DRIVERS
1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Ferrari)
2 – George RUSSELL (Mercedes)
3 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)
Q: Charles, probably not the result you were looking for. In the first part of Q3, you were quickest. The lap at the end there wasn’t quite good enough. You were one tenth off your teammate Lewis. How was it for you?
Charles LECLERC: I just didn’t do a good job. The out-laps were very difficult as well, to put the tyres in the right window. This is where we struggle the most, and this is where we struggled in Q3, run two. I kind of had a clean out-lap, but the car felt very different compared to before, and I just didn’t do the job when I needed to. So, a bit disappointed, but to start third here is, I guess, not too bad.
Q: The car looked quite nervous out there, on entries and exits. Is that something you’re fighting with the whole time?
CL: I was fighting with the car quite bit, particularly in Q3. But, yeah, at the end of the day, I think for everybody it’s the same here. There’s such low grip with the downforce that we have here that you’ve got to fight with the car. And, yeah, it’s quite fun to push the limits, to push the car to the limits in these conditions.
Q: George, you must be quite happy with that?
George RUSSELL: I am. You know, it’s been a tricky few races for me, and I’m still struggling to get on top of this car, to be honest, because it’s been a very difficult weekend up until one lap in Q3. You know, finding half a second to almost get pole. Congrats to Lewis. It was obviously pretty close in the end. I always know it’s in there. I know the performance is in there, but I just can’t… The hit rate is too low at the moment. So that’s sort of the frustration I have. But, of course, happy with this front row.
Q: We all know it’s in there, George. So, what could you feel that was different that helped you get the lap time out of the car?
GR: I think similar to what Charles was saying, it’s low grip. The temperatures were getting cooler, and I think that came into our favour. You know, there was a bit of cloud cover, the sun’s coming down. I did a very hard out-lap, and it just gave me a bit more confidence to get the grip in the tyre. And I think that’s just what helped me to string a lap time together.
Q: Cheers, George. Thank you. Lewis Hamilton, pole position! How does that feel?
Lewis HAMILTON: Wow, that feels great. That feels good. So happy, so happy. Oh, man, I’m lost for words. It’s been a really, really tough, challenging weekend. Obviously, in P1 we had a rake running, and we obviously then had the engine issue we had yesterday, which meant we were just on the back foot. I didn’t get to do a long run. But we’ve really done a really good job with the set-up over the weekend. We’ve really worked. We learned a lot from the last race, but it’s so close between us all. You know, for example, in Q2, I didn’t get my lap at the beginning of Q2. I think the others have a new tyre for the start. But wow, to have pole here, I mean, I don’t even know if I’ve had a pole here before. So, it feels special to be in Mexico and get that. My first, I think it’s my first pole with Ferrari, and 105. I like that number.
Q: Fun fact: you are the oldest driver to grab a pole position since Mario Andretti in 1982. Are you still doing it?
LH: Oh, man, when there’s a will, there’s a way. You know, when there’s a will, there’s a way. I think it’s all in the mind. I honestly think for all of us, you know, for sure you might feel aches and pains. Luckily, I don’t. I mean, I ice bath a lot. I do all those different things that you can do to try and keep yourself young and fit. Yeah, but I love what I do, and that love has not gone. You know, I wake up every day thinking about it. I dream about it. And I’ve got this amazing support around the world. These guys keep me going, and so I hope they’re happy with that today, and I hope that I can deliver for them tomorrow.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Very well done, Lewis. A great final lap. It looked like this one meant a lot.
LH: It definitely does. It’s been a long time since I think I’ve sat in this spot. I don’t really remember the last time I had a pole. Embarking on this journey with Ferrari and all the challenges and ups and downs we’ve had, and even yesterday was challenging, obviously when the car stopped on track and we lost the long run that everyone got to do. But just continuing to hold on to that hope that one day we’ll get back on the front row and to P1 once we dialled the car in. But it was such a close qualifying and so difficult, I think, for everyone, working the tyres. So little downforce and grip that you have on here, so you just have to be as millimetre perfect as you can be. It was a really, really clean lap. I needed it because, I mean, Charles, I think, was three or four tenths up the road from the first run, and that’s quite a big deficit to close on your last lap. But I knew areas that I could improve on, and, yeah, I think just my belief in this team, the opportunity that they’ve given me and the belief and faith they’ve put in me. It feels great to be able to reward them with a pole. And to have your first Ferrari pole, I mean, jeez, it just takes me back to watching Michael get all those pole positions when he was at Ferrari and all those wins. So, it’s very, very special.
Q: Can we drill down a little bit into how you did it on that last lap? Because, as you say, you were quite a long way back after the first run. You knew where you could improve. Where did you make the improvements?
LH: Honestly, I knew all weekend that I had the pace to be on pole, but these sessions were just up and down. Obviously, Charles was very, very quick. I think the key is getting the tyres working. You see us all go out and it looks like we’re doing okay, but the tyres operate in a very small window where they’re good, and then they overheat. I’m really perfecting that. That’s been something I’ve really struggled with, I would say, probably the last few years, particularly as we went to the 18-inch tyre. So just learning to drive differently. It’s a bit of a different skill set, or just a different way you have to drive and approach these corners, and it requires a different type of balance usage. So, I think I was able to utilise a couple more tools that I’ve not used for like 13 years. And then I think, just there, as I said, just got the tyres in the perfect window on that out-lap. Once I was through Turns 1, 2 and 3, it was kind of smooth from there, and I just don’t think I lost any time anywhere, to be honest. So, it was just an overall good lap, but I know these guys are super close.
Q: Let’s throw it forward to tomorrow. How many unknowns are there for you, because you had a disrupted practice session yesterday?
LH: Yeah, in general, I don’t think this year I’ve had a good long run. We’ve either pushed our short laps too long and then got into the long run, but I’ve not had one good long run where it’s consistent and got the balance right. Coming into this weekend, we met up on Wednesday. We went over all the areas that we can improve on, different approaches, things that we learned from the last race. We’re like, “We’re going to make sure we get a good long run in this weekend.” Big, big focus. And then the car stopped! And then I just watched the rest of the session where everyone was pounding around and getting those long runs in. So, I don’t know how the car will behave on the long run on heavy fuel, and I also don’t know the settings that I’m going to need. So those are the things I’m going to have to kind of guesstimate tonight and take my… we’ll take our best guess to hopefully get the car in the right window for tomorrow. But, yeah, very, very challenging. It’s obviously a really long way down to Turn 1, so I don’t think you’ve ever been on pole here before.
Q: How do you approach Turn 1 here? As you say, it is such a long run. Do you just react to what’s happening around you, or will you be spending a lot of time tonight just looking at previous starts, looking at what George did last year, looking at what Charles did last year?
LH: Yeah, I think it was Lando last year, wasn’t it? But I think, yeah, just always looking. You look at the race starts of the previous years, and obviously we need to make sure that we get a good start, a good jump off the line, and then it’s just car positioning, braking point. But again, I’ve not been in that position here before, so I’m always coming from further back. So I’ll just focus on trying to optimise the start.
Q: Very well done. Thank you very much. George, let’s come to you. So close to Lewis in the end. Just how easily did that lap come together for you?
GR: Not easily at all, to be honest. It’s a little bit of a story of my season. I think this kind of feels like I’ve never done an average lap. It’s either a terrible lap or a very strong lap, and this is quite frustrating. I don’t think there was a single lap this whole weekend ahead of Q3 that I looked in the mix to even fight for the top three, let alone pole position. But that last lap just came together really nicely. I’d love to know exactly why, but I don’t have those answers. And, yeah, I’ll take it.
Q: Did you change your approach to that final lap? Because you didn’t do a prep lap, at least we didn’t see it on the TV.
GR: Yeah, that was probably the biggest thing that I changed. I saw Lewis and Charles and Max as well. They weren’t doing the prep lap. We were doing prep laps, just getting the temperature of the tyre. It’s quite challenging. My gut told me we could do it on lap one without the preparation, but the team wanted to do the prep, so we ended up carrying the fuel for an extra lap. You know, it’s such a small number, but it’s bigger than the gap to pole. So, it’s obviously… you always think retrospectively, if only we had the one lap of fuel rather than the extra lap of fuel that we had, we could have been on pole. But, you know, I’m very grateful to be in this position because it’s been a tough run. And, like I said straight out of the car, I know it’s in there. I’ve never doubted that it’s in there. It’s just understanding why this season we can’t achieve it as consistently as I have done in the past.
Q: Lewis has just talked about a few unknowns with regards to his long run tomorrow. What sort of pace are you expecting?
GR: I think it’s just very close between the top four teams at the moment. You know, every Q3 we go into in recent races, it feels like it can go either way between any of the four teams. I think the race pace, there’s probably going to be a tenth between the top seven or eight drivers. So, I think Turn 1 is going to be crucial. Overtaking is going to be tough, overheating, etcetera. It’s always the case here in Mexico. But get a good night’s sleep and see what tomorrow brings.
Q: Alright, very well done to you. Thank you. And Charles, let’s come to you now. Just that tenth of your team-mate. Look, what was the difference between your first and second runs in Q3?
CL: I just didn’t do a good enough job. Yes, tyre preparation is quite key. I kind of struggled to have the same conditions for my out-lap throughout the qualifying. But at the end of the day, when I had a clean out-lap in Q3, run two, I didn’t do the job. So I can only be angry with myself.
Q: What about the race pace for you tomorrow? Are you confident?
CL: Yes, I think the pace is good. I think the car feels good and felt good since FP1. So I think on that we’ve got the race pace, but I doubt there will be any overtakes tomorrow. I’ve tried more in FP2, and it’s just very difficult because the overtake mode doesn’t do much. So, I think whatever is the standing after Turn 3, it’s going to be very difficult then to overtake. So, it’s a bit of a shame that I didn’t do the job eventually when it mattered.
Q: So, a lot might rest on the run to Turn 1 tomorrow. You might get a nice tow from your team-mate?
CL: Yes, I mean, I’ll keep my head down as much as possible and see what’s possible. But, yes, it’s always an exciting Turn 1 there, and we’ll see how it goes.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for you, Lewis. First of all, congratulations. You touched on the tyres and that you had problems with the 18-inch tyres. You have so many sensors for bulk temperature, for surface temperature and so on. How much can you rely on the data in improving this, and how much is just pure feeling?
LH: Yeah, it’s just feeling. You’re looking at… we have obviously guidance of tyre temperatures we need to reach. All of us are pushing very hard on out-laps to try and get the tyres to work and in the window. And as you go down the straights, the tyres lose temperature, obviously. And it is quite a hard tyre. I remember back in the day we used to crawl around super slow, and then you start pushing and the tyres are ready. I think the 13-inch period for me was a nicer, softer tyre. It took the bumps better. I like the movement of the tyre. You could feel it more. This one’s just solid. It’s like a rock-solid wall. It doesn’t really move much because it’s such a short sidewall. It performs well when you get it working, and I think that’s really how I felt today. Finally, I was able to extract the most from the tyre, and it stayed through the lap. More often than not, you’re like, “The front tyre is not in for Turn 1, but the rears are,” and the fronts start coming in and the rears start going off. It’s this constant seesaw you’re having. Then sometimes the rears aren’t ready as you come out of the last corner to start the lap, but then at the end they’re better. Sometimes they’re too ready. So, trying to find that balance, I’m telling you, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. And honestly, it’s been very, very, very tricky to find. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. You just continue to work at it. I think some others are able to maybe get in a better window easier. I think even George was mentioning that they were doing a prep lap. It was really on the cusp of whether we would do a prep lap or we would go for the first lap. But as I said, that last one I managed to hold on to temperature. Every time you have to back up to make a gap, you lose several degrees and you can’t catch it back up. So the out-lap’s important also. There are so many factors.
Q: (Fred Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Lewis and George. You are the two only last drivers who are able to postpone the crowning of Kimi. You need to win. Would the victory be the same if Kimi is crowned or if it is not?
LH: Well, I think that’s not really something that we’re thinking of. We’re thinking of just trying to score the best result for the team. We’re obviously at a high altitude here, and it’s probably the one track where power is not king this weekend. It’s more level, and that’s really put us in a fighting position. Obviously, for Kimi, I think he’s continued to drive really well and doing what he needs to do. I mean, all he has to do is just finish where he is, and he’s kind of on his own journey. Our journey is to focus on performing the best we can this weekend and holding on to second in the Constructors’ Championship. And even if we can close the gap a little bit to Mercedes, it would be awesome.
GR: Yeah, I mean, it’s obviously inevitable he’s going to win the championship, most likely this weekend. So, for me personally, just going out there to try and have a good race. I want to try and finish this season strong. That’s the biggest priority for me. Yeah, I think in my mind, you know, he’s kind of already won the championship. So that’s something that I don’t think I need to deal with.
Q: (Edd Straw – The Race) One for Lewis and Charles. You mentioned the altitude maybe mitigates the power unit disadvantage slightly. How big is that effect? And do you think it would be the case that if you go into multiple tracks of various configurations at this sort of altitude, that sort of balance of PU to chassis would have been changed a bit, and you’d be looking at stronger pole positions?
LH: I think fundamentally we’ve got a great car. We’ve worked a lot on this car. I think the engineers are doing a really great job. The mechanics and the garage are doing a really great job as well. And for two weeks in a row, we’ve really executed perfectly, I would say, through qualifying. All the other circuits we’ve gone to, I mean, Mercedes, they still are pulling a little bit more in the straights, but it’s just not as costly as it has been in the previous races. You know, when you’re losing five tenths on the straight in some races, five, six in Silverstone, whatever, to McLaren, I think it was, and more often averaging three to four, there’s not really much we can do, especially as everyone else is developing their car and they’ve slowly closed the gap. So through corners, they’re pretty much just as quick as us. Then we’re just at that deficit. So I think the altitude has enabled us to somehow close that gap a little bit, and I’m sure we’re still losing something on the straight, but maybe it’s just a tenth or two. So mega job to the team.
CL: Yes, not much to add. I think we’ve got a very strong car in the corners. In the straight, we pay the price of less power, but also probably a bit more drag. And with driving in such conditions, so high in altitude, you pay the price a little bit less in the straights of the extra drag and of the missing horsepower. So, yes, it’s been a good track. And on paper, normally this year, we never really performed as we expected on the tracks we expected to be good. But this weekend has been the case, so it’s a good sign.
Q: (Gabriel Martínez – TV Azteca) This question is for Lewis. Lewis, sorry for going back to the same subject as my colleague, but we cannot ignore that you secured two World Championships here in Mexico and you’ve supported Kimi since he joined Formula 1. So, what would it mean to you personally to see him experience that moment here, at a place that holds so many memories for you?
LH: I think for me, to see a youngster such as Kimi come through from being the little kid standing in the back of the garage to being in the engineering room, to replacing me at a team that I’ve loved and worked for many, many years, and, you know, just go through the process of the tough, challenging year he had last year, and then to come into this period this year where he’s just been faultless throughout, I think it’s really, really great to see. And also, records are there to be broken, you know. So, I love that he’ll be, I think, the youngest champion ever. Is that right? Which I think is just phenomenal, what he’s been able to do at such a young age. He’s just got such a bright future ahead of him. So, I’m grateful that I can be racing in the time to see it, to witness it. I do hope in the future we get to have some actual battles because we didn’t get to have any battles this year. It just flew past us on all the straights, more often than not. So, I hope next year that we’re able to give him a bit more of a fight and get it really down to race craft. And, yeah, I’ll be so happy for him.
Q: (Carolina Figueroa Hernández – Por Esto!) My question is for George and Charles. So, you have both had Lewis as a team-mate. What have you learned from him? Thank you so much.
GR: Well, I mean, having Lewis as a team-mate, you always learn a massive amount, starting from inside the garage and in the meeting rooms, to understand how he works, what his priorities are, what he’s sensitive to. I think from one driver to the other, it always differs, the sensitivities of a driver to one thing or the other. And then on track, it’s obvious that, in terms of driving style, you always look on the other side of the garage to try and improve in the best possible way. So, for me, it’s all around.
CL: Yes, a lot from Lewis, obviously. I joined [him] earlier in my career. Yeah, Charles has pretty much summed it up for all the racing stuff. We’ve learned a lot about movies since spending time with Lewis, because he’s quite into his movies and always shocked that I’ve not seen probably one per cent of what he’s watched. But no, he’s a great guy, and, yeah, it’s been a privilege to share the track together and share the garage.
ENDS
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