30/11/2024
NEWS STORY
Track interviews conducted by James Hinchcliffe
And third place today in the Sprint race, George Russell for Mercedes. Look, you had a very exciting race there with Oscar Piastri. Lost the position off the start, but just walk us through some of those battles and those runs down to turn one.
George Russell: I mean, it was very close to Turn 1 on a couple of occasions. It was obviously so frustrating every lap, Lando backing up, giving Oscar the DRS. Obviously, I understand why they did that. But when you're out here, you're fighting, you want to give it everything, and you want to put a race on, for the fans, it was just pretty infuriating. But nevertheless, it was P3 this afternoon is going to be the important one.
Tyres are a big talking point here at Qatar. How did the tyres hold up? You had those Mediums for the entire 19 laps. Did they hold up the whole time, or did you learn a lot for this afternoon as well?
GR: They were definitely dropping a little bit, to be honest. I struggled towards the end, but I think Lando had some good pace. Oscar was struggling a little bit. So it would have been good to be able to go head-to-head with Lando and see what the true pace would have been, as I think he had quite a lot in the pocket, just giving Oscar for DRS.
Yeah, well, less than a tenth off pole yesterday, let's see what you got tonight. Second place, Lando Norris. That was an exciting final lap. But look, let's start at the beginning. Good getaway. You seemed to lead the race comfortably. Did you have a lot of pace in hand as you held back to just try to keep DRS range for Oscar?
Lando Norris: A little bit. It's always difficult to know. But we scored a 1-2. That's what we were aiming for today. We scored maximum points. So we're happy. We're happy as a team. We've executed things perfectly. And I think the pace was good. I probably could have pushed a little bit more than what I was doing. But we wanted to keep the others behind, so we tried to help out and not let George get too close, you know. So we did our job, and that's the main thing.
Yeah, it was close at the end there, though. A little bit of payback maybe for Brazil. How tight was it? Were you concerned that you were not going to be able to orchestrate that? I mean, it was a tenth and a second between you and Oscar and only three more back to George. That was tight.
LN: I know. It was probably a bit closer than what I was wanting. Yeah, but I planned to do it since Brazil, you know. But, yeah, just what I thought was best is probably a little bit sketchy. The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it, and we did. So, honestly, I don't mind. I'm not here to win Sprint races. I'm here to win races and a championship, but that's not going to plan, you know? So I did the best to be good, and I look forward to tomorrow.
OK. Real quick, let's talk about the physicality of this place. It's so fast. It's so tough on the drivers. You've done 19 laps. How was it?
LN: It was tough, yeah. My neck's not too happy, you know, so yes, it's going to be a difficult race tomorrow. I mean, these conditions, these cold conditions, the wind, it's a lot quicker than last year. And it's even more physical, which I didn't think was possible, you know. So it's tricky, but that's a challenge we got to deal with. I need to hit the gym maybe a bit more, but all good otherwise.
Congratulations and best of luck this afternoon.
LN: Thank you, man.
And you are the winner for the second time in a Sprint format, second time in a row here in Qatar, Oscar Piastri. Look, it started right off the green. You got that great move around George. And then really for you, it was all about defence for the first part of the race.
Oscar Piastri: It was about defence for the whole race, to be honest. Yeah, I had a good start and a good Turn 1, obviously. And then, yeah, just didn't quite have the pace. I think I killed the front a little bit early on. And then, yeah, I was struggling a bit for the rest of the Sprint. But some great teamwork. You know, I think without that help, it would have been a much more difficult Sprint. So, yeah, nice to have a McLaren 1-2.
Now when you drive around in race format, you're three, three and a half seconds slower than what you guys are going to be doing and qualifying here in a few hours. So mentally, how do you change? How do you prepare for the next time that you strap in the car just in a few hours here to be driving that much faster?
OP: To be honest, here it's probably the smallest change from qualifying to the race. I think in a lot of places it's six or seven seconds and the grip feels much different here. We're still pushing pretty much flat out in the race. So it'll be a change for sure. But yeah, I think we've got a few tweaks we want to try and make and hopefully make the car a bit quicker and make the driver a bit quicker as well.
And now that you got a sense of it from qualifying yesterday, do you think there's enough in it? I know you said a couple of little mistakes on your lap. Have you got a legitimate shot at pole?
OP: I think so. Yeah, it's very, very tight. You know, I think from first to fifth or sixth was only two or three tenths. So there's not much margin for error. But I think we've got a few things we can improve a bit. And yeah, I think we're in for a shout. But everyone's keeping us on our toes.
Press Conference
Well done, Oscar. That was a very intense race for you, ending in 15 important points for McLaren. So, so far, so good with regards to your battle in the Constructors' Championship.
OP: Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, that was the result we wanted today. It was a bit harder work than I would have liked, but yeah, I think that was the target. Had a good start, good first corner. And then, yeah, I hung on for the rest. So I think a lot of good teamwork that kept us in the game and some things we probably want to work on for later tonight. But yeah, as far as points go, that was as good as it could have gone.
Can we just break it down a little bit more? You talk about Turn 1. Just talk us through the move on George Russell right there at the beginning?
OP: Yeah, I had a good start. And then, yeah, I basically got a bit of clean air on the outside and was able to just get on the throttle and drive around. To be honest, there was more grip out there than I expected. You know, a lot of the moves on the outside last year ended in tears, so I was pretty happy that I just stayed on the track, let alone made up a spot. So, yeah, that got me into second, but the rest of the race was pretty hard work from there.
A little bit more on that, if we could. Could you have kept George behind you without the DRS from Lando?
OP: I guess we'll never know, is the line. It would have been tough. Very, very quick in a straight line, very quick in the high speed. So, yeah, the teamwork definitely helped a lot today, because George was very fast.
And are you happy with the car? Are you going to make changes before qualifying a little bit later?
OP: Probably a couple of changes, yes. I think compared to last year, it's a very different track for everybody in terms of grip. So I think we're probably still chasing a few things here and there. Probably a bit of work on the driver as well. But yeah, nothing crazy to try and fix.
Oscar, very well done to you. Thank you very much. Lando, if we can come to you now. A brilliant team performance, but first up, does it hurt to give away a win like that?
LN: No.
Because you've made up your mind before the start that you were going to pay back after Brazil?
LN: I made my mind up in Brazil when it happened. It's a Sprint. I only care so much more about the Grand Prix, as does everyone. After it happened in Brazil, I made my mind up that I needed to do something to give it back.
OK, well, let's talk about your performance in that race. Great start, you seemed to have a lot of pace. Is that a decent summary?
LN: I think so. I mean, having clean air is a beautiful thing, so I could control things quite a lot. And I did as much as I could to help Oscar. I knew George was going to be quick this race. I tried in Turn 1 already to stay quite tight. I knew George was on the inside. So instead of running wide and giving Oscar the dirty air, I tried to stay tight and give George the dirty air. So that seemed to work. And we got a 1-2 from there, which was lovely. And the rest, I think I could build a gap. Probably not a big gap, but I could slowly make some progress, but George was still very fast through the middle part of the race and towards the end, so backed off a few times to try and get Oscar the DRS again, because our target was to finish 1-2 today, and that's exactly what we did.
Just a final one from me. Any changes you're going to make to your car ahead of qualifying?
LN: I have no idea. I've not had time to think. We'll look into where our weaknesses are and see what we can fine-tune.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Qatar here.
Alright. Very well done to you. Thank you very much. George, let's come to you now. You gave it everything to try and get past Oscar there. Are you frustrated at some of his defensive tactics? You said a bit on the radio during the race.
GR: Yeah, I mean, I need to look back at it, to be honest, and see what it looked like from the outside. Obviously, we went wheel-to-wheel and into Turn 1 on one of the laps, I was on the inside and he closed the door pretty aggressively. We made contact. We was lucky to both stay in the race there and then a few laps later I committed to the inside and he pulled across pretty late. And when you're doing, you know, 330, 320 into Turn 1, and there's a big speed difference and there's a closing of the door so late it's pretty sketchy. But like Lando said, it's just the Sprint. I take a lot of positives from the result because I think if Lando wasn't being a team player, I think we'd have got past Oscar and could have had a good fight with Lando.
You say you take a lot of positives. How good is the car this weekend? Is the car as quick relative to the opposition as it was in Vegas last weekend?
GR: But it definitely isn't because in Vegas we were super dominant. And here, you know, if you took Vegas aside, we'd be extremely pleased with the performance we're showing so far this weekend. But as we know in this sport, things change very quick. And, you know, Sprint quali, Sprint race has been great. It's a new session this afternoon. This is the important one. And I hope we can have, you know, a bit of a repeat of what we did yesterday.
And you were in dirty air for the whole race. How did the Medium tyre hold up?
GR: Yeah, it wasn't easy, to be honest. It's a very fast, demanding circuit. Definitely felt like it was dropping a bit towards the end. I saw Oscar in front struggling as well. He went off the track a few times through Turn 10. and Turn 5. So, you know, it wasn't easy, but ultimately we didn't really get a chance to push this to its limit because obviously, you know, Lando was giving Oscar the DRS. So if we were sort of pushing a little bit more, it would have been interesting to see how the Medium held.
And George, are you happy with the car or do you feel the need to make changes ahead of qualifying?
GR: No, it's generally in a pretty decent window this weekend. We've not changed it substantially. We know on these types of circuits where it's nice and smooth, not many bumps, the car performs well. So, you know, we're in a good rhythm. Maybe some fine tuning.
Questions From The Floor
(Alex Kalinauckas - Autosport) A question to Lando, please, just about obviously the swap and how long you've been thinking about it, but also the discussion you've been having with the team. You said that they told you not to do it. Did things come up in pre-race discussions or spur of the moment, and they told you not to do it on the radio?
LN: No, it wasn't something that was really discussed. I didn't have to do it if I didn't want to. I told my engineer that I would do it. So he was the main one that probably knew about it. And I told him before the race if we have a bit of a gap and we're first and second, and then I would try and do it. So he knew and he was telling me not to do it because I think the gap to George was probably a bit too fine for their liking. But, you know, Oscar did his part in trying to help me get closer to Max in the championship and give that opportunity a go. You know, I deserved that right to have a chance and that's how we have to work as a team, when one of us has that opportunity. And I returned the favour today. I don't think any of us are proud of necessarily winning a Sprint race or we're also not too unhappy on giving up a Sprint race win. But we work together well as a team, and I think that's probably one of our biggest strengths over everyone is how well we work together. I don't think any other team would do such a thing and help each other as much as we've done this year for one another. And, yeah, it's our strength, and we'll continue to do that.
(Christian Menath - Motorsport-magazin.com): George, have you been surprised that you didn't gain that much on the straights even when Oscar didn't have DRS? Strong headwind, high downforce, you with DRS and you didn't gain that much?
GR: Yeah, I think also you need to remember when Oscar didn't have DRS, he was maybe only 1.1, 1.2 seconds behind Lando. So just from being in the slipstream that close, Oscar himself would have still been gaining maybe one and a half tenths into Turn 1 over Lando, who's in completely clean air. So yeah, not massively surprised. It was very challenging and ultimately the gap was just too close.
(Adam Cooper - Adam Cooper F1) We've heard from George already on this, but can I ask Lando and Oscar about the driving guideline meeting on Thursday? Was that a positive discussion? Did you get the clarity that you wanted?
LN: Yeah, progress was made. It's an ongoing thing. It's not something that's finalized now and that's it. It's something that we're working with FIA on. So it's a good step that we had the meeting in the first place. All the drivers were on board and I think we made progress as a sport on trying to make things fairer, but also better for everyone watching.
OP: Yeah, it was a good meeting. I think any kind of discussions like that is always good in terms of building a relationship with the stewards and the Race Director. Like George said on Thursday, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. I think for the majority of situations, it's been good having these guidelines and they just need a couple of tweaks or adjustments. In racing, there are so many scenarios that you can come across and trying to write rules for every scenario is difficult, which I think we fully acknowledge as drivers. But I think we all felt that there was a couple of things that could have been tweaked to make everyone's life a little bit easier. So I think a very productive meeting and progress.
(Luke Smith - The Athletic) Oscar, just for your side of that late switch, I'm presuming that you had an idea that it was going to be happening. And what was going through your mind when you realised what Lando was doing?
OP: I was aware it could happen. I was a bit surprised that with George half a second [behind] it did, but I was aware it was a possibility. So it wasn't completely unexpected, maybe a little bit in the circumstances of the race. But yeah, you know, I think it just speaks of our teamwork and fairness for the team. It obviously doesn't change the points and yeah, I think it just shows off our teamwork and lack of egos within the team.
(Matt Coch - Speedcafe) Lando and Oscar, if I may, just building on the teamwork point that you've mentioned a couple of times, there's been a couple of instances where you've sort of work for and against, well not against, but for each other and against others for the benefit of McLaren rather than an individual, you know, Baku, Sao Paulo, etc. What does that say about the culture within the team, within the respect between the two of you, with a view to next year and a potential championship tilt again?
OP: I mean I think you know this year there's been a lot of noise about how we go racing as a team and whether it's right mostly whether it's wrong. but I think we've always been very comfortable with how we've done things. you know it's always been very clear that the team comes first and in some scenarios, that means myself helping Lando. In some scenarios, that means Lando helping me. I think it's a big strength that we have, that we're willing and so cooperative with each other. Whilst it maybe doesn't mean the world to us sometimes, I think for the whole culture and what it displays for the rest of the team is incredibly important. And, you know, I think if you've got both drivers so willing to work together and help each other out, then it's the best example for the rest of the team, because it's not just about us two, it's about the hundreds and thousands of people trying to help us win. And, you know, we're trying to make it so that we can just fight for first and second and not have to worry about everyone else. Of course, everybody is, but I think it just speaks a lot of the teamwork culture.
LN: No, Oscar's put it very well, honestly. Yeah, I mean, next year is a refresh and, you know, Oscar has an opportunity to fight for a championship too. A lot of what you guys write about and talk about has been because of the championship fight, the Drivers' Championship fight, and that's where a lot of talk and things started. And I earned my right to have some of those privilege... S**t. Sorry.
GR: That's a fine.
LN: Sorry. Privileges. I earned my right by doing a good job through the whole season. To be given that opportunity. I don't go around asking for it. And it's certainly not how I said, like I've said in previous interviews, it's certainly not how I want to win a championship. I want to go out and give Max a fair fight and do my part and earn it my way. Sometimes there's inclusions, which is Oscar helping me on a couple of occasions. Everyone spoke like it was going to be every race. We went into Baku and it was actually the opposite way around. I did a little bit there and then Oscar helped me win in Brazil. Sadly, things turned for the worse on Sunday and the opportunity was gone, but I've repaid it today. So I think, like I said, it's our strength as a team. I don't think other teams work this way. And it's definitely a part of why we are where we are as a team now, why we are the top team in Formula 1, and why we're fighting for the win in the Constructors'.
(Haonan Jin - Tencent) Question to George. Just like last year in Singapore, you've been once again stuck by a DRS train created by the leader, this time with teammates. Do you think there's any method you can try to get out of this situation while being in third place for the race?
GR: There's nothing you can do. As a driver, DRS trains are immensely frustrating for drivers, for fans. I remember in 2017, I raced in GP3 and you could only use your DRS on so many laps in the race and that was quite interesting because in that series every car would have been in a DRS train but you had to be strategic about when you use your DRS. Usually, if you're you know overtaking one car, you use it on one occasion, you don't need every lap. But on occasions like today let's say you could only use your DRS four laps out of the 19, Lando wouldn't have been able to help Oscar in the way that he did. So I don't know. I haven't even given this any thought, but I do know generally in sprint races, especially in the midfield, you see this DRS train and it's a bit frustrating.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Qatar here.