Track Interviews - Conducted by David Coulthard
Kimi Antonelli, congratulations on your first Grand Prix victory.
Kimi Antonelli: Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm speechless. I'm about to cry, to be honest. But yeah, thank you so much to my team because they helped me to achieve this dream.
You're the first Italian to win for 20 years, so a hugely significant moment for your country as well.
KA: Yeah, I'm super happy. I said yesterday that I really wanted to bring Italy back on top, and we did today. Even though I gave myself a little bit of a heart attack towards the end with a flat spot, it was a good race.
What was incredible was how mature you were. You had to fight hard with George into the first corner, giving up position to the Ferraris, but that decision there won you this big lead towards the end and ultimately the Grand Prix.
KA: Yeah, it was difficult. It was not an easy start and probably I covered a bit too much on the inside and gave too much room to the Ferrari. But at the end the pace was good and we managed to bring it home.
I'm going to come back to you, so stay there. George, well, it was a busy one for you. You had the two duelling Ferraris to deal with. It looked to me like you had to take a bit more out of your tyres when you were in that battle. First of all, your thoughts on Kimi's first victory. You remember getting yours. And then get into your Grand Prix.
George Russell: First, a huge congratulations to Kimi because it's always very special to win your first race, and obviously he's been driving really amazingly this year and this weekend especially. Yeah, pleased to be standing on the podium with him and also with this guy as well. So, it was a tough battle. Obviously, we both had really bad starts again and the Ferraris shot past, but at the end of the day getting the one-two again is all we could ask for.
Okay George, thank you. Lewis, I never thought I'd be saying "welcome back to the podium". Last year was a bit uncomfortable at times, other than the Sprint victory, but the first two races of this season have shown the fight is there. It was wheel-to-wheel stuff with your team-mate and he came on the radio and said he was enjoying the battle. How was it for you?
Lewis Hamilton: Well firstly, I have to say a huge congratulations to Kimi. I'm so, so happy for you, buddy, and I'm so honoured to be able to share this moment with him. He took my seat, obviously, at this great team. So big congratulations to Mercedes, they're really pulling ahead at the moment. We've got a lot of work to do to try and keep up, but I had so much fun. We had a great start. I wasn't able to keep these guys behind, but to stay in the fight is one of the most enjoyable races that I've had in a long, long time, if ever. The fact that the cars are the way they are this year, and that battle with Charles at the end was awesome. Great wheel-to-wheel battle, very fair and just what we want. We've got to keep pushing. Also, this is the most people I've ever seen here in Shanghai, so they loved it.
They love you. There were moments when you were battling with your team-mate where we were standing back in the commentary box and we thought, "How can you guys not end up touching?" That was real, real racing.
LH: I think there was one moment we did touch, but it was subtle, just a kiss, so it's okay. But that's what this is about. It's about tough racing. I've got to say a huge thank you to everyone at Ferrari, everyone back at Maranello, for getting us into this position. I know it's not exactly where we want to be. We want to be up front where these guys are, but we've got a great platform to work off and we've just got to literally go full gas. So, to everyone back home, thank you.
Lewis, enjoy that podium. Kimi, coming back to you, you've had time to reflect on your first victory now, so has it sunk in? What does this mean now for the dreams of a championship campaign with George?
KA: Yeah, I mean, we're just at the beginning. We keep pushing. George is an incredible driver, very strong in all aspects, so it's going to take a lot to beat him. But it's such a great opportunity to be working with him as well because I've been learning a lot from him. Looking forward to the rest of the season now. I always focus race by race and then we'll see where we end up at the end of the year.
Press Conference
What a day for you, Kimi. Many congratulations. How sweet was the view from the top step of the podium?
KA: Yeah, I'm super, super happy. Such an incredible day and very grateful for achieving my first win. The team did an incredible job. The car is super quick and it's allowing us to fight for wins. I'm really happy because they also helped me to achieve one of my big dreams. Yeah, just super, super happy.
Did you always have confidence in the car and how it would end up, even when Lewis took the lead at the start?
KA: Yeah, I mean, the start is still our weak point and to be fair I didn't go with great confidence because my two previous starts were really bad, so I didn't know what to expect. But obviously, I covered a little bit too much on the inside and left too much space on the outside, so probably need to review that. But pace was still good, especially I felt good on the Hards, even though at the end I relaxed a bit too much and did a mistake which put a bit of pressure. But still managed to bring it home.
You seemed very calm and composed throughout. What do you think is the biggest lesson you've learned today with win number one?
KA: There's so much that I've learned, but first of all it's never to relax too much because today it went well, but it could have been worse. So just always try to stay on point and keep the focus because today at the end I opened the room for mistakes and the mistake happened. I just need to make sure it doesn't happen again. And then of course also just trying to focus on doing things right, procedure-wise, warm-up, bringing the tyre into the stint. I think it was a massive lesson. Also today was very cold and it was a good lesson to see what was the best way to keep the tyres in a good window.
Are you going to take time to pause to celebrate tonight?
KA: Well, I'm flying home tonight, but definitely tomorrow I will take time to celebrate. Also, I think it will take a little bit of time to realise what has just happened. But yeah, super happy and of course massive thanks to the team, all the boys and girls in Brackley and Brixworth, and of course massive thanks to my family. Looking forward to the next one.
Very well done. Thank you for that. Kimi, George, let's come to you now. I know you wanted to win the Grand Prix today, but can we start just by getting your thoughts on Kimi getting that first win and his pace today?
GR: Yeah, really special day for Kimi, so huge congratulations to him. It's obviously a day he's going to remember forever. Again, it was just the Ferraris made our life very difficult once again. Three races down and three of those times they've taken the lead from us. But I felt in a pretty good place, so I got back into P2. Then, also the Safety Car timing, it was just a bit unfortunate, and coming out behind Colapinto and Ocon hindered my chances. But all things considered this weekend, after what happened in quali, P2 is a very solid result.
As you say, you spent quite a lot of time amongst the Ferraris. What did you learn about their pace and where they were fast?
GR: Well, I was just waiting for the two of them to collide and somehow they didn't. It was some of the most aggressive racing I've seen for a while. If I wasn't trying to win the race, I'd have been enjoying the battle, but obviously watching Kimi pull away during those points it was a little bit annoying. But Ferrari definitely very quick. They're quicker in the corners than us, slower than us on the straight, so it just made it a little bit challenging. And when you're trying to get past two of them at the same point, that wasn't straightforward. But as it stands, we have the upper hand, but we can't take that for granted because obviously we know some things are going to be changing in a couple of months. The upgrades are massive at the moment, so yeah, let's see where it falls out.
And did the time you lost among the Ferraris cost you the opportunity of challenging Kimi a little closer?
GR: I think it would have been very difficult to challenge Kimi, to be honest. He's been very quick this weekend and when you've got two cars that are very similar pace, trying to get past on the same tyres is a little bit challenging. But obviously that time I lost with the Ferraris just gave me no chance. But as I said, I'm pleased just to be in P2 because it could have been a lot worse, and overall, it's been a solid weekend.
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