Formula 1 News: 2024 São Paulo Brazil GP Post-Race Quotes

“It was a mixed weekend, and we missed out on some luck today. Our tires were very cold at the start which limited us and then we pitted just before the red flag, we were on the wrong side of things from the start. We had some good battles out there but it was quite difficult to pass. The conditions were mixed all day with the rain coming and going throughout the session, and it was also strange to do qualifying and the race in the same day. I’m glad we were able to race today and for the fans to be able to see track action as it is a very passionate crowd here. A big congrats to Max, he was strong all weekend and really charged through the field today, it is a great result for the Team. It is the end of a triple header and was probably our most competitive weekend as a Team in a while. Hopefully, the final three races will be positive for our Championship fight.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal

“Max put on a masterclass today, he was just brilliant. In these conditions, the driver skill really comes out, and he was in a league of his own. As a Team, we got all of the strategy calls right and the car had great pace. What a transformation from this morning when we thought that the top five would have been an incredible drive. To come from 17th on the grid, and through nearly the entire field, it was an incredible performance and one of Max’s very best. Checo had a stronger weekend as well, and had some unlucky moments during the race. The Team demonstrated today that we are never going to give up, that was evident both at the track and with the whole Team back in Milton Keynes. What a great result for the Team, and we are going to carry this momentum with us for the final triple header of the season.”

Alpine

Esteban Ocon, 2nd

“I’m very happy this afternoon and I really do not know if I’m in a dream or if it’s a reality! I’m so proud of the entire team. We scored an amazing number of points in one race weekend. Clearly after yesterday such a performance seemed impossible but when the conditions are difficult, we have seen that we can fight. We had a very good qualifying session earlier this morning, which set us up well for the race. When I was at the front of the race, I believed in it for a little while but Max [Verstappen] was faster than us on the last stint so we can have no regrets in the end result because that was definitely the most we could achieve. It proves again that we can do it and we just have to keep working hard for the final three races. I’m also super happy to share this podium with Pierre. I thought about it on the last lap of the race that it was going to be incredible to share a podium together, like in the good old days when we started karting in similar conditions. This podium will remain in my memory forever and I’m just so pleased for the entire team.”

Pierre Gasly, 3rd

“What an incredible day for the entire team. None of us could have imagined a double podium but we did it and I could not be prouder of everyone. We have had such a year. We have struggled at times, been at the back, and it’s been tough for everyone involved. No one has given up, though, and everyone has stayed focused and motivated and now we have two trophies in second and third place in São Paulo, which is just amazing. We knew anything would be possible on a day like this with the mixed conditions. It was about being ready for anything and executing everything to the maximum. I’m very pleased for Esteban too, he did a great race today. We have our story. It’s a unique and beautiful story. Growing up together in the same area and karted since we were kids. Not only did we both get to Formula 1, but amazingly, became team-mates and now we share a podium together at the same team. Just unbelievable and I’m happy for the both of us. It’s been a busy triple-header where we’ve certainly made improvements. We have to keep going and stay hungry for the final three races as the Championship battle remains so close.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal

“What a way to end the triple-header with a double podium for the team. Even more so after the early alarm call this morning after the rain delay yesterday! Both drivers were faultless today in difficult conditions, not putting a wheel wrong all day. On top of the points in the Sprint race yesterday, it’s been a great weekend for the whole team in all conditions and a real credit to everyone across Enstone and Viry for their hard work these past two months to bring performance to the track. This gives us some momentum that we must use to finish the season strongly.”

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, 10th

“That was such a tough race for us today – and probably one of the most difficult race weekends of the season, to be honest. The car has been very difficult to drive all weekend, and it didn’t hook up at any point during the race either. But even with the results today, it’s hard to come away upset because the fans here are incredible. It was such an unusual day with the early qualifying session, and they were queuing up from 04:00 this morning – and you just cannot beat that commitment and positivity, no matter what the result on track. It was so emotional to drive Senna’s car in front of them all this morning, and to connect with the five-year-old child inside of me. That was a very special moment for me, and I’m very grateful we could make it happen today in spite of the conditions.”

George Russell, 4th

“That was an intense race and there’s lots for us to debrief and learn from. I got a good start and I was surprised at the pace in the opening stint – we didn’t have the right tyre pressures on the set, and we were expecting them to drop off, so that was encouraging. When the VSC came with the heavy rain, I was in favor of staying out as I thought there would be a red flag – it was like driving a point at points, with the aquaplaning on the straights. I pitted and so did Lando, and we ended up P4 and P6 at the finish, while the cars that stayed out finished ahead. But it’s easy to make the call after the race, and we’re in this together, trying to make the best calls with the information we have available. I think we would have taken P4 at the start of the weekend; but of course, after qualifying P2 and running in the lead for the first half of the race, it’s hard not to feel some regret for the opportunity we missed today.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“It has been a tough triple header for the team – and the final day of competition continued in very much the same way. Qualifying and the race itself were bittersweet: Lewis struggled for confidence in the car, and did not progress past Q1 in a session that saw several cars finish out of position; George was able to build greater confidence in the rear end in particular and took a strong P2 on the grid. The aborted start led to some unusual circumstances but when the race proper began, George ran strongly at the head of the field until the VSC came out at the same time as a heavy rain shower. We wanted to use that opportunity to change his worn intermediate tires and were followed into the pits by Norris from second place – while Verstappen and the Alpine drivers stayed out and took the gamble on a Safety Car or red flag, which subsequently came. When racing resumed, with everybody on new tires, George was able to get past Leclerc into P4 but then – as we saw up and down the field today – got stuck behind an ultimately slower car and was unable to overtake, without DRS available. It was the same story for Lewis a little further back, who climbed into the points but was unable to pass Lawson despite several close attempts. P4 and P10 feel like a meager reward after leading the first part of the race, but there’s plenty for us to pick through and learn from across this weekend, and from the last three races. We will be focusing on that work in the coming days, to give ourselves the strongest foundation for the final triple header of the season.”

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc, 5th

“It was a very long and tricky race and the drivers on the podium today are those who did not put a foot wrong, so they really deserve it.

“I have mixed feelings about our race. On the one hand, it was a bit disappointing because we struggled to keep the car on track in these conditions, especially towards the end of the race, due to the way that we decided to set up our car for today. On the other hand, we finished ahead of both McLarens, which was a positive surprise and helps in our battle in the Constructors’ championship. We are heading home now to recharge for the final triple-header of this season where we will give it our all to try and secure the team championship title.”

Carlos Sainz, DNF

“Definitely a Sunday to forget for me. I’m sorry to have given the team extra work on a day that was already super long. I’ve struggled with this car in the wet this year, and today I just didn’t have the right feeling either. I tried to push and take some risks to gain positions and it obviously didn’t pay off. It’s a hard Sunday to digest but we will turn the page and reset everything ahead of Las Vegas.”

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

“We have mixed feelings today as we were able to limit the damage in our fight with McLaren, but on the other hand, we should have also scored points with Carlos, not just with Charles. With both drivers the timing of pit stops was not the best but in general we struggled a lot with the pace and in getting the tires to the right temperatures after every restart. At the final restart, Charles did very well to get ahead of Lando (Norris) and George (Russell) but the Mercedes was able to get past again and Charles had to defend from Lando. As the stint progressed his tires were performing better and he was able to bring home a P5.

“This weekend was a difficult one but looking at this triple-header as a whole, we are still the team that has scored the most points which is a good way to go into the final three races of the season. We will do our best to keep the fight open all the way to Abu Dhabi.”

McLaren

Lando Norris, 6th

“A tough afternoon. Pitting under the VSC was pivotal but it was the right time to box, and we were unlucky that the Red Flag followed soon after, so I have no regrets about stopping when I did. With the Red Flag rule regarding tire changes, some days you gain, and some days you lose, it just is what it is. These things happen in racing. The main thing now is that we keep our heads down and prepare for the next one as a team.”

Oscar Piastri, 8th

“A tricky afternoon, but we got points with both cars, and we’ve stayed ahead in the Championship. We just lacked pace and the weather caused havoc, so there wasn’t much more we could have done. We’ll review it all this evening but I’m looking forward to a bit of a reset and we can then go again in Vegas. We’ve still got a lot of work to do in the final three races.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“It’s been an eventful day in São Paulo, which is not surprising given the variable conditions. Congratulations to Max, who made an impressive recovery from the back of the grid, and also to Alpine for a double-podium finish.

“Circumstances didn’t play-out in our favor today. The timing of the Red Flag in particular, after we’d changed tires, was unfortunate. It was difficult to make progress today, for both Lando and Oscar. We didn’t give them a car that had enough pace to overtake in a race without the DRS being activated. Unfortunately, we also picked up a penalty when Oscar made contact with Liam Lawson, which cost us a position at the end of the race.

“Overall, however, we come out of this weekend having increased our margin in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s an incredibly tough competition this year, so I really want to praise the work of Lando and Oscar today, for staying on track, finishing the race, and allowing us to outscore our nearest rivals. Also, to everyone back in Woking for delivering the upgrades and updates over the last three races, and a big thank you to all the team for their efforts and the great work in this busy triple header.

“There’s learning to take onboard for today, and we’ll do that in the days ahead. Our focus now shifts to the final three races of the season.”

RB

Liam Lawson, 9th

“It was such a crazy race, with crazy conditions today. I’m very happy for the team, we scored some really good points, which is important for us. I do feel like we missed out a bit, from where we started, we just got a bit unlucky. Our race got unwound a little bit when we got turned around at the start by the McLaren, which cost us a lot of time; from there it was a bit of a battle and then we boxed for Extremes where we also lost time. We had good speed, especially at the start of the stint, but we struggled a bit more towards the end. Alpine made the most of getting a double podium which is amazing for them. They’re only ahead now by five points. It’s totally doable for us, so we’ll obviously focus on scoring some points in the last triple header.”

Yuki Tsunoda, 7th

“I got my best-ever qualifying result this morning and I was extremely happy to start the race in P3. Overall, the team did a fantastic job and we had a good turnaround from yesterday where we made a lot of changes to the car after the Sprint, even if it was difficult to make a real comparison as the conditions were different.

“Coming to this afternoon’s race, I had a good start and first stint, and I’m generally very happy with my driving, but unfortunately, some things came against us. During the race the Red Flag came out at the wrong time for us and the Alpines scored a lot of points which is a shame for our place in the Constructors’ Championship. Overall, the rewards don’t really show our results on paper, so it’s definitely a mixed-feeling day, but it’s nice to score points again. There are a lot of positives to take from this weekend and we’ll keep pushing in the last three race weekends.”

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“We had an amazing qualifying this morning. It was an incredible job from the drivers and Team where we were consistently topping the timesheets throughout qualifying. The strong performance is a testament to the hard work that everyone is doing.

“The race was a rollercoaster. We knew it was going to be tricky and dependent on the weather conditions. We were in a very strong position in the first half of the race, with Yuki holding onto P3 with incredible pace alongside Liam defending amazingly. Our race was affected when the red flag came out however; it diminished both drivers’ advantage, but that’s part of racing in these conditions. We came away with eight points, which is a great result. Congratulations to Max on a brilliant drive and well done to Alpine, even if the points they scored today will make for an even closer fight for us over the final three races. It’s still very close, and we had a fast car this weekend. We now have 19 days before the final triple-header of the season, and we will be working flat out at home to build on the upturn in performance we have seen in the past two races and extract every second from the car. We’ll be fighting hard in Las Vegas.”

Jody Egginton, Technical Director

“The day started well with both drivers qualifying in the top five, demonstrating strong performances on both the wet and inter tires. We were set up for a strong race. The first phase of the race was going well, with Yuki running strongly in P3, and Liam also delivering a solid opening stint running in P7. With the rain increasing and track conditions worsening, both cars moved to the wet tire. The two Alpines stayed out, taking track position, which they maintained with the red flag. Our pace at the restart wasn’t as strong as we needed to keep up with the cars ahead. Yuki came home P7, and Liam finished P9, spending many laps defending from Hamilton and Perez. It’s good to score points with both cars, however, seeing what Alpine achieved from the race, we’re left frustrated as there was potential for more points. We’ll go away and review the race and drivers’ feedback to determine what we could’ve done differently so we’re ready for Las Vegas.”

Haas

Nico Hulkenberg, DNF

“Unfortunately, I needed help from the marshals as I was beached, which was really unfortunate after a low-speed spin. It was my mistake but it was quite unlucky to be beached like that, normally you spin but can continue after, so a small mistake with a huge consequence there. It’s been a very tough and disappointing weekend.”

Oliver Bearman, 12th

“It was a tough race and there were too many mistakes from my side. On one hand, we finished P12 – close to the points – despite the mistakes I made, but on the other hand there were too many mistakes and lost time. It was a really tough day, and I learned a lot for sure. I’ll take the positives that I’ve learned the track, something I wasn’t going to be doing before next year, and of course racing in these conditions, it’s rare, so that was really valuable.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It’s been a very tough day for the team, we didn’t perform today, and others scored heavily. Operationally, we didn’t maximize everything here so that’s something we need to take home and review. A slight positive was that Ollie’s pace on inters – and part of the race with Nico – was actually better than what we thought we could achieve, so that’s a small positive that we can improve the performance of the intermediates. We have to look ahead for the last three races; we have decent pace in the dry, so we need to reset and refocus. We need to get the best out of the car and everyone for the next three.”

Kick Sauber

Valtteri Bottas, 13th

“It was great to reach Q2, and I reckon Q3 could have been possible if it weren’t for the red flags. We tried everything we could in what was a very unique race with tough, changeable conditions and lots of restarts, including a red flag. Our biggest issue was tyre warm-up, which meant we fell back during the first few laps after each restart. Once the tires were up to temperature, we were better, but still not enough to fight with the cars ahead. Overall, it was a weaker performance than I expected, but we gave it our all. Now we have time to regroup, as the team will work hard to bring updates as soon as possible for the remaining races.”

Zhou Guanyu, 15th

“This weekend was quite challenging: with the schedule reshuffled and qualifying taking place on Sunday morning before the race in the afternoon, all teams had to adapt. The morning session felt a bit more solid, but when the red flag came out, conditions worsened just when it mattered most. I had to start my final two laps in heavy spray with limited visibility, but I believe Q2 could have been within reach. Today’s race was not easy: in each stint and after every Safety Car, it took 10-15 laps to get the tires into the right window, but by then, the race had already slipped away from us. The lack of grip and the tough conditions made it a real challenge. Still, it’s good to close out the triple header, and now we need to use this time before Vegas to understand what we need to do to be back in the mix.”

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative

“Yesterday’s heavy rain – which forced Formula One to revise the timetable, changed our Sunday routine and eventually delivered a day that left us with mixed feelings. We had a very positive qualifying session, with Valtteri just 0.008 seconds away from Q3 and showing strong competitiveness in the midfield. However, the race was extremely disappointing for all of us. Valtteri lost a few positions at the start and struggled to maintain the pace for points. Zhou’s day was challenging from the start, finishing last in qualifying and concluding the race in P15. Despite the disappointment and bitter taste left by the race results, we saw some positive signs in qualifying, which we believe are due to small improvements in our package. The next two weeks will be therefore crucial for us to bring further upgrades for the last triple-header and to regroup. We do need to analyze every detail and return to the track with the right mindset to conclude the season with strong determination, a mindset to fight for points.”

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso, 14th

“All in all it was a tough day today. We had to change some components after the crash in Qualifying which meant the car was a little bit slower. We also had a brake issue after the restart. The car was really bouncing in the second half of the race – in other circumstances I would have stopped – but the mechanics did such a good job to get the car ready after the crash, so I finished the race for them. The triple-header has not been easy for us, with another one coming. We need to regroup and find some more performance.”

Lance Stroll, DNS

“It was a really strange one. It felt like a brake failure because as soon as I touched the brakes it locked the rear axle and I was a passenger. I was stuck in the gravel and my race was done. It is such a shame because in a wet race like today anything can be possible, but we were not able to take those opportunities.”

Mike Krack, Team Principal

“A trip to a special motorsport venue but a weekend to forget for our team. A point-less and brutal triple-header which takes its toll on the team working trackside and back at the AMRTC.

“Looking for the positives it was a Herculean effort by both car crews, with a reduced schedule, to get both cars onto the grid just in time today. Also a special mention for the FIA and F1 for being pragmatic and flexible with the schedule to allow the drivers and teams to put on a show for the passionate South American fans.

“On the formation lap, there seemed to be an issue with Lance’s car under braking, he managed to get going but the AMR24 got beached in the heavy gravel bringing his day to a premature end. We will need to fully investigate what happened but it was unexpected.

“Fernando was in the points for most of the race but also locked the rears and was shuffled down to the back of the pack. He was in a lot of discomfort at the end of the race with the bumpy track so our priority is to make sure he is OK.

“Following our recent run of form, we have to take responsibility for not giving Lance and Fernando the car they deserve. They are being very patient but we are asking too much from them at the moment.”