PART ONE – Pierre GASLY (Alpine), Esteban OCON (Haas), Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin)

Q: Pierre, if we could start with you. First race weekend done, what conclusions have you reached about the potential of this year’s Alpine?
Pierre GASLY: I mean, yeah, it’s been... I don’t even know where to start. There have been a lot of lessons taken from Melbourne. I think the main one is that, obviously, we’re pretty far from being at the maximum potential of the package we’ve got in our hands, and there are a lot of things which we’ve got to improve, you know, car-wise, car understanding, set-up-wise, engine, maximising the energy, quali, race. I think it’s good to have some sort of baseline. Objectively, we feel that we slightly underperformed in Melbourne and I expect us to be in a better place here in China. We’ve got already a couple of things which should bring us more performance into the car, like everybody, I think, in the paddock. But yeah, a lot to review, a lot learned and a lot to improve here.
 
Q: I was going to ask whether it was track-specific, because you seemed happier with the car in Bahrain testing and then less happy last weekend. Why was that? What were the main factors last weekend that you weren’t suffering from in Bahrain?
PG: Again, I don’t think it’s down to a single thing, but I think ultimately everybody is developing their car. In Melbourne we’ve seen already some upgrades on a couple of cars, here as well. Difficult to say if it’s track-specific, but clearly these conditions and the track layout worked and played less in our favour. But I think overall we just didn’t do a perfect job in maximising our package. In free practice we had a couple of issues with the engine. We focused a lot on the energy, et cetera, and we probably missed some factors on the tyres, some factors in set-up, et cetera. So yeah, I think we know what we’re going to improve and I’m confident we’ll be in a better place, better shape, here. We were better on Sunday than we were on Saturday, so yeah, it just needs some fine-tuning.
 
Q: Tell us about the atmosphere inside the garage now, because you’ve come from 2025, which was a very tough season for the team. What is the mood now?
PG: The mood is we’ve all got to work harder, better. I think we all agree that we didn’t start the season in the shape that we would have all liked and expected, but at the same time I don’t think there’s any alarm or any need to be dramatic about what we’ve got to improve. I think we’re very aware, objective. This wasn’t good enough. I’m confident we can turn things and put us in a better place straight away from this weekend.
 
Q: Alright, good luck with that. Thank you, Pierre. Esteban, let’s come to you now. Haas were at the front of the midfield in Australia. Just how good does this car feel to drive, first of all?
Esteban OCON: Yeah, I think it’s been a strong start of season for us, for the team. I think we have a car that, like Pierre said, we have to understand further and that we are trying to maximise. After Australia it seemed to be not exactly where we wanted it to be in quali, but in quali, unfortunately, on the last run I had the floor that broke on that last lap, so we couldn’t maximise the full potential there. But yeah, we seem to be performing well as a team in the race, and this is something that we need to take further into this race. Of course, there’s only going to be one practice, so we need to make the most out of it. But it’s been an interesting first weekend for us. All happy, obviously, that we are doing good progress and happy with the start point and the base of the car. I think it’s a solid start, so it’s a base that we can work on, definitely.
 
Q: You say it’s a solid start. Given the struggles the team had in Melbourne last year, how much more confidence is there inside the team?
EO: Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about, is that the base of the car definitely has huge potential in terms of balance. When we put everything together it’s definitely a much better step forward than where it was last year in Melbourne. Of course, we’ve had different issues last year and we managed to overcome those when we came to China, but now we don’t have to panic and do a reset on most of these things. We have the base that we can work on, and if we do a good job throughout the weekend we can definitely be fighting for something decent, so I hope that this is going to be the case this weekend.
 
Q: Decent as in another top five like here last year?
EO: We’ll see about that, but it would be nice for sure.
 
Q: Alright, good luck with that. Thank you, Esteban. Fernando, let’s come to you now. Melbourne was extremely tough for Aston Martin and with only a week between races, what are the team’s prospects here in China?
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, not really different, I would say. The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so yeah, I think it’s going to be another difficult weekend,  trying to understand as much as possible on the car and, you know, eventually limit the laps in a couple of the sessions because we are short on parts, and yeah, try to get something positive out of the weekend.
 
Q: What would a positive weekend for you look like?
FA: I think obviously when we are able to do laps without any issues, I think they are very important laps because even now here with Esteban and Pierre, they were not optimised for Australia and apparently it was the same case for everybody, and they are, I don’t know, maybe ten times ahead of us. If they completed 1,000 laps since Barcelona test, we completed maybe 100, so we are nine or ten times behind. So, if they are still not perfectly optimised, imagine ourselves. We are at square one, so we really need the laps, we really need to be able to practice and to find the window on the car and the chassis side. That will obviously be very important for the weekend, and I will be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal free practice, more or less normal quali, accumulating laps and probably attempting the full race on Sunday, if we are allowed.
 
Q: Final one for me. Adrian Newey said last week that you must be in a, and I’m quoting him, “hard mental place” at the moment. Just how tough is the current reality for you?
FA: Less tough than what you think. I mean, not ideal. We all want to win. We are 22 drivers this year. One will win, 21 will be in a difficult and tough mental state, because for me to finish third or fifth or 17th, it really doesn’t matter much. I was lucky enough and privileged enough to live different eras n Formula 1 and to have fun driving, and eventually super lucky to have competitive cars for half of my career and achieving more than 100 podiums in the category. So now to finish, as I said, in any other position that is not first, for me it’s the same pain and the same struggle. Obviously, we are now in this journey with the team, which is not the ideal start, but it’s the first year of this collaboration between Aston Martin and Honda and we have to go through this moment in time, and I’m ready to help as much as I can.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Fernando, a question to you. Your answer then seems to be a very different Fernando to maybe the one that we had ten years or so ago, when your last association with Honda. What are you doing behind the scenes to help Aston Martin and Honda through the current situation, and what have you been told by Honda that might make you feel things will be different sooner rather than later?
FA: Yeah, about the ten-year difference, yes and no. I think I can see things now in a different perspective and a different maturity, but I don’t think that ten years ago things were, again, that dramatic. This is Formula 1, a very media-centric sport. When you win a few championships just racing against your team-mate, you are God, and then when you are fighting and having some difficult period, everything is magnified as well. In a way, ten years later, some of the things that people thought about me ten years ago, when we had this situation, now they maybe changed opinion and maybe they think that I was right ten years ago, because for me the biggest surprise was all these last few years thinking that ten years ago McLaren, Stoffel, Jenson, myself — because always people seem to remember only Fernando, but I think Jenson, Stoffel and McLaren, we were saying the same — that project, the power unit, was not mature enough when we started, which everyone seems now to understand. But two or three years ago it seemed that I was crazy, ten years ago, criticising or something like that. It was, I think, a few frustrations on the radio, which, yeah, were there, and as a double world champion and a competitive driver, I was not happy with the situation – wow, you know, should I be happy and clapping inside the car about the job? So now I think when everyone sees from the outside that situation and they see the current situation, I think they are a little bit more friendly with us and they understand more the problems. And now what can I do in the team is just work harder, try to help Honda as much as we can, allocating some of the resources that Aston Martin has into the engine, into the power unit, into the vibration problems, into the deployment issues. Obviously, we are now in a different world in Formula 1 with all the data available, all the GPS, the analysis that we can have from the other teams, and we can allocate some of those resources to make Honda… or they can focus on one thing, and we can help them in some other areas on the power unit. So, we are one team. As I said, it’s a bumpy start, but I hope it will not last for too long. But it will not be an immediate solution either, so yeah, let’s see.
 
Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky Sports F1) It’s a question to all three of you really, just your thoughts on the starts in Australia and starts in general, and to Franco’s reaction time in Australia. You’ve seen the video, which I’m sure you all have. 
EO: I think for all of us three it has been a really good start, but yeah, it was a scary one for sure for Franco. This is something that we are all aware can happen, especially in this early stage of the year. It could have been dramatic, that’s for sure, and it’s probably something that we are going to be talking about further to make sure that this is not happening. We don’t want to see F2 starts happening in F1, and they should not happen in F2 either, but they are, more or less for the same reasons that they happen. But yeah, all of us three, we got good starts. I made a lot of places, Pierre made a lot of places, Fernando as well. It was enjoyable to race, but we don’t want to see somebody stalling in front of you and then suddenly appearing from nowhere, because that’s probably one of the worst crashes you can have, so yeah, something to bear in mind.
PG: Yeah, I think I would say starts at the minute are a lottery, because Liam had an issue which wasn’t down to his procedures. We had a very good one, but I think we all know what we do inside the car, but when you see the outcomes at the moment, it’s more a consequence of the PU and whether it’s doing what it’s supposed to do, et cetera, so you have big variation. I think we came as all winners last week. I have no idea whether it’s going to be the case. I might do the same procedure this weekend and lose five places. So, there is definitely that unknown with these cars compared to the past. Does it bring excitement? Yes, because you can still fall on the right side of it and make crazy numbers of positions on a dry start, which we haven’t seen since maybe the ‘80s when I look at the documentaries. It’s been quite rare to see that much performance difference. Is it fair for all of us? Maybe not. So yeah, I think that’s definitely one thing. And I think on Franco’s situation, clearly it was scary. I thanked him many times again this morning when I saw him because we’re quite short on parts, and I think for all of us in the team it was definitely a scary one, but especially for him, and I’m glad that everyone was okay out of it. It definitely needs some stuff to be fixed because you qualify... Liam did a decent job in quali, then his race was over from something which wasn’t in his power, which should not really happen.
FA: Same.
 
Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports, Italy) A question to Fernando. Fernando, in terms of timing, when do you think that you and your team will be able to have normal weekends?
FA: Yeah, difficult to guess. I don’t know really. We still have too many issues and too many unknown issues that are coming day after day from nowhere, so it seems that we are not on top of the problems yet and that’s why it’s difficult to guess. But we are pushing, we have very high professionals and talented people in the team, so I hope by a couple of Grands Prix we can have a normal weekend, well, at least in terms of doing laps and completing the sessions. Then to be competitive, I think that will take more time, to be honest, because once we fix the reliability then we will be behind in terms of power and things, so there are two steps, let’s say, and hopefully the first step will come soon.
 
Q: (Guilherme Pinto – Globo) Question for you three please. In the beginning of this understanding process, is it better to have a sprint race this weekend or not? 
PG: Obviously not, yeah. I mean, there are going to be even more differences across the field, but then it’s the same challenge for everyone. But obviously if you ask me, will you be fully optimized by Friday Sprint Qualifying, obviously not yet, no.
EO: Yeah, I agree with Pierre, but I think it’s fun like that. Let’s see.
FA: Great. I think, yeah, it will not change much to us. We are in survival mode, so let’s see if we can capitalise on some other issues that may happen in front of us.
 
Q: (Fred Ferret – l’Equipe) Question to all three drivers. Do you enjoy driving this new kind of car, and can you give us examples of things that you are doing now that you were not doing before in terms of driving?
PG: Yeah, I’ll give Fernando some time to think about what headline he wants to come up with. Look, at the end of the day we’re still driving the fastest cars in the world, so for my opinion, as soon as you put me in that car, in the cockpit, behind the wheel, I’m always going to have fun. Now that cursor can vary. Obviously, we came from the fastest cars in the world last year to something which is very different, very different engine, very different load, so it’s always going to be different. Personally, yes, I do enjoy it. Are there things that I’d like to change? Yes, definitely. Can I give a fair objective observation or feedback after only one race weekend? No. And that’s why I think personally let’s give it a few Grands Prix and then I’m sure we’re going to have the conversation with F1 on how to definitely make it more fun for everyone. It depends on who you ask. If you ask the guy that was sitting in his sofa and saw 120 overtakes on Sunday, probably has a different view. So, we’ve got to please everybody and I’m sure there’s a middle ground to find. But again, yeah, I think we just want a fair Formula 1. We all want to have competitive cars that most of the field can fight for race wins and podiums, and something which rewards talented drivers from risk and skills rather than sometimes gaining time in situations where you do lift-off and then someone takes less risk and actually gets an advantage from doing certain things, which isn’t from F1 DNA. All in all, I think there’s going to be a conversation, and again, I enjoy these cars, they’re fun, they could be more fun, and that’s why we’ve got to work on them.
EO: I think the positive is how the car feels in corners. I think this is much more back to how it was probably like 2016, like the good cars in 2016, like the top cars. Definitely the way you slide, the way you can attack the corners, it’s much more predictable and a lot nicer in terms of balance and also in terms of how the car rides overall. So, to me that is a step forward to last year. Then the other positive in the race is that there was, even if they were chaotic, more action. There was more overtaking, more fight wheel-to-wheel throughout the race, which was definitely positive. Is it straightforward in the car? No. Can the driver make enough of a difference as a driving style to be able to make like chess moves? No. And this is probably the negative at the moment. But I think overall that would probably improve throughout the year, and if that improves it should be much more enjoyable.
FA: Yeah, I mean, probably you have to separate two things. One is if we enjoy driving these cars. I would say yes, as we love racing. I do every year four or five 24-hour races in rental cars, just to put you in perspective of how much we love racing. So, when you take the rental car and you do 24-hour races, it is because you love what you do and you love driving. So, when you jump in a Formula 1 car, definitely you enjoy feeling fast and embracing the challenge. But it is a different challenge. That’s where you put the line, if these cars are more fun or less fun, and everyone will have their own opinion because it is a different challenge. We used to fight for our life in Turn 12 in Bahrain, Turn 9 and 10, Turn 11 in Melbourne, sorry, Sector 1 in Suzuka, 130R, Turn 7, Turn 8 here in China. There were always certain corners that in Formula 1 were challenging the limits of the physics going through those corners, and the driver had to use all the skills and be brave in some of the moments as well. When you put new tyres and you go through the corner at the speed that you’ve never been before in any of the free practices, that challenge is gone in a way. You use those corners to charge the battery, not anymore to make the lap time. So, it is a different challenge, what you face now behind the wheel. Still fun? Yes, we love racing. Is it the future? We don’t know. Then the next set of regulations or the next turn that the automotive industry will take, also if Formula 1 has to follow or not. But yeah, it is a different challenge and because I grew up on the other one and I was challenging myself in the corners, I probably prefer the other one. But I was super lucky to race in that era and I still feel lucky that I race now, so I like both.
 
Q: (Weian Mao – Formula Vision) First of all, a question for three of you. First of all, welcome back to Shanghai. It’s the 19th edition of the Chinese Grand Prix, and later this year there will be three Formula E races in China, one in Sanya, two here. And it was just announced that later this year the FIA will have the assembly here and do the prize-giving here, so just generally how do you see how far China has come through in the motor sport industry so far, and what do you see the future could be like here?
FA: I think, yeah, China has changed a lot since 2004. Not necessarily the circuit or the love for racing. As I remember the first two or three years here, the grandstands were full and people really enjoyed Formula 1 and we had a huge welcoming here. Now it is the same or a little bit less, I would say, but maybe different fans, different type of fans. The country itself did change a lot. For me it’s one of the biggest changes I saw in my career. How the city is now, traffic jams much better now, the quality of things is phenomenal. I think the steps that the country did into becoming one of the best races for me and one of the best cities... I came from Melbourne already on Sunday night, landing here on Monday, and I’ve been in Shanghai enjoying the city and I was amazed – every walk I did, every restaurant I went. It was a big, big change. And also, in terms of road safety, one of the biggest changes I ever witnessed because I think 20 years ago this was pure chaos in the traffic lights — motorbikes, bicycles, cars, trucks, it was like no rules — and now everyone is so precise and so polite and things like that. So, whatever was the change and the force behind, I think we have to congratulate because the change is magnificent.
EO: Yeah, I think on my side, I don’t go back to 2004, but going back to the first time I came here, it was 2016. I think for me the support we had back then compared to now, it’s incredible. From the airport to the hotels to everywhere we go, it’s like the area transformed into really a racing spirit and racing place. Everybody is looking forward to seeing the action on track. And then I rejoin Fernando on everything. I was looking this morning at the GPS to come to the track. You guys have the exact countdown of the traffic lights and the exact meters on where you have to turn left, right. That really impressed me about the whole technology. I’ve been following also, as a big fan of road cars, what China has been doing recently, the performance they managed to squeeze out of road cars. It’s really, really impressive. And yeah, I think it’s exciting times that obviously we are here now for Formula 1, but it’s also an exciting future ahead for this country.

PART TWO – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Alex ALBON (Williams), Gabriel BORTOLETO (Audi)

Q: Max, perhaps we could start with you. So, first race weekend of 2026 done. You went from the back of the field to P6. Just how much potential do you think this year’s Red Bull has?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I mean, for sure there is a lot of potential. It’s just going to depend, of course, on if we can extract that, I guess, throughout the year. The gap, of course, was quite big and also in the race. I think if I would have started, let’s say, a little bit up front, I think the best that I could have done was one spot higher because we didn’t have the pace of the top four cars. We also had a lot of degradation and graining. But yes, we’ll see. We’ll see what happens in the coming races, if we can close that gap a little bit.
 
Q: Do you think the gap between you and the top four cars was track-specific to Albert Park? Do you think you’ll be closer here?
MV: Impossible to know. I mean, honestly, it’s such a jungle out there at the moment. I think that it’s very hard to really know. I mean, I would hope that it gets a bit closer, not even bigger than the gap that it was in Melbourne, but it’s clear that at the moment we cannot fight with those cars.
 
Q: Does having a sprint weekend so early in the season complicate matters for you?
MV: I guess for everyone. I mean, it’s difficult for everyone.
 
Q: You’ve confirmed that you’re doing the Nürburgring 24 Hours a little bit later in the year. Why does this race hold so much interest for you?
MV: Because it’s one of the best races in the world. It’s one of the best tracks. I mean, honestly, in a GT car for me that’s the perfect speed around there. I think if you go anything faster it can be a bit dangerous in places. But yeah, it’s just everything. I mean, I’ve been watching, of course, for a long time. I know a lot of my friends, of course, that have been racing in it already. They say it’s one of the best things ever. And I like racing other cars as well, so this was basically the first time that I could do it proper. So yeah, I’m very excited. Yeah, to see also how we are going to perform. I mean, it’s a very stacked line-up and field in general, so I’m looking forward to it.
 
Q: Can you imagine doing a demonstration lap in a Formula 1 car there?
MV: That was not allowed, otherwise I would have done it already!
 
Q: You’ve asked, right?
MV: Yeah.
 
Q: Alright, thank you for that. Alex, let’s come to you now. There were high expectations surrounding Williams this year. Just how much of a shock is your current situation?
Alex ALBON: Yeah, I think it’s not where we want to be. I think as a team we are disappointed where we’ve started, but it’s just how it goes sometimes. We’ve got a clear plan to come back. I think the gap to the top of the midfield even is quite large, so we do need to... well, we know where the issues are and I think it will take a bit of time, maybe a little bit more than we would like. But yeah, we have a clear strategy to get back.
 
Q: A similar question to the one I asked Max. Do you think the gap was exacerbated in Albert Park? Do you think you’ll be closer here?
AA: Truthfully, I think maybe we’ll be a bit further away here. I think this kind of track doesn’t normally suit us. If you look at last year, we were quite strong in Melbourne. That track normally goes well for us, and when I look at last year, we fell back in China. So, I think we still have similar characteristic issues as we had last year as well. This track is quite front-limited and it exposes cars that have a bit of understeer, and I think we’ll have that this weekend.
 
Q: Gabi, let’s come to you. Points on Audi’s debut last weekend. Having had a few days to reflect on that result, can you describe the scale of that achievement?
Gabriel BORTOLETO: Yeah, it was a great weekend, I must say. I really didn’t expect that. Obviously, coming from Barcelona shakedown and everything, we had a lot of things to work on. And then Bahrain, obviously, we had a little bit of an understanding where we were standing more or less. But yeah, going to Q3 in our first try, then scoring points, it was something very positive that, yeah, I was just extremely happy to be able to achieve that already in our first weekend. Obviously, and as you said as well, tracks change and also results, so we’re going to try our best here and understand actually where we are also standing in different types of tracks.
 
Q: On a personal level, it’s year two for you in Formula 1. How much more settled do you feel inside the sport now?
GB: Much more, I must say. The way I’m dealing with things now, also the understanding about how I want to approach my race weekends, outside of the race weekends also, how I’m working with the team, knowing these people already for two years now is a completely different thing. I just feel much more relaxed, much more also ‘compromised’ to the project somehow that is finally becoming a reality, to be Audi. And yeah, just probably I’m enjoying much more now than what I was at this moment last year, and hopefully we can keep it going like this.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Max, question for you first. I think Isack Hadjar is the seventh different team-mate you’ve had at Red Bull. You’ve had a chance to see him now over a race weekend, in the pre-season. What would your assessment be of Isack Hadjar? How good do you think he is, and his future for the sport, where do you think he could go?
MV: Yeah, good. I mean, he had a very solid first race weekend. Unfortunately, of course, in the race he didn’t really get to show that, but I think it was a very good start for the team. And also, when I had my troubles in qualifying, for him to be up there, that’s exactly what we need as a team, so yeah, a good start. So I hope that we can continue that way.
 
Q: (Guilherme Pinto – Globo) It is the beginning of this understanding process of the year, new season, new car, movement, everything, is it better to have a Sprint race here in China already?
GB: Yeah, it doesn’t really, I think, make a big difference. Still we’re going to learn a lot through the weekend. If it was a normal weekend we would probably just be testing things in FP1, 2 and 3 and then going to quali with more or less what we think is the best. Here it’s not going to be different. I don’t think we’re going to have everything maximised before qualifying, so we’re going to be testing things and learning things also in Sprint Quali, Sprint race. But yeah, I think it’s also something that gives a little bit more spiciness in the weekend, to push a bit further and faster.
AA: Yeah, same as Gaby. I think if it happened in Melbourne I would say maybe not the smartest idea, but this track is a little bit easier with, touch wood, a bit easier with the deployment side of things, so I don’t think it will be as penalising, or lack of track time isn’t going to be the end of the world.
MV: Yeah, whatever.

Q: (Rachel Brookes – Sky Sports F1) Max, on a more positive note, you did come through the field last weekend. Had you not had those problems in qualifying, do you think the pace of the car was... How far off is it even possible for you to be able to tell how far off the Mercedes or the Ferrari you might have been at the weekend?
MV: No, I said it before. P5, I think, in qualifying. For whatever reason, I guess Ferrari was not where they wanted to be, but it was very clear in the race there was no chance of us matching that, so P5.
 
Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports Italy) A question to Max too. Max, considering how Mercedes started this season and the good relationship you have with Kimi, do you consider him ready to fight for a world title?
MV: I mean, I would hope so. I want it exciting at the front, so I hope for him that, yeah, it is possible. But for sure Mercedes is in a very strong position for the whole season and for sure I hope that Kimi can be up there. But at the end of the day, to fight for a title you need to be consistent and always, of course, maximize your results, and that’s what we’ll find out over time.
 
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Max, a couple of questions for you on Nürburgring 24 that you’re doing. You talk about the enjoyment you get from driving those cars. How important is it to get that, particularly right now when you’re maybe not feeling that so much from Formula 1? And secondly, there’s, I think, an NLS qualifier race going on the weekend that we are due to be in Saudi Arabia. There are question marks over if we don’t go to that race, would you look to do those extra NLS races?
MV: Well, I mean, this was of course already planned regardless of what I’m driving this year. Yeah, I mean, I wish I had a bit more fun at the moment, of course, here, but at the same time I’m also very happy that the team here they let me do all these things, and yeah, it’s just something that I’m of course looking forward to. And besides that, if something happens with the calendar, I’ll have a look what’s possible.
 
Q: Max, is the pleasure you get from driving directly related to speed?
MV: Not really, because then the pleasure would be still very high here, right, because it’s the highest speed. But it’s just a way of working with people. It’s a bit of a different environment as well that you’re in in the paddock, I would say. Probably a little bit more old-school, less political, which probably I enjoy a bit more. Yeah, I can probably be a bit more myself. So yeah, that’s what I enjoy, plus of course these races, like all the big endurance ones, I want to do. It’s something that when I was a kid as well my dad was doing. And yeah, I think I don’t need to be only a Formula 1 driver. I can also do other things, especially I’ve done this already for a while and I’ve achieved everything that I wanted to achieve, so that’s why I want to explore also other things. And I don’t want to do them when I’m 40 years old, so now I think this is the perfect age to do it.
 
Q: (Samuel Coop – RacingNews365) Max, my question is for you. You mentioned that you hope that Kimi’s ready for a championship fight because you want it to be entertaining, suggesting that you think it’s maybe just between the Mercedes boys. Do you think that Lewis or Charles could get in the fight, and if so why, and if not why as well?
MV: Well, that’s the beautiful thing. We’ll find out as well, right? I mean, we can speculate about it now, but yeah, we can go on forever, so we’ll see. I don’t know. I don’t know the development curves of other teams, what is coming. It’s impossible to know.
 
Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova - F1Maximaal.nl) Question to Max. In Melbourne the main issues were graining and the empty battery at the start. How realistic is it to solve or improve these issues in the coming crises?
MV: There are a few simple solutions, but they need to be allowed by the FIA with the battery-related stuff because, yes, starting with a 0% battery is not a lot of fun and also quite dangerous. So we are in discussions with them to see what can be done because you could see, I mean, we almost had a massive shunt in Melbourne in the start. Now some of that is related to batteries. Some, of course, can happen with an anti-stall. But you could see a lot of big speed differences because I was not the only car that had almost, let’s say, no battery, or 20, 30 percent. This is something that I think can be easily fixed.
 
Q: (Sàndor Mészáros – RacingNews365) It’s a question to Max. Max, you are working with a new number one mechanic, a guy called Mike Payne, who is coming from Aston Martin. As we all know, you always have a special relationship with your crew members. How is the work with him?
MV: Yes, very good. I mean, he’s been on my car also for most of testing. Yes, it’s been great, to be honest. Very straightforward, passionate. That’s what you like to see.
 
Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova - F1Maximaal.nl) The question is to all drivers. Talking about energy management, do drivers that race a lot in the simulator have a bigger advantage than in the past?
GB: If I understood correctly the question is if the drivers that do more sim, they have a... well, I don’t know. Yeah, there are a lot of things that still there is to improve also in the simulator, at least for us as a team. We have a good baseline in the sim, but there will be sim drivers anyway doing testing and tyre and all this energy thing in the power units while we are also here on track. So, I imagine for all the teams they have full-time simulator drivers doing this work. But yeah, I mean, I do it because I enjoy it, not because of energy management. I do it because I like it. I like to drive different cars and you always end up learning something if you do it a lot, for sure.
AA: I think that we spent a lot of time in the simulator over winter and at least for me it feels like you can spend as much time as you want, but when you come to the track it’s completely different. So I think that’s partly down to the correlation and I think some of the teams that are making their own engines have a little bit more data and a bit better ways to make, for example, the turbo model or the battery model in the car. So, there’s still a lot of learning to be done. At least for now it feels like a lot of the learning is being done on track, not in the simulator.
MV: I found a cheaper solution. I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch and yeah, practicing a bit of Mario Kart, actually. Finding the mushrooms is going quite well. The blue shell is a bit more difficult, but I’m working on it.
GB: The rocket? 
MV: The rocket’s still not there. It’s coming.
 
Q: (Samuel Coop – RacingNews365) Question for all three of you. We’re expecting the energy management situation to be better here than in Melbourne, but what are the kind of areas of concern around the track you can identify, especially any thoughts on how the back straight is going to be from an energy management point of view? 
Alex ALBON: I’m not too sure, to be honest. I think we’ll wait and find out. I think part of the difficulty is just having one session to get up to speed with it. I think after Melbourne there’s some clear limitations with… Well, for example, if you drive faster you get less battery and all these kind of things. So, that’s still a talking point and an area which is quite confusing behind the wheel. So,  they’re the main things. To me, it just feels like a continuation of Melbourne, so everything I’ve learned, trying to apply that to this weekend. And then you’re right, I do think it will be easier, but it’s still a huge overhead at the minute mentally. It’s been a very steep learning curve. 
MV: Yep. Copy that. Brilliant. 
GB: Yeah, same. Amazing answer. 
 
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Max, you were speaking about the Mario Kart stuff, and before the season Stefano Domenicali said he was very confident that you wouldn’t leave, just that you love the sport and you wouldn’t want to walk away. Is that still right now? We’ve had one race. Is he correct with those comments?
MV: Yeah, I mean, I don’t want to leave really. Like I said, I wish I had a bit more fun for sure, but I’m also doing other stuff that is a lot of fun. I mean, I get to race the Nordschleife. Hope in the coming years I can do Spa, hopefully Le Mans. So, I’m combining stuff to find other stuff that I find really fun as well. Of course, my team going on, so I have a lot of distractions at the same time. Positive distractions I would call it. But at the same time, it’s a bit conflicting because I don’t really enjoy driving the car, but I do enjoy working with all the people in the team and from the engine department as well. Yeah, it’s almost like a bit of a mind... I can’t swear. It’s 5k now? 
GB: For me, it’s a hundred. 
MV: One hundred k?
GB: No, a hundred euros.
MV: Swearing? It’s 5k. 
GB: It’s 5k only for you!
MV: I questioned if it was the word or a sentence or... I don’t know. Anyway, you know what I mean, right? So no, I don’t want to leave, but I also hope of course that it gets better. And I know, I mean, I’ve had discussions with FOM and FIA and I think we are working towards something, hopefully, and hopefully that will improve everything.
 
Q: (Tom Cary – The Telegraph) Max, you’re maybe keeping your cards close to your chest, but can you tell us a bit about what you are discussing with the FIA? How do you think you can make this better within this current set of regulations so that you can have more fun, or are you resigned to it being like this for the next few years?
MV: I definitely hope not for the next few years, but I hope already for next year we can already make a decent improvement. But there are a few options that we are discussing.
 
ENDS