Part 1: Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman.

Ollie, why don't we start with you? You've got some upgrades on the Haas this weekend. In what areas of performance are you hoping to see a little bit of an upgrade?
Ollie Bearman: Yeah. Happy to be here in Austin. It's a home race for the team. I was here last year as a reserve driver and just watching and being around the circuit is pretty special. So I'm excited to drive here this year. And, yeah, we have an upgrade as well on the car, which hopefully will bring us a bit more performance everywhere.

You had a great race in Zandvoort a few races back as well. Just looking at the bigger picture, can you give us your thoughts on how your season has gone from a driving point of view this year?
OB: Yeah. I think it's been a bit up and down. But since the summer break, I've found a good level of consistency, and I've also changed the way I've been approaching things a little bit and found a bit more consistent performance in that. Also within the team, some things are changing as well, so I'm in a really good place at the moment. I'm really happy with how things are going. That's nice. What I was aiming for at the start of the season was to see a big improvement in myself and my level of driving and capabilities and I've seen that. So that's good.

Fernando, can I bring you in on this? Just your season as a whole - you are 11th in the championship. You've outqualified your team-mate 18-0. Just how do you view your performance this year?
Fernando Alonso: I don't know. I mean, it's difficult to always measure your performance, as we have ups and downs, as everybody does, depending on the circuit and the characteristics... the weekend, the layout, the car performs a little bit better or worse. It seems that you are performing better or worse because of the car. But, yeah. I mean, it will not be a season to be remembered.

What about this weekend? Given the recent run of races, how hopeful are you of getting more points here at COTA?
FA: Let's see. I think we had some challenges in the last two years here. Even in 2023, when the car was performing well, we struggled here. So yeah, we need to do something different than the last two events here to really score points. At the same time, we come from Singapore being on the fast pace there. So, it's a Sprint weekend, which I think normally is an advantage for us - knowing the circuit and having the first qualifying already the second time we go in the car on Friday night. So, yeah, I'm ready to take an opportunity if it comes.

You say do something different - you mean from a set-up point of view? Can you give any insight into what you might change?
FA: Yes. I think the level of complexity of the set-up will not be understood. So, yeah, I don't think we need to explain it here.

Franco, let's come to you now. It feels like you're finding your groove at Alpine, having outqualified Pierre in four of the last five races. What performance have you been able to unleash since the summer break?
Franco Colapinto: Yeah. It's been better. I found just a bit more consistency in the car. It's been tricky to drive for me - just really struggling to find the consistency of the car, I think, from track to track, session to session, it was starting to be really unpredictable. I think I'm just starting to find my feet in the last few races after the summer break. Just before, I could start to feel that the pace was improving. I think we are working really well with my engineers. We also know that the car - we need to find more pace out of the package that we've got. It's not at the moment where want or where we expect to be at this point of the year. So we are trying to work hard, trying to understand our issues, trying to come to the races that we know are a bit more beneficial for our car - trying to be spot on with the set-up and trying to be ready from P1, where we think is best. But, yeah, we are struggling to kind of bring that pace from track to track. On my side, of course, learning and understanding the car better session after session. But, yeah, it's been tough. Clearly an improvement though. That's why the races have been positive on the personal side. But, of course, not happy with the results as a team at the moment.

Franco, what about next year? As you say, the direction of travel is positive for you. What have Flavio and Steve said to you about what you need to do in these last six races to retain your seat at Alpine next year?
FC: Nothing, just I think keep doing what I'm doing. I'm working very well with the team, so very happy about that. And I think especially looking at these last five rounds, we really struggled for pace and to see that we are not giving up. Everyone in the team is staying motivated - the engineers, the mechanics - they keep pushing us as if we were scoring points, but we are not at the moment. But it's good to see the motivation that they all have to keep pushing, keep finding more performance out of the car. And I think it's something that we are all doing, and something that, when the car is good next year, it will be very important to have. So I think it's a good preparation for when our moment comes. The moment is not there yet, but I trust that the car next year will be quick.

Questions From The Floor

(David Croft - Sky Sports F1) Fernando, let's go back to the end of the race in Singapore. There was a lot of "I do not believe it" coming out. Lewis was struggling to get home with brakes that had failed. Would you prefer the FIA to take a more serious view in an instance like that? You were clearly quite irked on the team radio. Was the five-second penalty enough for a driver driving with no brakes for the last three laps of the race? Ollie, you can answer this one as well.
FA: No. I mean, I was happy with the penalty. I gained the position. So even one second was enough. Not needed, the extra four.

OB: I needed a few more so I could overtake him as well.

FC: I need more than a few.

(Mara Sangiorgio -Sky Sport F1 Italy) Question for all three of you: with six races to go, who do you think will win the title, and why? What's your feeling?
FA: Difficult to guess. I mean, that will be the question that we all want to know in advance. I would say that the two McLarens have a little bit of an advantage, just because of the points advantage. So, yeah, I would say it's between the two of them. But, yeah, Max is an incredible driver, and if there is anyone that can overcome the deficit of the car, it's him. So, yeah, let's see.

Fernando, you've been involved in many title fights. Just give us some insight into how the business end of the season changes the approach of a driver if you're in the running for the championship.
FA: Yeah. It does a little bit. You approach the weekend taking care of every single detail. It's not that you don't do that at the beginning of the year, but you understand that it's a long championship and you can afford some ups and downs. Now there is no room for mistakes anymore if you are chasing the leaders. So, yeah, there is a little bit of pressure on that. On the same way, if you are leading the championship, even if you have a little bit of margin, you don't want to lose that point advantage. So there is a different atmosphere for sure on the weekends, but it's a lovely place to be.

Franco, your thoughts, please?
FC: I don't know. I guess it's between the three of them.

Are we going to get a name from you?
FC: No. Not from me.

Fernando, we didn't get a name from you?
FA: No.

Ollie, your thoughts?
OB: I don't know, but I think it will be fun to watch. But, yeah, I think it's cool what Max is doing at the moment - getting back some points. I hope it goes down to the wire for all three of them and may the best win.

(Nelson Valkenburg - Viaplay) Question for all three of you. We're talking about onboard radios. In the current climate with social media, everything is being aired. How do you feel about the fact that everything you say can be broadcast and may haunt you forever?
OB: Yeah. I don't think it's ideal. It's that age-old thing: I think if a footballer or another sportsman had a mic on and was able to broadcast, the views would be very different. It's tough. We cannot open the microphone and say it in our head, but with the amount of adrenaline and pressure we're under in this sport, when you open the radio and want to share your frustration or feelings with your engineer, you're not thinking about the other people, the whole population of the world that could potentially hear it. So it's a shame that it's broadcasted, and for me, it should be cracked down a little bit. Yeah, that's my view.

FC: Yeah. It's tricky. It's tricky to measure as well sometimes what we say. I think it's a sport that has very different things compared to other sports. Two minutes before we jump in the car, we are with fans, with people. We are not fully focused on what we have to do. Any other sportsmen - tennis, football - they are fully focused before, they don't see anyone, they are with their team, and they are just focused on what they have to do next. We have many external things we have to deal with. The radio is one of them, and to get the chance for it to be open for all the world and everyone being able to listen to what we say - it's sometimes tough. We never think about it being broadcast to the whole world. It's tricky, but I think we have to measure some of what we say a bit too much. Should we also measure what the TV puts out or not? Sometimes it will sound a bit too wild, what we say. So, yeah.

FA: Yeah. I agree with both of them. Unnecessary sometimes, poorly broadcasted and chosen by the one choosing which radios to broadcast. Misunderstood 99.9% of the time because they are private conversations with your engineer or your team that maybe you went through on Sunday morning in the strategy meeting. You know? "What happens if we come out of the pit stop in this scenario?" or "What happens if on lap one we overtake two cars or we miss two positions?" So you have alternative plans on the strategy that, obviously, when you only broadcast one sentence, it's impossible to understand at home and the repercussion that it has. But, yeah, sometimes when the radio broadcast is the protagonist of the race, that also is very sad, that the race was so poor in terms of entertainment. So, yeah, that's something we need to improve all as a group in the sport.