Formula 1 News: 2024 Austrian GP Sprint Race Press Conference
The top 3 drivers in the Austrian GP Sprint Race Saturday morning at the Red Bull Ring won by Max Verstappen.
DRIVERS
1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)
3 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Alex Wurz)
Q: Well done. Third position. I’m pretty sure you would like to be a bit higher than this. But nevertheless, it was a sensational Sprint for us to watch. But please, talk us through the race?
Lando NORRIS: I mean, a good race. A good race between us, especially with Max at the beginning, it was good fun. Yeah, probably some things I definitely should have done a bit better in my battle, but I understand that, and the pace of the car was very strong, especially the end of the race and I had a good battle trying to get past Oscar, but I just didn’t have enough speed with how much you lose in the middle sector with the dirty air. So it was a good race, a good load of points for us as McLaren, so a good job to the team, and, of course, Max and Oscar for the podium.
Q: Yeah, you think as a team you could have played more together with Oscar and you to get Max today?
LN: I don’t think so, honestly. We’re fair to race, and, yeah, it was just too difficult to get past. But the pace was good. I don’t think we would have had probably the pace to go with Max. I think he was maybe that little bit too quick for us today. But tomorrow’s another day, and we’ll try again.
Q: Yeah, thank you. A quick one before the other colleagues are ready. I think you’ve worn them out today with the pressure you applied. Lap 3, fantastic dive bomb. So, my hat’s off to you. Maybe talk me through your mindset in this aggressive move.
LN: Yeah, I think a little bit like I saw at the end. I think once things settle in too much, it’s difficult to… Once the tires get too hot, it’s difficult to do too much. So I had to make the most of my opportunity. Yeah, then I messed it up and left the door open like an amateur. So, yeah, like I said, some things to improve, but we’re there and we can definitely give them a fight tomorrow.
Q: Thank you. Oscar Piastri, you are already a Sprint winner and today you finished second. Are you happy with that position?
Oscar PIASTRI: Yes and no, I think. I obviously finished one spot higher than I started but yeah, I just didn’t quite have the pace in the in the second half of that one. I thought Max and Lando were going to pave the way for me to come through at one point but not quite. Some things to look at for this afternoon and for tomorrow’s race, but we’ll definitely take the points, a really good haul compared to the other teams around us.
Q: We still need to ask you, lap 5, an ice-cold, beautifully executed maneuver. I mean, you just needed popcorn. You had the best seats in this battle. Talk us through it, what did you think about when they battled? Did you plan it and your execution?
OP: Yeah, I could see that they were battling quite hard. And into Turn 4 , I saw the move was quite late. And yeah, I knew that there’d be an opportunity on the exit. I was hoping I would get both but I just bided my time and tried my best. I think I had probably one opportunity to try and get Max the lap after. But yeah, just didn’t quite have the pace after that. So yeah, in that one, being patient in the start paid off a bit.
Q: Thank you. And all the best for tomorrow. Max Verstappen, winner. Let’s not talk about football. Sorry to beat you. Austria won against Holland. Unless you really want to talk about it? But well done for such a strong comeback. Amazing start. Maybe the perception of the race for you?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was a good first lap, I would say. But then, yeah, once the DRS opens, it’s very hard to get out of it. Took a few laps, a few exciting battles as well. But I think once we cleared the DRS, then I could do a bit more of my own race, and then it looked all a bit better. But you could see they have two cars, they are pushing flat out, trying to, of course, make it difficult for me. And, yeah, we had to work for it in that race. So, yeah, a few things to think about what we could do better for tomorrow, especially, because I think tomorrow is going to be even longer races and harder on the tires, so it’s going to be quite interesting to see how that will evolve.
Q: Okay, Max, but you spoke about learning things for tomorrow. We’ve seen around lap four, five, you had a lot of clipping. For those who don’t know, it’s the energy recovery and that slowed you down on the straight. Is that maybe your weak spot for tomorrow as well?
MV: I mean, it’s just because they’re in the DRS, so they use, of course, a bit less energy because naturally they spend less time on the straight just catching up to me. And I think, you know, once they were out, then I could go back to my normal management and then everything was fine again.
Q: Okay, Max, so tomorrow you expect still a tough battle. Do you have anyone else on the cards in your rearview mirror, as the McLarens, for tomorrow?
MV: Yeah, I need to have a look at the whole race. Of course, I was very busy with myself, so we have to look into the data about the others as well. And, yeah, we’ll see if we can do better tomorrow.
Q: Good. You love it in Austria? You’re loving it in Austria?
MV: Yeah, it’s always good to be here. Very good.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Very well done, Max. That was a very exciting race in the early laps. How hard was it to come out on top today?
MV: Yeah, definitely in the beginning was quite tricky. I mean, Lando stayed in my DRS and I was just struggling a little bit for grip at that point as well. And yeah, it’s just very difficult to judge around here how much you lose through the corners following and how much you gain with the DRS around the lap, because of course it’s a triple activation, which is a lot. So yeah, we had to really fight for it. We had a few good close battles here and there, defending, overtaking. And basically, once I could clear the DRS, then you could settle in a bit more and you could drive around your own pace. But the pace was high. It was really not looking after tires much, I think, and surviving a bit to the end because, of course, the tires drop off quite a bit the last few laps. But it was cool. It was fun.
Q: Well, I was going to say, how much fun was it? And can you talk us through the battle with Lando in particular?
MV: Yeah, I think I didn’t expect him to go up the inside in Turn 3. But yeah, I was just struggling with clipping, grip. So he went for it. Then I still had, of course, the tow, not the DRS. And yeah, I decided to go back into Turn 4. And it was good fighting.
Q: Were you worried about Oscar as well?
MV: Yeah, I knew that Oscar was very close to the battle. And I knew that once we were braking late into four on the exit, you know, you’re looking around, where is everyone? And then I could see Oscar in my mirror as well. So then I had, you know, the two McLarens side by side behind me. So yeah, they pushed me very hard today in the race.
Q: Max, the focus turns now to the Grand Prix itself, qualifying next, the race tomorrow. What have you learned so far this weekend? that’s going to help you for the remainder?
MV: That it’s close. It’s a tight battle. Ideally, you look in a few details what you can do better. But I need to go back to the team, you know, and look back at the race as well, as a whole. But, yeah, you always try to look for improvements in the car when you can. And you can change the car around then.
Q: Very well done. Thank you, Max. Oscar, let’s come to you now. And can we start by getting your take on those frenetic early laps? Did you think Max was beatable at that point?
OP: I thought so, yes. Yeah, he obviously had quite a good start compared to Lando and I. And then, I just managed to stay in the DRS and got to the back of him. And yeah, Alex [Wurz] on the grid summed it up well, I was sitting there with my popcorn waiting for whatever was going to unfold. And yeah, obviously just stayed patient and I managed to get Lando and not quite enough to get Max. I just struggled a little bit in the second half of it. I think everyone was probably struggling with tires a bit. Yeah, just didn’t quite have the pace to keep challenging in the second half of the sprint.
Q: So Max slips away and you spent the majority of that race protecting your second place from your teammate. How tough was it to stay ahead of him without DRS?
OP: It was tough at the start definitely I think. Once the car behind gets into the DRS, you know, they have three shots at it. I think to be honest the tires at that point were so hot for everybody that the DRS wasn’t having anywhere near as much of an impact as it did at the start of the race, so in the last few laps it was a little bit more comfortable but all it would take was one mistake. So yeah, a difficult Sprint.
Q: Oscar, you came out of Barcelona last weekend feeling a little frustrated. Is this result proof that you’re in a happier place with the car here in Austria?
OP: Yeah, definitely. I think we’ve got all the answers from Barcelona on what we did wrong and what went wrong in the weekend. I think, yeah, I was much happier with the car in practice straight away. And, yeah, obviously in Sprint quali yesterday it was a good result and today as well. So, yeah, I’m hoping Barcelona stays as a one-off.
Q: Alright. Thanks, Oscar. Lando, let’s come to you now. You gave us plenty of excitement during those early laps. Can you just give us your take on the battle with Max?
LN: Yeah, I mean, it was a good battle. I knew there were not going to be too many opportunities to try to do it. So yeah, I had to go for a bit of a move into Turn 3. And then I was just pretty stupid into Turn 4 and left the door open. So yeah, not a lot, to be honest. It was two corners we battled, and that was it. And then Oscar managed to come past. I tried. Obviously it didn’t go to plan, but the pace in the car was pretty good and I think we gave it a good shot, but it wasn’t quite enough today. It’s nice to have two cars up there, nice to have two cars trying to fight against Max, and that’s what we need on Sunday.
Q: Have you come away from this feeling a little frustrated? Do you think that was one that got away?
LN: I mean, we’re saying this every weekend now, so I’m not going to say it again, but I could have just, I should have done, I’m not going to say should have done, but I needed to do a better job. And I just did something pretty stupid and silly, which was not very smart of me. So, no, I think a good amount of points, it could have been a lot worse. And for the team, it was a good result, the result we wanted. So I’m happy. But yeah, I need to do things better.
Q: Let’s look at the positives, Lando. How much confidence does your pace today and yesterday in the Sprint Qualifying give you for the remainder of the weekend?
LN: A lot. I think we’re in good shape. We’re in good form. It’s clear that Max is still just a bit ahead of us. So, you know, if he doesn’t make any mistakes, he’s kind of got it for the time being. So we just need to execute what we’re doing and do what we have been doing, which is a good job. But we need that little bit more and we’re going to try to find that over lunchtime, into qualifying to try and give ourselves one step better position than what I had today. But otherwise, yeah, we’re just missing that little bit. And we’ll do as much as we can to find it.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm – The Race) It’s a question to Max. This is another race that you’ve made a difference in yourself in a close battle with the McLarens or other cars. I know that races that you’ve won in the past by 20 seconds or more still obviously require an immense performance level from yourself. But how much satisfaction do you take from these ones? Do you feel at the moment that you’re in a good run of making the difference as a driver in these key races that you could otherwise lose?
MV: Well, I think, you know, I feel good with the car. I think I’m working well with the team, you know, to really extract everything out of the car. As you can see, it’s very tight and, you know, it’s really like little details that can define a weekend nowadays between teams, which, of course, is very exciting. I mean, of course, I would like to win by 20 seconds, 30 seconds. Because naturally, you still do the best you can. You’re still optimizing your performance. But now that it’s a lot closer, then it requires you to be really on top form. And even today, I got challenged. I got passed. I went for it, got my place back, and we won the race. Is that then a guaranteed win for tomorrow? Absolutely not, because it’s still going to be very close. So we do need to find little improvements for tomorrow to probably stay on top. And again, qualifying now in the afternoon will define a lot, anyway, what’s going to happen in the first stint tomorrow. But yeah, I’m happy. Of course, there are always things I look at and will look back at that I want to work on or try and be better at. Of course, after a weekend, it’s always easy to comment on these kind of things. But I think naturally, as a driver, that’s how it should be. I mean, you should never be saying, I’m happy and that’s it. I’m going to go home and not think about anything and rock up the next race. That’s not how it works.
Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Max, yesterday you said that the balance was good from the beginning. Has anything changed from the last races where you and the team seemed to struggle to find the right set-up until Saturday?
MV: I mean, we tried to, of course, work on it, try to be better at it. But I think we had a good preparation going into the weekend. And luckily then, of course, it paid off as soon as the car hit the ground. It was in a sensible window and it was just tiny adjustments to make it better. But that’s positive. I mean, of course, you try to learn from difficult weekends and how to be better prepared for the next one.
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Max, this is for you. The dispute between your dad and Christian Horner has broken out into the open again this weekend. How do you feel about that and does it affect you in any way?
MV: Well, I mean, actually, of course, it’s not nice. I think not for myself, not for my dad, not for Christian, not for the team. Of course, you know, you don’t want these things to happen. I think, yeah, my dad has been quite clear about the reason behind it. And of course, I can understand his opinion on that, because at the end of the day he gets asked to drive the car, finds out that he’s not wanted to drive the car. Well, my dad, actually, he doesn’t care about driving the car, but he got asked and they said, please, you know, do it for the fans, the Dutch fans, blah, blah, blah. Red Bull, we have a great relationship with, you know, home track. So I understand. And the other hand, you know, I’m here, of course, to focus on the performance side of things. So I want a good relationship with everyone. But of course, this scenario could have been avoided.
Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) Lando, you sound pretty self-deprecating about your first few laps of your race. Turn 4 aside, what kind of do you feel like you need to get out of yourself to start beating Max on a slightly more regular basis?
LN: No, not much. Yeah, it’s tiny, tiny things. But I think as a race car, we’re still missing a tiny bit. But that’s not my excuse. Like, for today, I think nothing more than Turn 4. I think if I just defended and didn’t leave the door open, a different story would have happened. But yeah, that might have been just one corner and Max probably would have attacked me in the next lap. So I don’t know. There’s nothing in particular. I’m not… I’m just yeah, I mean, I’m not feeling great and there are still those little opportunities that I feel like I just miss out on. In hindsight I think ‘well, how stupid was I to do some of the things that I’ve done?’ But at the same time I’m doing the best I can when I’m on the track, so I don’t necessarily think about what people are thinking on the outside. I know I’ve done a things that aren’t good enough and things that aren’t at the level that they need to be. And I’m doing my best to improve on them. And that’s all I can do for now.
Q: (Ben Hunt – Autosport) Lando, I was just going to ask about your illness. Just wondered how much it is affecting you this weekend. You sound pretty run down. I wonder if it’s a combination of all these races in a row, perhaps. But just how are you feeling?
LN: I don’t know. I can’t say how much it’s affecting me. It’s not helping. That’s probably the main thing. But I wouldn’t say anything that’s changing my performance on track. It’s not to that level. So just… Yeah, just talking. So stop asking me stuff and I’ll be happy! Yeah, nothing that’s affecting me, I don’t think. But small things away from the track and just being tired and not sleeping good and that kind of stuff. So I’m sure a little bit, but nothing that I would use as an excuse to help me on track.