F1 News: 2024 Singapore GP Post-Qualifying Press Conference

SINGAPORE GP TOP-3 DRIVERS

1 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
2 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS  AT THE SINGAPORE GP

(Conducted by James Hinchcliffe)

Q: Lando Norris, sixth career pole position. It looked like a really tough battle out there. Tell us about your lap? 
Lando NORRIS: It was tough. Especially through qualifying, I was finding it a little difficult to progress much and to get a lot of lap time and all the guys around seemed to get quicker and quicker, so it put me under a little bit more pressure, and especially with just one lap at the end. But it was good enough for pole. I’m happy with that, especially here in Singapore. So a good feeling. I felt good all weekend. I felt confident. Maybe not so much in quali, but we got the job done.

Q: You were quick all throughout practice, but like you say, you only got that one lap in Q3. How difficult was it to know you had to put it all on the line just once?
LN: I mean, I like it. It gets your heart rate going, and it’s good fun. My lap wasn’t as good as my lap previous to the red flag, so there’s always just a little bit more in it. But like I said, the car’s been feeling good, and when you have a good-feeling car and you’re confident, you can go out and push, and you can get the lap time. So I did the job I had to do today, and excited to see what we can do tomorrow.

Q: Yeah, you said there was maybe a little bit more in it. We saw that your first sector wasn’t quite as good as you had been previously. You would have seen that in the car. So how deep do you have to dig, knowing you’re already digging yourself out of a bit of a hole off the start?
LN: I mean, a little bit of it’s just. I had faith that we were quick, so I didn’t have to over-push, and I could just do what I’ve been doing the whole weekend, you know, so… That’s a nice feeling, that I didn’t have to kind of go over and beyond. But it’s tricky. Like, the car’s moving around. It’s bumpy. It’s easy to brake one meter too late all of a sudden. So you pay the price for overdriving and overpushing. But I kept it cool, and I did what I had to do. So I’m happy.

Q: Exactly right, do what you need to do. Congratulations. Pull position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
LN: Thank you so much. Thank you, mate.

Q: Max Verstappen, you’re lining up on the outside of the front row for tomorrow’s Grand Prix in Singapore. Great result for you guys after a bit of a difficult start to the weekend. Tell us about the lap?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think the whole of qualifying actually went quite well. We managed to improve the car, run after run, already with FP3, and I’m happy to be on the front row, if you look at where we came from yesterday. Q3 was tough. You know, your lap gets, of course, cancelled with the double yellow. Then everyone only has one run to do the lap, so you don’t want to overdo it. So you want to stay within the limit. I take second. I’m happy with that.

Q: There’s been a lot of talk about tire preparation today in qualifying. How difficult was it to get those tires into that right window on just that one last run?
MV: Yeah, so they’re always quite difficult. Tires can give you a lot of lap time or lose you a lot of lap time. I think today, for us in qualifying, it worked all quite well, so I was happy with that. And, yeah, here we are, second. Tomorrow, of course, a bit difficult to say. Singapore, a lot of things can happen, but at least we have a shot at it like this.

Q: Alright, guys, your championship leaders starting P2 tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton, P3 on the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Huge cheer from the crowd. So much success here at this racetrack. You must be so happy with this result after some of the struggles you guys have had in practice.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, firstly, the crowd’s been incredible today. When we did the Fan Forum [inaudible]… so, huge thank you to everyone for the support. So many of my followers have travelled here from all over so I’m really grateful. Oh man, qualifying has been a disaster for me all year long and I’ve just been working and working and working trying to get myself back up there, and all of a sudden the car came alive in qualifying for the first time in a long time in qualifying. It was a little bit of a shame because we were getting into rhythm, and it was the same for all of us, but getting that lap at the end was a little bit tricky. But I think there was maybe a tiny bit more left in the car, but I’m really grateful for it. And the mechanics, we’ve been moving up and down on balance, we’ve changed everything this weekend on each day, and the mechanics have just been faultless. So I want to say a big thank you to them, and I hope that we’re in a good position to fight for the front tomorrow.

Q: Yeah, I mean, huge improvement, obviously, over single lap pace. Do you think the changes you’ve made to the car are going to translate to good race pace tomorrow?
LH: That I have no idea. You know, one day at a time. I mean, it was a lot better today. It was the first time we had any front end. And, you know, we’ve seen that McLarens have been so quick each weekend. So I don’t know. I think with management, I’m hoping we can try and keep up with these guys. Maybe not the McLarens, but we’ll be given everything.

PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE SINGAPORE GP

Q: Brilliant lap in Q3, Lando. Very well done. With the red flag, it became a one-lap shootout in the end. Just how good was the lap?
LN: Not particularly good. Just because it’s difficult. It’s hard to do everything around here in one lap. So I was a bit down in the first sector, probably a couple of tenths. And then I felt like I had to try and push a bit harder in the middle sector to make up for it and that kind of thing. But I mean, it still felt good. We’ve been good all weekend. Just struggled to progress much from practice into quali. Like we just found a good setup there and stuck and didn’t really progress at all really. I went only a touch quicker than what I did in FP3. So expected a bit more and probably found a little bit more difficult than I would have liked in both Q1, Q2 and Q3. But the car’s been amazing all weekend. So felt good and felt comfortable just to go out and put the lap in.

Q: What do you put that lack of progress down to? Was it the track conditions in qualifying?
LN: No, I mean, I think it’s tough to say. I think we’ve just done a very good job at arriving at the track and the car works well. I mean, we haven’t touched the car all weekend. Mainly, because no matter what we do, it doesn’t really make much difference. We’ve kind of just had the car and not had to do a lot to it, but that’s also a good thing in many ways. But it was still a handful to drive in the end, like the Q3 lap at the end was tough with locking, with the bumps. I made quite a few mistakes. So the car was still tricky to drive, but very quick. And that just allows me to drive at 99% and still deliver. So just a combination of several things.

Q: And it’s a very, very hot and humid race here. How different are your preparations over the next 24 hours ahead of the race?
LN: No different, really. Yeah, just drink a bit more and that’s it.

Q: Alright, well, let’s look ahead to the race. You sound very confident in the car. You’ve done some long runs yesterday. Just how much confidence do you have?
LN: I mean, quite a bit. We’ve been very good all weekend. People have caught up clearly, like we’ve gone into quali there and clearly Max improved and he improved a lot from yesterday into today. Mercedes as well, they were very quick in Q2, so they were there on my tail, a bit close for my liking, comparing to what I had in kind of FP3 and things. Confident that the car’s good in both quali and race. We showed that already on Friday. So confident if I can just get ahead, then I get my head down and can go away.

Q: And do you think the fourth DRS zone here will make your life a little bit harder?
LN: No.

Q: Well, very good luck in the race. Thank you, Lando. Well done today. Max, let’s come to you. It hasn’t been the smoothest of weekends for you or Red Bull Racing so far. So how sweet does this front row feel?
MV: Yeah, I’m very happy with second today after yesterday. And I want to say also a big thank you to the team for continuing to push throughout the weekend, you know, to make the car better for me. So, yeah, very happy to be on the front row.

Q: What did you change overnight? Because it seems there’s been a big difference in performance lately.
MV: A lot.

Q: Can you elaborate in terms of what you did?

MV: No, I might get fined or get an extra day, so…

Q: Well, are you confident, Max, with the race pace?
MV: Maybe.

Q: I mean, how much of a step into the unknown is the race given the problems you had yesterday in practice?
MV: It’s an unknown. Yeah.

Q: Tell us about lining up… 
MV: This is not towards you, don’t worry. I don’t want to upset you.

Q: We’re fine. But can you just tell us about lining up alongside Lando then tomorrow in terms of the championship battle and your tactics in the race?
MV: I will find out tomorrow.

Q: Alright, Max, thank you. Lewis, let’s come to you. You weren’t that positive about your car yesterday after practice. Is P3 a bit of a surprise in qualifying?
LH: I’m not saying it’s a surprise, but I mean, through the weekend so far, we were looking, well, I was looking particularly very poor. I mean, this morning and all of yesterday, we were 1.2 seconds off this, guys. So we arrived with a car that was massively understeery, and we just couldn’t dial any in, no matter what we did. Nothing changed. And… made changes overnight, came here today, pretty much the same thing, and I was definitely shocked to see that we were still 1.2 seconds behind Lando again. And then we just kept our heads down, kept not giving up, and we made some more changes and got into this session, and it was like night and day. Such a big difference. Car was all of a sudden alive, and I was able to go where I wanted to go. It was looking really strong throughout qualifying and I think obviously with the crash in Q3 it made it difficult for all of us to put that final lap together. I think my lap was also nothing special. Very difficult to get the tires perfect and not overslide them. I had a lot of snaps. So I think with a better job, maybe we could have been front row with this guy, but I don’t know whether or not we could have beaten him today. But still really, really happy.

Q: How rewarding is it? Because you’ve had some struggles with qualifying and you’ve been very open about that this year. So does that make this that much more satisfying?
LH: Oh yeah, I mean, just to be up here with these guys, great drivers. I’ve not been up here for a while and yeah, qualifying has been a nightmare for quite a long time. So it feels great to be up here. I feel very, very grateful and very, very happy. And I think hopefully from here, George and I are in the second row, so hopefully from here we can apply pressure to these two and to even to be ahead of another McLaren and another Red Bull and also the Ferraris is mega, considering how fast the Ferraris particularly are here. So yeah, I hope that we can hold on to these guys tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR AT THE SINGAPORE GP

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Max, I know you won’t elaborate on what the changes were, but how much of those changes were learning, I guess, from what happened in Bakke, where you guys went in the wrong direction? And how much, what’s the balance between, particularly at a street track like this, the driver getting the most out of the car in those sections or those breakthroughs with the car? 
MV: I would prefer if you ask these questions outside the room.

Q: (Ben Hunt – Autosport) Sorry, this is a bit nerdy, but Carlos Sainz had the crash and he’s run across the track on foot. Lewis, a similar thing to what you did at Qatar last year and you got that massive penalty and everything else. The FIA said they were going to review it. I don’t know if they ever told you guys about the rules once they’d reviewed it last year, what you can and can’t do with regards to live track. 
LN: I also did it. Yeah, Miami.
LH: Where that rule is, there’s a picture of me and him.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) One for Max and then one for Lando and Lewis. Max, will you talk to us outside the room? Because technically there’s not… Yeah, OK. And then Lando and Lewis, what do you think about Max being given community service effectively for what he said on Thursday?
LN: He deserved it. Foul language, so… I think it’s pretty unfair. I don’t agree with any of it.
LH: Yeah, I think it’s a bit of a joke, to be honest. This is the pinnacle of the sport. Mistakes are made. I certainly won’t be doing it, and I hope Max doesn’t do it.

Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Question to Lando Norris. Congratulations on your pole. How do you feel having 10 world titles starting behind you? And second question is about the approach for the race. You had in Miami and Imola some good fights with Max, but at that time of the championship, you are not a title contender. Now you are a title contender. Does it change your approach to tomorrow’s race? 
LN: I mean, it’s pretty cool that I’m here and there’s World Championships, I mean, there’s 150 wins or something between them. So, yeah, I’ve got nothing on them and nothing comparing to them. So I find it cool, you know, that I’m here and I’m amongst them and yeah, trying to fight against them. I think that’s pretty awesome in my regard. So respect them a lot. I’ve looked up to both of them for a long time, both literally and mentally, you know, so it doesn’t change what I do and how I go out and drive. Mainly because when you’re on track… I mean, I probably know what to expect a bit more from them because I’ve seen them drive and I think they both drive with respect and they both want to drive as clean racing drivers. So I think that’s something I always look forward to. You know, we had a great battle, however it ended in Austria, I think we’ve had a great battle there and good battles at other tracks too. So it doesn’t change anything. I just know that they’ll try and play more tricks or you know they’re just. They’re smarter than probably the other drivers and know how to play the longer game or the shorter game more than probably other drivers too. I probably just respect it more and enjoy being here with two greats of the sport.

Q: (Laurence Edmondson – ESPN) Lando, after what happened last week with the yellow flag, do you derive extra satisfaction from this pole position? And I know you said the lap wasn’t quite perfect, but it’s so hard to get it right around here. So where does this stack up in your list of poles? 
LN: I mean, it’s up there still but not that many poles so they’re all up there at the minute. When I get as many as they do both have then maybe some will feel a bit crap comparing to others. But poles still are pretty awesome for me and It’s left to do a nice lap, you know. I think It showed with where we were as a team that the car was quick, but still not easy to drive on a day like today. Still easy to make mistakes and could easily have not been on pole today. So at the same time, I still feel like I have to go out and perform well. I feel like I did exactly the same when I was on it just as much last weekend. Just things didn’t turn out that way because of other circumstances. But I’ve not had it bother me too much. Like I said, Saturday night and coming into Sunday last week, I just concentrated on the next one and did what I had to do. So I feel like I’m performing well. I was performing very well in Baku. I was quick all weekend. So I felt like I could easily have fought there and fought for a podium and for the win. But it wasn’t to be. But I maximized that day and I’ll go out there tomorrow and try and do a similar thing.

Q: (Frederik Hackbarth – Motorsport-total.com) Max, what happens if the behavior in this press conference triggers another penalty? So is it more community service then? I mean, you’ve got a busy schedule. 
MV: No comment.

Q: (Zuhrah Beevi – Vavel.com) Lewis, your car looked much stronger today than it did on Friday. How confident are you that you can get a podium like last year for tomorrow’s race?
LH: It’s very hard to say because it was such a nightmare the past day and a half. I think our long run pace was so-so. Nowhere near these guys, or at least the McLarens. But we have now put the car in a much different window. So we have to also anticipate a different balance tomorrow compared to the past every other session. Yeah, I think here is really about managing tires temps. So that’s going to have to be key tomorrow. So doing absolutely everything we can to keep the temperatures out of the rears, basically. I hope in our attempt to do that, we’re somehow able to hold on to at least one of these guys. But yeah, we’ll find out tomorrow. I feel confident, though, that we might be able to do that.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Max, how long do you anticipate that you won’t be giving answers in the FIA press conference for?
MV: I’m answering. Just not a lot. Problem with my voice.