DRIVERS
 
1 – George RUSSELL (Mercedes)
2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari) 
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Ferrari)

PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Giancarlo Fisichella)

Q: George Russell, great job, great lap. It’s still under investigation because of the yellow flag but how do you feel?
George RUSSELL: I feel incredible. It was such an amazing lap. I saw the yellow, I had a big lift into the corner. I was five tenths up and I came out the last corner two and a half tenths up, so it was a single yellow as well, not a double, so it should be OK. It was a tough day, but it was so special to get that lap and everything felt so sweet, so really proud of the job we all did.
 
Q: Great job. Thank you, Charles. So, let us know, how was your lap? And especially in the last few Grands Prix Ferrari made a huge step forward on the development. Are you happy with your lap and your position?
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, I’m relatively happy about today. Of course, the last few weekends have been quite tough, so I just wanted to have a clean weekend and most of all clean qualifying to start well for tomorrow. So, to start second is a good place to start. The team have been pushing massively in order to bring upgrades in Barcelona and again this weekend, and that pays off. If I’m completely honest, I didn’t think we’ll be starting on the front row until qualifying really, so it’s a good surprise that we are so far.
 
Q: Good job. Thank you. Lewis, you probably lost a good chance to improve your lap time because the first push lap you braked maybe too late. Do you think it was possible to be better than third?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, well, firstly, thank you everyone for the good energy. No, I think to have the two Ferraris in second and third is fantastic, and it’s just a reflection of the amazing work that everyone’s doing back at the factory, because they really are continuing to push. We brought small bits here. Obviously, they worked hard to upgrade our engine for this track, so I’m just really proud of everybody because you could just see how hard everyone’s working. It’s really starting to pay off. I think my Q3, the weekend had been looking good. In Q3 run one, my mistake, and didn’t get the first lap, so then, yeah, that always affects the second lap. But nonetheless, even just to be still that close, given that I didn’t get the first lap, I’m really happy for that.
 
Q: Great, good job. George, back to you. It’s going to be very hot. How do you manage for tomorrow, for the race?
GR: Yeah, it’s going to be very hot. The Ferraris are looking incredibly fast. In the corners they’re the fastest team at the moment. They’ve maybe a bit more drag than us, which may help us to defend. I just spoke with Toto, he just said, “Everything was fine with the yellow flag”, so that is good news. Hundred-metre lift before the corner, so glad to hear that. And yeah, tomorrow is going to be a big fight. Obviously, Kimi in P4 is going to be super-fast as well. We know how strong he’s been, and Lando and the McLarens, so it’s game on from everyone. It’s going to be an interesting place to follow.
 
PRESS CONFERENCE 
Q: A brilliant final lap there, George, of Q3. Let’s start with this: where did you find the time? It was so much better than anything else we saw from you in the session.
George RUSSELL: If I had the answer, we’d be on pole every week, to be honest. I said on Thursday, it’s like when the car clicks and the tyres work and it just gets into that sweet spot, a huge amount of lap time comes from nowhere. And I had a really difficult session. I was almost out in Q2. My first lap in Q3 was strong, and then I just went around Turn 1 on my final lap, was a tenth and a half up, and then Turn 3 another tenth and a half up, and Turn 4 another tenth and a half, and the lap was unbelievable. And then obviously I got that yellow flag, the single yellow in the last sector, but I did a hundred-metre lift, lost a huge amount of time and still, you know… I don’t know. I don’t have the answer. For sure I’ll be looking with my team where it came from, but it felt very sweet.
 
Q: What did you change on the car between run one and run two of Q3?
GR: No, it was just a little bit of how I brought the tyres in, changed a little bit of front wing as well. But it’s one of those, when you nail Turn 1 and you go through fast, but the car doesn’t slide, it keeps the temperatures a little bit down, so the tyres are cooler approaching the next turn, and then you have more grip, you go through there faster, and the tyres are cooler once again. It’s this sort of upward spiral. And equally, if you have a bad Turn 1, you’re on this downward spiral. And it just clicked. It’s just one of those magic laps and just so pleased, because it’s been a real tough run for me. But, you know, like Toto said to me in Q2, “Just enjoy it, just enjoy the drive.” He said the same ahead of Q3: “Just go out and enjoy it.” And I said that to myself, “Just don’t overdrive it, just enjoy it,” because it’s quite a cool thing that we do.
 
Q: You just touched on it then. Do you think you have been overdriving?
GR: There’s definitely a factor of that. But it’s so difficult, because if you’re on the back foot and you’re off the pace by a tenth or two or three, to then say, “I’m going to try less hard,” it doesn’t compute. You know, when things aren’t going your way, you always want to do more and more and more. And when you’re in the car, to say that, “I’m going to approach this corner and I’m going to brake five metres earlier than the lap before,” that’s just not how our brains work. But sometimes that is the faster way.
 
Q: And when you saw the yellow flag on that final run, were you tempted to abort? I mean, you say you lifted off, but could you just talk us through the thought process?
GR: Yeah. Well, it’s a corner where you can see quite a lot, and I just did a huge lift and I was going to assess the situation as soon as I got to the corner, if the car was there. But as it was a single yellow, I was pretty confident there was no danger. And as soon as I turned into the corner, I already saw the green up ahead, and I actually thought the car had continued, because I didn’t see the car at all. It was so far off the track, I didn’t see the car whatsoever. It was only when I saw the replay afterwards, I saw it was well off into the wall. So yeah, I was glad common sense prevailed there.
 
Q: Throw it forward to tomorrow. You’ve nailed the pole today. High track temperatures, like last time in Barcelona. You’ve got the red cars all around you at the start. Just give us your thoughts on what the main challenges are going to be in this Grand Prix.
GR: Well, these guys are super-fast and it’s going to be a challenge having the two of them nearby. You know, we saw Lewis in Barcelona, how great his pace was. I think it will be challenging for them to overtake us in the straights because we’ve got the straight-line advantage, but they’ve got the advantage in the corners. And, you know, if they’re splitting the strategy or putting us under pressure, it may be difficult to hold onto. And of course, Kimi is going to be super-fast. The McLarens have looked really fast. Max, I don’t know how his last lap was looking, but he was right up there as well with those new upgrades for Red Bull. So, there’s a huge fight on our hands from all angles.
 
Q: George, very well done to you. Thank you for that. Charles, let’s come to you now. George just mentioned upgrades. There’s more on the Ferrari this weekend. Just tell us about the performance of the car in that qualifying session for you.
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, the car is feeling good and I think the team is pushing like crazy at the moment, which is really nice to see. In Barcelona, we had a big package, but everybody is pushing like crazy to try and produce those upgrades as quickly as possible and bring them to the track also as quickly as possible. And it’s definitely paying off, so that’s really good to see. My qualifying was quite tricky, honestly. The car, on braking was really struggling quite a lot from Q1 to the last lap in Q3. I managed to do a bit of a better lap in Q3, which I’m happy of. I thought at one point that I will have pole, but George was just too quick. The front line is good, especially after the last couple of races where the feeling wasn’t there in Canada and Monaco. In Barcelona, unfortunately, there was the technical issue that cost us a few more points. And yeah, to be back with a bit more of a normal weekend feels good. I needed that.
 
Q: What was the key to your pace in Q3? Did you change anything in the way you drove, change anything in the car?
CL: Honestly, it wasn’t a very special lap. It’s the kind of laps where, yeah, as I said, I just wanted a clean qualifying, I just wanted a clean lap. And so, when you are in this mindset, maybe you leave a little bit of margin on the table. But I don’t regret it because I wouldn’t have beaten George anyway. So yeah, second is the best we could do today.
 
Q: OK. What about tomorrow? Second today, first tomorrow? How do you see it?
CL: I really hope so. But it’s very strange because yesterday was a very tough day for the team. I think we were struggling a lot as a team and today we did a big step forward. I did not expect, and I think as a team we did not expect, to be in front of the McLarens particularly and close to the Mercedes. So that’s a good surprise. Then for the race in itself, I think we did a step forward with the car for tomorrow. Whether this will be enough to challenge the Mercedes, I doubt so. But if there’s an opportunity, I will do everything to take it.
 
Q: Very well done to you. Thank you, Charles. Lewis, let’s come to you now. If you’d had two runs in Q3, what do you think? Was pole possible?
Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t know whether we could do the same time as those guys. They’ve been quick all weekend, so congrats to George. But otherwise, you know, it’s amazing to be up here with Charles. I think it’s such a great showing for Ferrari, and it really is a reflection of the hard work that everyone’s been putting in back at the factory. We got the new upgrade this weekend on the engine, which is a slight step forward. Then we also brought a couple of little pieces on the car, so every weekend it’s really great to see them pushing so much and just continuing to bring these pieces. You can tell they’re hungry and they’re pushing, which I’m really proud of, and that’s why we’re up here and as close as we are. Yesterday we were like six tenths off in a straight line, and somehow today we’re closer. So yeah, unfortunately, the weekend had been pretty good. This morning in P3, I felt good with the laps, and then got to qualifying and struggled a little bit more with the balance, particularly on the brakes. And then Q3, made a mistake in Turn 1 and then Turn 3, and lost that lap. That really pushed me on the back foot, naturally, because you’ve got to squeeze out a lap. So given that I missed that first lap, I’m pretty happy with that.
 
Q: OK. Let’s throw it forward to tomorrow. After everything you did in Barcelona last time out in very hot track conditions, how confident are you that you can take the win again?
LH: I think this weekend we’ve not been confident that we could fight for a win. These guys have been six tenths quicker than us most of the weekend. We closed the gap overnight three tenths, but we still are three tenths down today, or two-and-a-bit tenths down today. It’s going to be very tough to challenge them tomorrow, but with a long run down to Turn 3, hopefully together we can. It’s great having Charles here as well, because we can hopefully work together in a strategy and try to apply pressure to them.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (James Phillips – MotorsportMonday.com) Question for Lewis. Austria is a very different circuit to Barcelona. Are you confident of continuing to take the fight to Mercedes in a sustained way for the rest of the year? And can I just ask what the measure of success is for the new upgrade on the engine? 
LH: I don’t think we have a measure of success. I mean, we just want to continue to be moving forwards and trying to get closer. We knew coming into this weekend it would be tough with the long straights we’ve got here, and the deficit looked bigger than other circuits that we’ve been at. Maybe it’s altitude, I’m not sure. I can’t really predict what’s going to happen in the future. Just I know, when we get to the long straight circuits, it’s going to be our Achilles’ heel for a while. But as I said, I’m really proud of the team for continuing to work. We got this upgrade, that’s the first step, but we need to make a bigger step naturally to really close the gap with them.
 
Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Világ.hu) Charles, you went from saying on Friday that the car was sliding everywhere to put the car in front at the end of Q3. How many changes have you made overnight and how is the feeling in the car after you changed the brake configuration after Monaco?
Charles LECLERC: We changed quite a lot, actually. Not big steps, but a little bit everywhere, so at the end it ended up being quite a big difference. Then yeah, I think after Monaco, there’s been many things that have changed and the feeling was better in Barcelona. It’s still not yet where I want to be. And as I said, in qualifying I didn’t feel as confident as I’ve been in the past, where I just go all in and I know exactly what the car is going to do. This is not the feeling that I have at the moment, and this is what I want to focus on. But yes, every time I struggled in the past and that I put effort in it, normally things go better. So that’s already a first step, but that’s not where I want to stop. And then for yes. No, that was your question. So yes, that’s it.
 
Q: (Ludo van Denderen – GPblog.com) George, how important is it for you, for your confidence and mentally, to beat Kimi now?
GR: I mean, it’s the eighth race of the season. It’s my fourth pole, but I’ve never been able to really convert into a good result. So moments like this, it’s like confidence is restored. Like Charles was just saying, last year every lap, every session, just had the confidence in the car to just push it to the limit and know exactly what it was going to do. And I think for Charles, one of the best, definitely, qualifiers on the grid, was the same. And for both of us, it has been challenging a lot at times. But we haven’t just forgotten how to drive. And there is definitely an element of understanding what this car needs, what these tyres need in different conditions. And Kimi has just done an amazing job day in, day out. Do I have the confidence I can beat him? Yeah, 100%. I just need to get that click, as I found again today, as I had in Barcelona, as I had in Canada, as I had in Melbourne, as I showed in China, and then the results will come at some point in the races. It can’t continuously be bad luck over the course of the season. Yeah, feeling good.
 
Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) A question to George. You mentioned the message from Toto. We heard the one over the team radio. I don’t know if he said anything else, but how helpful are those messages kind of midway through a session to help you refocus? Because sometimes they sound a little bit more like an order than support, but how helpful are they?
GR: It’s probably the Austrian accent, to be honest. No, I think knowing that your boss has 100% faith and confidence in you. You know, he’s been the one who has been the first to pick me up throughout the season when things haven’t been going right, and reminding me, like, “You haven’t forgotten how to drive, and I know the speed you’ve got.” And we speak every single day, and those little messages, they kind of throw me to conversations that we have on a personal level between races as such. So maybe for you sort of listening, not knowing the context, for me it means a lot and reminds me of those chats we’ve had, and reminds me that, yeah, I can do it. I’ve done it my whole career. There’s no reason why I can’t do it again today.
 
Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Question to all. In pre-season test, a lot of drivers were complaining about the new rules, and after so many upgrades in the cars and changes, does the F1 car feel better to drive? And do you see Formula 1 in a good moment as a sport now?
GR: I think the evolution with the regulation change from Japan onwards has been very good. The cars do feel much nicer to drive. I think the one issue that all of the drivers are complaining about are the tyre pressures. But from what we hear and understand, Pirelli are trying to make improvements there. You know, there’s a strange rule that they have to take into consideration. If a team’s SM fails and then there’s much more downforce on the car, then they need to take compensation by two or three psi for this. But for all of us, it’s like you have big balloons you’re driving on. And if they could make that step, I think it would be much better for the drivers, much better for racing, less overheating. We could fight even closer. I think that would be the next big step.
CL: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. If you ask me what do I prefer between this year’s cars or last year’s cars, I think last year’s cars were... We could still push these cars to the absolute limits on some tracks. It’s true what George says, that it’s getting better. But still, you’ve got this energy management in mind on a track like this, by example. It was less the case in Barcelona or in Monaco, but there are still those tracks where you’ve got to keep that in mind, and that is a little bit less pleasure inside the car. But it’s like this for now. I’m sure things will improve.
 
Q: (Val Khorounzhiy – The Race) George, you said common sense prevailed, and apologies if this is a bit annoying because you did a clean lap, you did a legal lap, you did a pole lap, but in hindsight, and also as GPDA director, having seen the scope of the accident, having seen that you passed through it with single yellows, are you surprised it was single yellows, especially as you weren’t the car behind Verstappen immediately? And is that something to raise?
GR: As I said, I didn’t even see the car because the run-off is so far. And I think in that instance, a single yellow was correct because, as I said, a double yellow is immediate danger. You’re never going, you know, lifting a hundred metres before a corner or lifting off with a single yellow. You’re never going to lose control of the car. Verstappen, the only reason he was in the wall that far away is because he was attacking and lost the car. So I think the single yellow was correct. I think I did everything right to be very much under control, and it’s a very different story to a double.

ENDS