleased with that, and just really maximising every single time out on track. So pleased again to be on the podium.
Yeah, I guess a little bit of a lonely race perhaps for you. Did you expect more pressure from behind?
GR: I mean, Charles was putting me under quite a lot of pressure for a few laps after the pit stop, and obviously it was a bit dicey with Lando for a few laps, but from there on it was quite a straightforward race.
Press Conference
Many congratulations, Oscar. It was a faultless drive from pole and you described the car as very lovely. Just how special does this one feel?
OP: Yeah, very satisfying. Obviously, I think, you know, it's always a pretty good day when you cross the line first, that's obvious. But I think for me this has been the most satisfying, not just race, but weekend for myself.
You know, I think the two wins I had previously were very different, and I think this one's been the most complete. So I'm very, very happy with the whole effort of the whole team this weekend. I think we started with a car that was quick, but pretty tricky at times, and I think we did a good job of trying to tackle that. And to come away with this result is a perfect end to the weekend.
There was a lot of talk about tyre wear going into the race, yet you managed 42 laps on the hard tyre. At what point did a one-stop become apparent?
OP: I mean probably about 10 - 15 laps on the Hard. You know, I think already on the Medium it was easier than in the Sprint, but I think the Hard behaved much better than we all expected. I think George might have a different answer on that, but certainly for me, I went into it thinking it would be a two-stop and then even early in the race I still thought that, and was pleasantly surprised that the Hard was as strong as it was.
McLaren delivered a very strong performance here to take its 50th 1 - 2 finish. How much confidence does it give you going into Suzuka next time?
OP: A lot. I think we've obviously had a quick car this weekend, but like I said, it's not been as straightforward as it was in Melbourne. And I think, you know, to still have this result here is a really encouraging sign for us.
I think there's still going to be bumps along the road and things we can try and work on, but ultimately I think we're in a pretty happy place at the moment and, yeah, excited for the rest of the year.
Oscar, many congratulations. Thank you. Lando, let's come to you. Many congratulations to you. A very strong performance in what was not a straightforward Grand Prix for you. How do you reflect on the race, first of all?
LN: Tough race. Yeah. I mean, I'm just satisfied for the result, for the team. You know, 50th 1 - 2 for McLaren is quite an achievement, so happy to be part of that, first of all, and a great race by Oscar. I'm happy considering how bad my last few days have been and how much I struggled just to get comfortable and understand how to drive the car. To go to the pace I had today, which I think was very strong, it was a much better race than I was thinking I was going to have. I was not confident one bit and yeah, I was nervous that I was going to struggle just as badly, honestly. But very satisfied to know how much I've improved from a car point of view, from a driving point of view. Today was a much stronger day, so I'm more satisfied to know I've got answers for my struggles and yeah, that makes me happy. But I'm of course more happy for the 1 - 2 for the team.
Can we elaborate on this, Lando? What changes did you make to the car?
LN: That's stuff the team will know, and probably no one else, but we made a good amount of changes. Obvious ones, to try and improve the front end. I just can't drive a car with no front. I can, but I struggle, and it's just been too understeery, simply, the car, the last few days - I cannot maximise the package that way.
I think we both struggled a lot yesterday with that, and it shows that our pace today was from both of us a lot stronger than it was yesterday. So I think we're both still, as a team we're still understanding this car and knowing its limitations, how to get the most out of it. But I feel like, especially for me, in the longer run stuff and even the short run stuff, I've not been anywhere near as confident as I would like to be, and I've not got the feeling from the car that I need in order to maximise the performance. But today was a much better showing of that and a much better understanding of it. So yeah, made some tweaks with the car, mechanically and aerodynamically, and it was a much better day today. So I'm happy with it.
Much better day today until the brake issues started to reveal themselves. At what point in the race did that happen?
LN: I think they started to go quite early. But, you know, you always get a bit of a tendency for the brakes to get a tiny bit longer. I think the team were hiding it from me because they saw the problem starting a lot earlier and they knew it was going to be a problem. But like the last 10 laps, I was pretty nervous about just being able to finish the race because it was noticeable how much worse it was getting every single lap and every braking zone. It's really not a nice feeling when you're in the car and you expect a nice solid pedal and there's just nothing and it goes to the floor. Doesn't fill you with confidence, especially on a fast track like this.
So we were lucky simply to finish the race and still to finish ahead of George. We were very lucky. I think the last couple laps were 3 or 4 seconds or more off. So we had a difficult ending and I would have loved to have pushed a little bit more and tried to give Oscar a bit of a run, but not today. So something we need to understand and make sure it doesn't happen again.
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