Formula 1 News: 2024 USGP Friday Press Conference
Three F1 Team Principals met with the media Friday ahead of the 2024 USGP at the Circuit of the Americas.
USGP TEAM REPRESENTATIVES
- Oliver OAKES (Alpine),
- Zak BROWN (McLaren),
- Laurent MEKIES (RB)
Q: Now, Zak, can we start with you? Because there’s a huge couple of months for the team ahead. Just give us a clue as to the atmosphere inside McLaren at the moment?
Zak BROWN: Well, the atmosphere is great, as you can imagine. But we have six races to go, three Sprints, a lot of racing left to go. And we know how quickly this sport can change. The top four teams at the moment, there’s not much between them. So we need to keep doing what we have been doing all year to get us to where we are here, as opposed to doing anything differently. Excited for the weekend. Great venue. They’ve resurfaced a decent amount of it. And yeah, we’ll see. You know, having one practice session, you kind of get down to business pretty quickly. And I think we’ll start to get an indication in Sprint qualifying what things look like.
Q: So if I were to say to you, what is the message you’ve given the team? It’s keep doing what you’re doing.
ZB: Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s working. So I think there’s no reason to change what got us to where we are than to do anything different than what we’ve been doing and keep our head down because we recognize how quickly the sport can change.
Q: And what about Lando? How’s he dealing with the increased pressure on him now?
ZB: Good. Golfing when he has a day off. Excited to go racing. I think the second break that we had, I think we’re all anxious to get back to the racetrack and continue with the racing program.
Q: And what about your chances in the two championships? You’re 41 points ahead in the Constructors’, Lando’s 52 behind in the Drivers’. What is your assessment of McLaren’s chances of getting those two across the line?
ZB: Well, they’re different propositions. We’re obviously leading in the Constructors’, so we need to continue to do so. Red Bull is not far behind, and I think Ferrari, judging from this morning, might be the quickest team. So I think we’re worried about both of them. And then on the Drivers’ Championship, Max is an awesome racing driver. So his bad days tend to be a second or a third place. And we’re going to need Lando to win a lot of races and Max to have an unusual bad day, worse than a second or third. Because I think if Lando goes and wins everything and Max finishes second and all, still don’t think you get the job done. So that one’s going to be a little bit tougher, but a lot of racing to go. And so we just need to keep doing what we can to support him and hope that we can get one, if not both.
Q: Let’s fast forward two months. Win or lose, how will you reflect on 2024?
ZB: An awesome season. You know, we’ve won five races, 14, 15 podiums in a row. So regardless of the outcome, because this is a difficult sport and we have awesome competitors, I think regardless of where we finish in either or both championships, you’ve got to say all the men and women at McLaren have done an outstanding job to put five race wins in the amount of podiums that we’ve had for both drivers together. So we’ll definitely look back on this year proud of what we’ve accomplished.
Q: Final one from me, Zak. A lot has been written and said about ride heights over the last 24 hours in particular. Can we just get your reaction to what is going on with regard to ride heights and your reaction to the FIA’s reaction to what’s going on?
ZB: Yeah, I mean, typically being able to run a car lower is a competitive advantage. It makes the car quicker, most of the time. The FIA, who I think have done a very good job of identifying an element from a single race team, from what we can see, from having looked at all the open source components, it’s the only team that has the ability to adjust the ride height from inside the cockpit. Whether they have or haven’t, I have no idea, but having the ability to do it raises questions. It’s very clear in the regulations and it’s a material breach that if you modify your race car, anything that you didn’t get permission on or driver comfort is very much against regulations. So they’ve decided from what I’ve read, to put a seal on it. And at the same time, I’ve heard from the team that you can’t adjust it when the car is fully race prepped. The car is not always fully race-prepped in Parc Fermé and Sunday morning. So I think that needs to be unpicked. And why do you need to put a seal on something that you can’t get to in Parc Fermé or post-Parc Fermé conditions. So I still have questions that I need to better understand.
Q: Zak, thanks for that. I’m sure there’ll be more questions for you in just a moment. Thank you. Olly, let’s come to you now. Welcome to your first FIA press conference, first of all. Now, you’ve been team principal at Alpine for, what is it, just a couple of months now. How are you settling in?
Oliver OAKES: I was thinking how long it’s been, yeah. A couple of weeks, I think, five. No, maybe more, five, eight weeks. I’ve settled in very well. Everyone’s been very welcoming. Obviously, there wasn’t much rest, straight in after the shutdown, straight into these races, but that’s been really good.
Q: You say everyone’s been very welcoming in the team. What about the other team principals?
OO: They’ve all been pretty nice, yeah. Most of them, yeah, so far.
Q: Let’s talk about on-track stuff now. On the performance side, it’s been a tricky few races for the team. No points since Zandvoort. You’re running some upgrades on Pierre’s car here. So what was he saying about them in FP1?
OO: Yeah, so I think we had definitely a tricky couple of races. I think particularly pre-shutdown, in Spa and Zandvoort, we were there mixing it for the tail end of the points. I think the last few races have been tough on the team, quite humbling, but I think this weekend we’re positive. We’ve brought a very big upgrade. We have to see how it performs on track. Pierre seemed happy. I’d never say completely happy. Drivers are always on our case for many things, but it looks positive, yeah.
Q: And looking further ahead, what goals have you set the team over these last six races?
OO: Yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the day, coming in new, it’s more just genuinely seeing how everyone performs together. I think the team had a tough start to the season. I think they’ve really rallied around that to work hard, to bring some performance for these last few races of the year. And I think just very humble, really, just seeing how we can progress between now and the beginning of next year.
Q: And are there any Constructors’ Championships goals? I mean, you’re P9 at the moment, but very close to Williams.
OO: I think that battle with us and Williams is definitely going to keep bubbling away till the end of the year. Obviously, you know, full credit to them, they’re tough competitors as well. They’ve had a quick car the last few races. So I think that’s definitely their face every day. But at the end of the day, we also know it’s not just them we want to beat. We need to be better as a team. So, yeah, there are a lot of goals.
Q: And with the upcoming changes on the power unit side of things, it’s been a baptism of fire for you, but when can we expect news as to which direction you’re going to go for 2026?
OO: Yeah, I think it’s been slightly warm since I arrived. I think at the end of the day, at group level, we’ve made it clear that we want to have the best engine in the car, and I think that’s a process that’s ongoing. We’re looking at options, and I think when we have news, we’ll let you know.
Q: Can you give us a timeframe on that?
OO: Before the end of the year. Is that all right?
Q: Ollie, thanks for that. I’m sure there’ll be more questions for you in a minute. Laurent, coming to you now. So Liam’s back in the car here. How’s he settled in during FP1? He looked close to Yuki.
Laurent MEKIES: Look, yeah, he did a very good job. He has been waiting for that moment for a very long time, so he was all smiling this morning, and I think he was sitting in the car 20 minutes before the session started. So he was certainly very keen. Look, he did all the sessions in a very smooth way. We had this very refreshing, typical day one comments from drivers when they complained about too much grip. It normally doesn’t last very long, but he was on the right pace straight away, quite close to Yuki. It’s a difficult track, he has never driven here, so it’s the right way to put the first foot into the weekend.
Q: And how much more complicated is his job this weekend, it being a Sprint?
LM: You know, I think the Sprint in isolation does make the weekend very, very complicated for a first race, for a young driver, if I can call him a young driver. I think what is fortunately for him mitigating these circumstances is that we have a PU penalty to take with him. So effectively, the level of pressure for qualifying will go down. So really, what it means for us and for him is that he can use the whole weekend to settle in, to build up the confidence. We know it’s going to be extremely difficult to score points if you start from the back of the grid on Sunday. And therefore, you can really use the weekend to get the right reasons with these engineers in the car, get the confidence, and hopefully hit the ground running in Mexico.
Q: So Sunday’s going to be difficult, but what goals have you set him over these six races? What’s he got to do to get that second seat at VCARB in 2025?
LM: You know, the speed is there for him. The speed is there, but we believe, I’m sure as my colleagues, we believe in drivers developing and improving not only their skills outside of the race, of the car, but also in the car, they’re pure speed. So all he needs to do is stay calm in the car, develop his skills, get the speed to come together with his confidence race after race. And if we see that, it means that Yuki and him will be pushing each other very, very hard. And that’s exactly what we want to see. That’s exactly what we need for the future.
Q: And in the Constructors’ Championship, you’re in a very tight battle with Haas, just the three points between you. But I think we have to put Williams in there as well. Of the three of you, who has the faster car?
LM: You know, you have to give credit to Haas and Williams. I think they are faster than us right now, both of them. I think it’s a product of the difficulties in our car development that we hit in the middle of the seasons. So it took us some time to digest that, to understand, eventually to start fixing it. So I think at the moment, going into Austin, we are slower than these guys, so we are defending our positions. Now, it’s quite impressive the number of updates that pretty much the whole grid brought to Austin, so it’s a bit like a new six-races shootout for all of us. So, you know, we don’t think we can defend the P6 if we stay with a car that is slower than them for the six races, so hopefully with the upgrades we have here and a couple of more tweaks coming, we hope it will give us enough raw pace to give it a good fight.
USGP QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) A question for Zak. Do you view the device in Red Bull’s floor as a genuine performance concern or genuine place they’re gaining performance, or is it just a war of words off track? And given that your rear wing was also in contention earlier this year, is there any update on the development of that, whether that has cleared the FIA regulations and their clearance test?
ZB: Absolutely. Our rear wings passed every single test. We’ve made some small modifications, as have some others. So that’s a non-issue. I think on the floor, if, and I say if, because I don’t know, it’s used in an inappropriate manner, then it is definitely a performance advantage. If it’s not, then there’s no performance advantage whatsoever. And I think that’s what we just want to better understand.
Q: (Jon Noble – Motorsport.com) If Lando is going to win this world championship, he’s going to need to deliver six perfect race weekends. He’s had some great weekends this year and a few little wobbles on the way. How is he prepared for the challenge that’s coming ahead? How do you respond to Helmut Marko’s suggestions that he’s lacking the strength mentally to pull it off against Max?
ZB: Lando’s very excited for these final six races and the Sprints. He’s as focused as ever. You know, he comes into the race weekends like Oscar and like I would imagine all the Grand Prix drivers, very focused on the job at hand, sitting down with his engineers, doing his commercial work, his media work, relaxing, et cetera. So he’s very focused. I read Helmut’s comments. which I thought were disappointing, but not surprising. Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health. Toto’s spoken about mental health. So I think it’s a serious issue. you know, we’ve tried to talk about to bring to the forefront and make it okay to talk about. So to maybe, kind of choose poking at that situation, I think, is pretty inappropriate and kind of sets us back 10, 20 years. But, you know, it’s all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective. But I thought that one was in pretty poor taste.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsportmagazin.com) Another one on the Red Bull bib. Do you have any doubts that even with the seal the FIA is putting on that part, that you can do things that you shouldn’t do, and is the only solution for you that they have to change that part?
ZB: You know, I don’t know, because I’m not the most technical person in our racing team. I’ve got confidence that the FIA will resolve the issue. I understand they’re having to modify and change their racing car for upcoming races. I’m not exactly sure when. So I’m confident in the FIA’s ability to address it moving forward. And our questions are a bit more around what has maybe historically happened in understanding if it’s been used in an inappropriate manner.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic)) Zak, you say you want those questions answered. So what is the process going to look like now in terms of engaging with the FIA to get a better understanding of it? And I believe on Sky you used the words ‘massive consequences’ if there’s found to have been a breach this year.
ZB: Well, I think if you breach the Parc Fermé rules that’s a massive breach, and so there should be consequences. if that has happened, and that would be ultimately up to the FIA. We’ve seen it in sport before. We’ve seen it in our sport. We’ve seen it in baseball. We’ve seen it in football. You know, these things do happen, so just put our trust in the FIA to address the issue moving forward. We’re just asking questions, but it’s up to the FIA as our regulator, who do a great job, to get on top of it and come up with a solution that is transparent and is satisfactory to all the teams. I think I’m not alone in our concerns for what we have seen and heard.
Q: (Dan Lawrence – Motorsport Week) Another one for Zak…
ZB: This is what happens when you lead the world championship! Sorry, chaps. Just giving you a heads up.
Q: (Dan Lawrence – Motorsport Week) We saw Red Bull with a dominant package last year. They started this year with a dominant package, but they’ve developed themselves into a window where they’ve had balance issues throughout the year. McLaren has the all-round dominant car, or the best performing car in the field at the moment. What contingencies are McLaren putting in place to make sure that you don’t trip yourselves up towards the end of this year and moving into next year? Thank you.
ZB: Yeah, dominant’s probably not a word I would use. I would say we’ve got a great race car, but we haven’t won the most races this year. That would be the most dominant car, at least to date. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. This is a tough game that moves very quickly. You can quickly move forward. You can quickly move backwards. It’s a sport where all of our great competitors are constantly moving forward. I’m not sure any teams go backwards. I think what ends up happening is other teams move forward at a faster pace. You know, if you kind of take the car that qualifies on pole and you left it untouched by the end of the year, it would probably be last. So I think that’s a testament to how great all the racing teams are in Formula One. So we need to keep doing what we’re doing at the factory and here at the racetrack. And all the men and women are doing it. Great job at McLaren, but there are no guarantees in this sport, which is why we’ve got to keep our head down and stay focused.
Q: Zak, are you and the team able to enjoy the run you’re on at the minute, or do you live in fear that you’re going to lose the advantage you have?
ZB: I think it’s probably a mix of both, depending on people’s personalities. Mine in particular is one that’s always kind of looking in the rear view mirror a bit nervous, and then there’s other people in life that, you know, it’s the thrill, the pursuit of victory that gets them motivated. So it’s probably a healthy dose of a combination of both that get everyone out of bed every day, highly motivated to continue to just make these small incremental gains.
Q: (Molly Hudson – The Times) A question for Zak, but also anyone else that may or may not want to get involved. Is it a concern that it seems as though there may not be proof or there may not be a way of monitoring whether this was or was not used? Because obviously without having that proof, it’s very hard to have those consequences that may be needed.
OO: Thanks for that. I’m going to defer back to Zak. No, I’m joking. I think, as Zak said, at the end of the day, we have full trust in the FIA, and I think they’ve got to go through that process. I think there’s a lot of talking at the minute about it, but actually we don’t know anything until it’s been properly investigated.
ZB: Laurent, he was at the FIA.
LM: I was at the FIA. And therefore, I fully trust the FIA. Seriously, there is many, many things you cannot trust in a race car. And the Parc Fermé is not exactly a new rule. It’s been there for 15 years. So for 15 years, the FIA had to watch if we were not adjusting stuff that we could mechanically adjust during that time from qualifying to the race. so there is nothing new there. So I don’t think it’s a new additional stress. You can change your front ride height or your rear ride height or your anti-roll bar or your damper settings probably with a click or a spanner. But the FIA make sure that you don’t do that. And we have cameras and we have the marshals with us in our garage around the car during the whole time in which we are in the garage between the end of the quali to the start of the race. So I don’t think it’s a new concern. I think the FIA has to ensure that we don’t touch at all any of the car specifications or settings and I don’t think there is anything new here.
ZB: Yeah just. you know it’s a pretty clever sport but as Laurent and Ollie said, we’ve got a lot of confidence in the FIA. And like all of us, we’re learning all the time. So, you know, they’ve discovered something that they aren’t happy with. They’re addressing it now. And, you know, I’m sure they’ll do a thorough look back and see if there’s anything that they don’t like that they saw.
Q: (Adam Cooper – AdamCooper.com) If I can change the subject. It’s a question for Laurent. Can I ask you about Daniel’s weekend in Singapore? He knew it was his last race. You knew it was his last race. We knew it was his last race. But he had to go through this charade of pretending and that no decision had been made. He didn’t get a proper chance to say goodbye. Yesterday, Max said things could have been done differently. Why did it play out that way, and was it frustrating for you personally to have to go along with that game?
LM: I think the answer is yes, it was frustrating, and yes, you’re right, it was not ideal to go through the weekend in that way, first of all for him, on a professional and on a personal matter, and for the whole team around him. Yes, Daniel was aware. We did have discussions before the weekend. For many different reasons, we chose together to go into that weekend without announcing. And from that point onwards, we had to deal with it. It’s a decision that, in hindsight, we may or may not do differently. But it’s something that we were, both the team and the drivers, were on board to go through that now. I think in one way or another, we all found a way to express how much love there is from the sport to Daniel, from the fans to Daniel. So I don’t know if it would have been better or worse, certainly different, more traditional, but I can hopefully say that the amount of love and empathy we felt through that weekend was something outstanding and something that shows that he’s bigger than an F1 driver, he’s bigger than F1.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) Another one for you, Zak, on a different topic. You’ve got Gabriel Bortoleto on your books. What’s your current thinking in terms of your strategy with him? Obviously, he’s been linked with one vacancy down the grid at Sauber. Is that still possible? Are you determined to keep hold of him and would only be willing to loan him out? Or is there a scenario where he could be released entirely? Do you see him as a key asset to retain control of long term?
ZB: Yeah, he’s a great racing driver. Right now, our priority is to help them win the Formula 2 championship. So that’s what we’re very much focused on. We don’t have an open seat. We’re very happy, obviously, with our two Grand Prix drivers, and we would never want to hold a racing driver back in Grand Prix. in his career. So we’ll kind of see how things play out, but focused on winning the championship and focused on not holding him back if we can’t provide him with an opportunity in Formula 1, which looks unlikely at this time.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Another question to Zak, please. You said one of the questions you’ve got around. this whole Red Bull device saga is about historical usage. So how far do you suspect that something may have been going on? And therefore, how far back are you expecting the FAA to look in its investigation?
ZB: As long as the device has had the ability to be adjusted from inside the cockpit, I think is probably what needs to be reviewed.
Q: A question for Zak. You already said something about the comments of Helmut Marko. Max also said something about the position of Oscar. How does Lando deal with those comments? Do they get under his skin with those things?
ZB: No, not at all. I saw Max’s comments. I like Max. I like Max a lot. We’ve had some good chats this year, so I think that’s all part of the sport. Lando doesn’t have any issue with it. I didn’t have any issue with it.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Fernando Alonso is about to celebrate his 400th Grand Prix. You’ve put him in sports cars, F1 cars, Indy cars. What makes Fernando so good and are you astonished by how much he’s been able to push his career on?
ZB: Fernando is awesome. He’s one of my favorite racing drivers. He’s a proper racing driver. He wants to race anything he can get, and his focus is amazing. To have his level of talent being this long in Formula 1 is impressive. He is capable of winning Grand Prix and the World Championship in a race-winning championship-caliber race car, and so you’ve got to admire for him to have done Dakar and Le Mans and jump in at the Indy 500. He is a throwback to the days where the Mario Andrettis hopped around and the Dan Gurneys. I’m a massive fan of Fernando’s and enjoy watching him race, and he’s a tough competitor to race against.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Sorry, that just came back to the ride height. Do you believe that the Red Bull drivers have had the ability to adjust ride height from within the cockpit?
ZB: No. No. They’d have to have very long arms to do that.
Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for all three of you. You’ve got six races in seven weeks coming on now. We’ve got the new season starting less than three months after the last race this year. There’s a new Concorde agreement being negotiated, and then all sorts of noises coming out about, ‘oh, well, we could do 28, 30 races’. Practically, that’s not possible. How much input do the team principals have in trying to actually moderate things and getting into situations where we’re not hit by a triple header a week off and another triple header?
LM: Look, I don’t think we are trying to slow it down. I think we have a responsibility towards our people to make sure it’s livable. And we also have a huge performance drive to make sure it’s livable. Because the truth is, if our guys get burned out after two or three years, we will be the one suffering. So I know every single team is already putting in place whatever works for them, let it be rotations or different ways of working, so that we are not going to lose our best people with a sort of intense calendar. So I don’t think we are trying to slow down. I don’t think we are saying, there is a maximum. Of course, we all feel that where we are now is probably what we are able to manage. But we would probably have said the same thing when it was 22, 20, 18, and probably 16. So the good news is it’s a cost cap era. It’s an extremely competitive business. And therefore, we do have, in order to protect our competitiveness, we do have to make sure we take care of our people. And that’s regardless of the number of races.
ZB: Yeah, Formula 1 and the FIA are very collaborative and consultative on everything Formula 1. I think we have very good sessions with them. As far as the calendar goes, I think 24 is max. As I’ve said before, I think maybe having 20 fixed races and eight races that rotate every other year so we can continue to grow the sport, because there’s definitely demand. So if we can be in 28 markets, I think that would be fantastic. But I think we can only do that 24 times a year. So I think that’s how you solve kind of the growing calendar. And then I think Stefano has done a very good job modifying the calendar, but it’s always difficult because you’re dealing with other sports, TV, holidays. So there’s this domino effect of we could all put on a piece of paper and the. this is what the schedule should look like. But then as soon as you throw a holiday in or a competitive sport or a television issue it then creates a domino effect. So it’s not an easy job putting together what looks to be. why don’t you just do it like this? but they are very consultative and collaborative. they don’t surprise us and they listen to us. and as Laurent said and I’m sure Ollie would agree, looking after our people is number one priority. And so we are going to have to look at rotations and things of that nature, which we’re already starting to do. Because I think this is the first year we’ve done 24 races. Give it another couple of years, there will be some people that get pretty tired.
OO: Obviously, I’ve only been here a very short time. But one thing I think Zak said, and it’s actually true, is the collaborative side. It’s really surprised me, actually, how much we all want to fight for every tenth on the track but in stuff regarding looking after our people, the calendar, the best interests of the sport, it is very collaborative. And I think that’s really nice to see. And I think people is at the forefront of what we’re doing in those discussions. I think Stefano is doing a really good job of always keeping us in the loop on those discussions.