Parc Ferme Interviews - Conducted by James Hinchcliffe
Lando, 14th pole of your career, first pole for McLaren here in Mexico City since 1990. And in a season where the gaps have been pretty tight in qualifying, that was a monster lap from you in Q3. Can you just talk us through it?
Lando Norris: Yeah. Thank you. I mean, I'm happy to be back on pole. It's actually been quite a long time, so a good feeling. The lap - I don't know. It was one of those laps where you don't really know what happened. It felt decent, but then when I crossed the line and saw a 15.5, I was very pleasantly surprised. So I've been feeling good all weekend, especially from today. Like FP3, Q1, Q2, Q3. I got a little bit nervous with the Ferrari in Q3 at the end, but I pulled it out when I needed, and I'm happy because of that.
You talk about it - it's been a minute since you were on pole. Last time was Belgium, and you said then, pole is sometimes a disadvantage there. We've got the longest run down to Turn 1 of anywhere on the calendar here. How much sleep are you going to lose tonight going through all the different scenarios of what could unfold in the run down to Turn 1?
LN: Not a lot. I mean, I haven't been sleeping well lately, so maybe that's the key to it all. But I won't. You know, I've had some good races here in the past, so I'll just focus on what I can control, and that's all I can do.
Alright. Well, don't leave - we're going to come back to you. Charles, congratulations. Front row start. Great run for Ferrari. It's been a track you guys have been competitive at, but at a track where the surface grip is so low, and the downforce is lower than anywhere else that you guys run, how difficult is it to not overdrive when you're trying to push 10 tenths on a qualifying lap?
Charles Leclerc: It's very difficult. This qualifying is very, very difficult, because there's very little grip, so the car is sliding a lot. And in order to put everything together, it's very tricky. But I'm pretty happy with the job we've done. I don't think there was much more in the car. There's a bit here and there, as always in qualifying, but very happy with the performance.
It's been a year since Ferrari last won a Grand Prix at this race. How much would it mean for you to bring home a victory tomorrow for the team?
CL: It would mean a lot. So we'll do everything in order to get the first place into the first corner and then we'll see what's possible.
And Lewis, P3 on the grid. This is sometimes a race where being P3, you get that double draft - it can be a bit of an advantage. Are you kind of rubbing your hands together at the possibilities into Turn 1?
Lewis Hamilton: I have no clue what you just said. but - you know what, I'm really, really happy. Thank you so much, everyone. I'm honoured to be up here with Charles and with Lando. These guys have been so quick all year, and it's an amazing feeling. This is the first time we've both been up in the top three in qualifying this year and the team truly deserves it. So, we're just working as hard as we can. Super grateful to everyone in the team for continuing to push and for not giving up. You know, we've not really moved the car forward necessarily in development, but we've extracted more from it. Our process is better this weekend, and that's what you're seeing. So, grazie a tutti.
The qualifying pace is obviously good. How do you guys feel about your race pace tomorrow?
LH: Well, it's hard to beat these two guys today, but I mean P3 is kind of the perfect spot actually at this track. So I'm hoping I can make the most of that at the start. I think our race pace is not too bad. It's difficult to know already, but I'm really hoping - you know, with this crowd - I know there's going to be an amazing crowd there tomorrow, so we'll try and give it a good race.
I was standing in the stadium during FP3, and every time you went by, that place erupted. I know a lot of people will be cheering for you tomorrow. Best of luck. Lando, we'll finish with you. Crucially, in the championship battle, you qualified ahead of both drivers that you're fighting against. Tomorrow, is it more focused on collecting points and staying ahead of them, or is it just all about going for the win?
LN: No. I'm here to win. No, I'll be looking forward. I know I'm going to have some quick guys behind me, and it's a long run down to Turn 1 and so forth. And the race pace from the Ferraris is normally very strong. So I'm expecting a battle. I'm not expecting it to be easy. But, no - eyes forward and I'll see how much I can win by.
Press Conference
Brilliant lap to take pole, Lando. Many congratulations. You even said "What a lap" over the radio. Just how good was it?
LN: That's the confusing thing. I mean, obviously it was an incredible lap. I pushed the braking everywhere. I pushed the high speed a bit more and all those things. But I don't have a delta, so I didn't know if I was up, if I was down, if it was good, bad, whatever. There were a couple of little places where I thought I messed up a touch and didn't get the best exits, like out of six, but the rest of it felt pretty decent. I was happy, but I thought I'd be more like a 15.9, 15.8. I thought if I'd get ahead of Charles, I'd be pretty happy. So when I saw 15.5 on my dash, it put a pretty big smile on my face because it was one of those laps which was - everything just came together in terms of feeling. It was very natural and similar to my lap in Monaco. A good feeling because it's been a while. It's not that often this year I get that feeling in this car, even with how quick it is. But yeah, happy because of this.
You found nearly six tenths between Run 1 and Run 2 in Q3. Whereabouts?
LN: Honestly, I don't know. I have to go and see on the data. Like I said, I just pushed the braking in a few little places a bit more. Took a couple of bits more risk in the high speed. But yeah. Quite often, the laps I do best, I don't really know what's happened or how it's happened. Like I said on the radio to Will and Jarv, the less I know, the better I do normally on my quali laps. So it was one of them. But yeah, six tenths. I was surprised. I got a bit worried Q3 Run 1 when Charles did a 15.9. I was like, "damn, that's a pretty impressive lap". So, like I said, nice when I saw 15.5.
Are you surprised by the gap to your main rivals in this championship?
LN: I mean, maybe. It's tough because I do feel like I'm doing a very good job. I feel like I have been for a good amount of weekends now, especially when I get this feeling that I had today. Actually, the whole day today. It's not just my Q3 lap that was good. FP3 was strong already and a good step better than it was yesterday. Q1, Q2, Q3 - all of my laps were good. No mistakes. No lock-ups. None of these things. And I could just, in a good way, improve. The car is incredibly quick, but it's not easy to drive. I think we both complained of that as drivers, but when you just get in that little bit of a rhythm, it's flying, and that's where I was today.
Let's throw it forward then. Can we start by talking about tyres? Some drivers have raised questions about the Medium tyre. Do you think this could be a complicated race strategically?
LN: Potentially. I mean, obviously with the Hard being a step harder, that can change a few things. But the race last year was very nice and we were very confident. Our race pace was very strong with the Medium-Hard last year. So yeah, I don't think we're too worried about anything. I think the pace has still been decent, even with missing FP1 and just kind of getting that high fuel stuff in FP2. But you never know. Many things can happen around here. It's a long race. Easy to make mistakes. A lot of overtaking opportunities, that kind of thing - but the pace is there. So as long as I get my head down and focus, then I'll be fine.
And a final one from me. The long run to Turn 1 has provided plenty of drama over the years. Just how do you plan for those opening 10 seconds or so of the race?
LN: That's tonight. That's with my engineers and my team around me to review things, see what's best. Of course, you want a good start and go from there. But it's a long run. I don't know what our straight-line speed is like compared to the Ferrari. In general, I think we've been a touch down, so we'll wait and see.
Lando, very well done to you. Thank you for that. Charles, let's come to you now. Is there a semblance of disappointment from you given that you were quickest after the first runs, that you're not on pole position today?
CL: A little bit. But yeah, after the first lap in Q3, I thought this was a really good lap. So I knew there was a little bit more to come, but not so much. But considering the gaps that were behind, I was like, "OK, let's see how it goes. I will still go flat out on the second lap and see where we end up". But I was very surprised, obviously, by the jump Lando did from the first to the second run in Q3. I just don't think we had the pace today to match that. There was a little bit here and there, but I don't think it would have been enough for pole position anyway.
How has the car been? How difficult was it to extract the lap that you did?
CL: I think the car was actually really good today. The whole weekend has been pretty strong. But on a track like this, it's very difficult because it's such a low grip track, and it's very easy to make a mistake. Whatever small mistake you do is exaggerated in terms of lap time lost. So it was very tough, but I was pretty happy with both of my laps in Q3.
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