1 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
2 – Kimi ANTONELLI (Mercedes)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)

Q: I think I've got three very happy drivers after an outstanding São Paulo Grand Prix. Lando, let's start with you. You looked a little bit tired coming out of the car, but you didn't have to work too hard in that one, did you?
Lando NORRIS: Well, I did. I was pushing. An amazing race. Nice to win here in Brazil. It's an amazing track, amazing fans. And yeah, this one was for Gil [de Ferran], one of my mentors growing up a couple years ago. Yeah, so this one was for him. I'm sure he'd be very proud about it all, so I was thinking of that while we were driving. But yeah, a perfect, perfect weekend.

Q: Absolutely an amazing weekend for you generally. I mean, things just seem to be clicking right now. Mexico, a big 30-second win. It wasn't quite 30 seconds today, but it always felt like you had it under control. How have you managed to find this rhythm at this stage of the season?
LN: Just ignore everyone that talks crap about you! Yeah, just focus on yourself and, you know, the team... McLaren are doing an amazing job, giving me a great car. We're pushing hard every single weekend and I'm pushing hard away from the track. So, rewarding. Rewarding — it doesn't come easy, that's for sure. And to be honest, I don't think we were the quickest out there on track today, but glad to take home the win.

Q: Absolutely. Well, fantastic job. Stay there because we're going to come back to you, but I want to bring in both of you two if I can. Kimi, Max — what a finale at the end there. An amazing drive for both of you. Best ever result, Kimi. Max, third place from the pit lane, but talk us through the finish first of all because it looked like it was almost going to be a drag to the line.
Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, I mean I don't know where this guy came from, to be honest. I didn't see it coming. But yeah, to be fair, I was lucky to come away with the restart, with the contact. Need to check with the car, it felt a bit weird afterwards. But, you know, still a good race and the last laps were very stressful with Max coming on fresher tyres. But luckily with free air, we were able to maintain a decent pace and to finish P2.

Q: And how do you stay cool? Because I'm sure everyone in the mirror, seeing this guy behind, is — is a difficult one to manage, knowing he's come from the pit lane to be in third, hunting you down for second. You did a great job there, but how do you stay cool?
KA: Yeah, I mean, I found my rhythm. Obviously, when he was closing in, I raised the pace, I started to push a bit more. And yeah, I found my rhythm. And obviously, you know, with this car, with dirty air it's a bit difficult to follow, so I tried to use that to my advantage and yeah, it paid off.

Q: Well, a fantastic job and a best-ever weekend and a best-ever race. Well done, Kimi. Max, I bet when you woke up this morning, you weren't thinking you were going to be on the podium. You said you didn’t mind if it was rain or dry today, and it’s true. What an outstanding job. How did you make it happen?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think the race was quite full on – a lot of action. I had to overtake some cars, of course, coming from the pit lane. And I think our pace was quite strong over all the stints, of course sometimes it’s a bit difficult to know fully with traffic and stuff. But yeah, I mean, to be on the podium from the pit lane, I didn’t expect that at all – even with a puncture as well in the beginning of the race, that’s why we had to box again. So yeah, incredible result for us. Very happy with that and just very proud of everyone within the team as well. I mean, yesterday was very tough for us, but, you know, we never give up. We always try to improve and try to find more lap time. And luckily, we found that again today.

Q: Yeah. You made the extra pit stop as well. It meant you had to go really attacking. How much balance did you have to judge whether to take the risk — because you had to overtake so many cars — but of course, you can’t afford to crash into anyone either?
MV: Yeah, I mean, you’re just trying to pass as fast as possible as well, because you don’t want to lose too much time. But then some cars are also in a DRS train, so it was not always very straightforward. But I mean, with all that, to finish only like 10 seconds from the lead, I think for us is incredible.

Q: Yeah. Outstanding job. Go and enjoy the celebrations. Lando, coming back to you. I’m sure you don’t want to hear it, but I’ve got to talk championship. There is no Oscar alongside you. The gap is now 24 points. There are three rounds to go. You’re on great form. Do you start to think about it? Where’s the mindset with three to go?
LN: No. Not at all. I mean, it's a great win, but to be honest, seeing how quick Max was today — I’m pretty disappointed we weren’t quicker. So that’s where my mind is at the minute — probably going to see the team, congratulate them and see where we weren’t quick enough. But that’s me. And we’ll see what we can do. Obviously, not a long way to go, but it can change so quickly, like we've seen today already. So just focus on myself, keep my head down, ignore everyone and keep pushing.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lando, let's start with you. What a race. What a weekend. Just how satisfied are you feeling this Sunday evening?
LN: Well, I've been pretty satisfied the whole weekend, honestly. It's been a great day, a great weekend, all-in-all. I’d say challenging. It's not been completely straightforward. It's still been difficult out on track, but that makes it better. I think it was just a well-executed race: good start, good pit stops, good strategy, decent pace. I wouldn't say the pace was quite as good as what I would have liked today, so a few things to look into, but otherwise, every session that I needed to be on top, I was. And that's why I flew to Brazil. So yeah, very happy.

Q: You say you've had a few difficulties this weekend. Given your level of dominance and the points you've got for the championship this weekend, can you just talk us through what they are?
LN: I mean, I think everyone… We're drivers, so we're always going to complain about something! The car balance was difficult. I'm sure the others will say the same. But it's a realistic thing to use. In terms of when I was a bit happier with the car balance last weekend, we won by 30 seconds. This weekend, we only won by 10 and, you know, Max was coming at us quite quickly. So yeah, the pace was not on another level and we set our standards high, as a team, as we rightly should. So to win by 10 seconds—I'm going to sound like an idiot saying it—but yeah, we just wanted a bit more. I still had to fight the car a lot to win by those 10 seconds. So, just a little bit trickier than what I would have liked. But I'm still very happy with how the weekend's gone, of course, and I'm very proud of the whole team and what they've been able to give me.

Q: You looked very happy on the Medium tyre. Just how was the pace on the Soft?
LN: Not as good. Even the last stint was not quite as strong. I thought the first stint was very, very good. But that was also the time I was on the most, let’s say, relative tyre to everyone. I think my used set of Mediums at the end was like seven, eight laps used, so not as nice as, say, a second set of new. But yeah, I think the pace on the Medium all weekend has been very good. The pace on the Softs—alright. Pace on the Hards—I don't really know because I never used them. So there's always little things. We're always looking, as a team, to see where we can do better, what can we improve on, especially when you're fighting for wins and for championships. You've got to look for everything. So that's what we're trying to do. I definitely had preferred feelings of the Medium, but we'll see what we can do next time out.

Q: Lando, you're now leading the championship by 24 points. Does this weekend feel like a turning point for you?
LN: No. It just feels like another weekend where I came here to try and win, to get the most points I could, and did that. I did that also last weekend. So yeah, I think neither are turning points. They're just strong results, which is exactly what I need, exactly what I'm fighting for every single weekend and every day. So just very pleased, but it's still a long way to go. So no point getting too happy or excited just yet.

Q: Let’s throw it forward to the next race in Vegas. Will the expected cooler conditions there help or hinder McLaren?
LN: Hinder, for sure. I think it was our worst race last year. So I'm not really looking forward to it. We've been trying to work quite hard on improving those things. We know Mercedes were incredibly strong there last year, as well as Red Bull and Ferraris. I think we were the bottom of those four. So yeah, we'll wait and see. Obviously, we've improved a lot of things this year, so I'm not going to be too negative about it. I think there's plenty to look forward to. We know Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ones we are looking forward to. Las Vegas just a little bit less, because they've been probably some of our weakest races over the last two years. So let's wait and see.

Q: Alright. Very well done to you. Thank you, Lando. Kimi, let's come to you. Your best result in Formula 1. Very, very well done. How stressful were those closing laps?
KA: Way too stressful. I mean, obviously, when Max did the last pit stop and Bono told me the gap, I was like—ah well, I cannot say because they're going to fine me now—but I was like, "I might be in trouble," you know, because he was just nine seconds behind. And obviously, he was on new Softs, so he had... I think this race he had very strong pace. He did an amazing job coming back and he just put me under a lot of pressure at the end. I had to really push the tyre to the limit, and it wasn't easy. But I think we did our best and I'm really happy with that.

Q: A potential huge turning point in the race could have come on lap six, the restart after the Safety Car. Can we get your take on what happened on the braking into Turn 1?
KA: Well, first of all, the restart—I accelerated a little bit on the wet patch, so I got wheelspin and lost momentum going into Turn 1. But to be fair, I found myself in a very difficult position because I had one car on the outside and one car on the inside. I tried to brake late, not too late. The problem is I didn't see the car next to me anymore. I still tried to do a decent line for the position I was in. And yeah, ended up getting hit. I was lucky to come away like that, because obviously I hit quite hard Charles. Unfortunately, I ended his race, but on my side, I was lucky to come away with not such a big damage. I had a minor damage on the car. I think the steering wheel was not fully straight, but I was very lucky to come away with it and to be able to continue my race.

Q: Didn’t seem to slow you down much. After what has been your best weekend in Formula 1, just how much confidence do you have in the car now?
KA: Definitely. I've had a good run so far, a couple of strong races, and this weekend was the weekend where we put things more together—which is what I need to do, especially for the team. So yeah, I've been enjoying a lot this weekend and looking forward to the next ones.

Q: Can we talk about Vegas? Lando says you should be quick there. The car was quick last year. Just how hopeful are you going to Las Vegas?
KA: Very hopeful. I mean, as a team, we said we're going to try to do everything that we did last year with the car. Even though it's a different car compared to last year—many things have changed—so it doesn't mean that if we were quick last year, we're going to be quick this year. I think as a team we'll try to put the car in the best spot possible, and as a driver I'll try to deliver the best performance possible.

Q: Alright. Good luck with that. Very well done today. Max, 24 hours is a long time in Formula 1. What an incredible race by you and the team. Just how much better was everything today than yesterday?
MV: Yeah, I mean, miles better than our qualifying, that’s for sure. Just a very strong race. I think we had much better pace. I think it was a bit colder today, which maybe helped us. The car just felt a bit more responsive. Even with the puncture that I picked up on the Hard, to then drop back to last and come through the field again on the Mediums—I think we did the right strategy at the end. Even on the Soft, it seemed like it was OK. Just when you start getting close and I passed George, you already wear your tyres a bit. And then when I was getting close to Kimi, the tyres just started to overheat and you lose a lot of grip. The Soft is a bit more difficult than the Medium for that. But overall, a super strong race. Coming from the pit lane to the podium, 10, 11 seconds off the lead—I think for us it's a very strong result and definitely didn’t expect that waking up this morning.

Q: Max, why was the car so much better today? How much of it was down to the new power unit? How much was it down to the aerodynamic changes you made overnight?
MV: I think everything together—set-up as well. I just felt a bit happier. And then I think also the temperatures today, a bit cooler, just felt like everything was working a bit better.

Q: With the car as it was today, how much higher do you think you could have qualified yesterday?
MV: Definitely better than P16, that’s for sure.

Q: Before the puncture, you were up to 13th. What might have been without that?
MV: Impossible to know. I mean, the Hard tyre—I don’t know if it was going to be a really good tyre. I felt fine on the Medium, felt fine on the Soft. On the Hard tyre—initially maybe the Medium had a bit more grip from what I could see around me. But at the same time, you're all in dirty air, you're just sliding around, so it's impossible to know. But for sure, it's not ideal. To pit again, be on the Medium back in the pack fully, and then have to go all the way through the field—I think that compromised a bit that first stint on the Medium. I had to pass quite a few cars, you’re overheating tyres constantly, so that was a bit more of a difficult stint towards the end—I would say the last eight, 10 laps. But still, a very strong race for us.

Q: Can we just throw it forward? Are you confident of being competitive at all of the last three events?
MV: No idea. I don’t know. I mean, look at this weekend. Look at Mexico. Then look at the races before. So it's really impossible to know.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ticiano Figueiredo – Diário do Rio Claro) Max, the Brazilian jersey brought you luck, right?
MV: I think so.

Q: (Ticiano Figueiredo – Diário do Rio Claro) At the end on the podium, I saw you focus on Kimi, the driver you battled with today. And during the champagne celebration, I saw you focus on him. That has been a trademark of yours this season—helping and celebrating the rookies. Speaking strictly about career management, especially the mental and emotional side, tell us something that a future champion like Kimi could hear today from a multiple champion like you, please.
MV: Keep believing in yourself. In a rookie season, you go through quite an emotional roller coaster at times. Some weekends go better than others. Sometimes you have high hopes, sometimes that doesn’t work out. You make mistakes. You have good weekends. But at the end of the day, that’s all part of the learning curve. You have to make mistakes also to become a better driver, even in Formula 1. And I think so far this year for Kimi has been a big learning curve, but at the same time he’s very fast. I always saw that from every category that he was racing in. And for him to have a weekend like he had here—it was just super strong. He fully, of course, deserved to be on this podium today, and it also gives you a good confidence boost. The team, of course, is also helping him a lot to really exploit all the potential out of him. So he’s in a very good place, and that’s why it’s also good to celebrate that.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lando, congrats on the win. After the race, you spoke about your strong run of form and that being down to ignoring everyone that sort of talks rubbish about you. Can you elaborate a little bit on that, and I guess navigating the outside noise that comes with trying to win a world championship?
LN: Yeah, honestly, nothing in particular. But there’s always people out there that try and bring you down a little bit. I guess it’s quite normal. But yeah, also, when you’re on a big stage, there’s a lot of people that talk and say things, try and influence other people to have effects. Even the cheers and the not-cheers—you still hear it. It’s not the nicest thing. But I think it’s something I’ve done well over the last few months. I care a lot about people’s perspectives and how I’m portrayed and things in the media. I probably cared too much—even at the beginning of the year, I think I cared too much, and probably it was affecting me in not the best ways. I’ve just learned to deal with those things better—not by not caring, because I still always want to have a good impression. I never want to be rude or do those things. But I’ll always try and make my point and say what I believe in. That’s one of the things I’ve learned the most: just to be true to yourself, have confidence in yourself, believe in yourself, and speak your mind. So yeah, it’s more just keeping my head down and concentrating on myself.

Q: (Fred Ferret – l’Equipe) Question to Max. The way the car has been rebuilt yesterday and this morning and the new set-up—do you think it can help you for the last three races to be with a more competitive car earlier in the weekend? And a question to Lando: do you fear that Max is still a threat despite the gap? Very different tracks also coming up.
MV: Very different tracks, so it’s difficult to know to be honest. I think we’re still struggling a bit on tyres, so it will depend on track layout, temperatures. We can get it into a good window, but not always. That’s what we have to focus on. That’s what we will focus on in the coming races. And yeah, I mean, what are we—49 points behind now? So it’s also… I mean, we didn’t lose the championship here or whatever. We lost the championship from race one ’til Zandvoort. We had a lot of weekends where we simply were not quick enough. Then, of course, you have a big gap. Then we had good moments where you get some points back, but not enough. That’s how the season goes.
LN: I mean, I’m sure he’s going to be a threat in terms of races, and you never know with the championship. So it’s pointless trying to guess and come up with these things. But with how quick he was today—yeah, probably would have won if he started higher up. But that’s racing. Not everyone puts it together, and it’s easy to make mistakes in the world that we live in. Again, we maximised this weekend for ourselves, and that’s all we have to do. He’ll be a threat—he always is. He’s always there, he’s always fighting, and I’m sure he’ll fight to the end. So I look forward to it.

Q: Lando, ‘probably would have won’—you don’t think you had Max covered today?
LN: No.

Q: (Bernardo Corrêa Bercht – Correio do Povo) I want to ask one for Lando and one for Kimi. Lando, about the championship—do you think it may be time to own more the favouritism and race as a leader of the championship, so you can get to your objectives, like have more place as a protagonist? And not just be like, "Oh, we're going to have problems in Las Vegas," or "It was difficult for us last year." And for Kimi: it's your first time in Interlagos. Most of the drivers find it a challenging and nice track to race on. There's the connection with Ayrton Senna, and just how was it to face these challenges and also a tricky track with compromises and balance issues, etc.?
KA: Do you understand your question?
LN: Why do I need to think that?

Q: (Bernardo Corrêa Bercht – Correio do Povo) Because I saw during the first questions—you are the leader of the championship. You have almost one win of gap to the second place, and you were saying you are not going to be the favourite in Las Vegas. Sure, you had problems, and I saw you do it at least another two times—like, "We are not the favourites." Maybe do you think a change of mindset—or maybe you already have this change of mindset in the last races, because you have been racing in a more protagonist fashion, I think, or what I watch.
LN: No, I can say what I want. I can think what I want. I'd say what I always am is—I always try and be as honest as I can be. If I don't think we're going to be quick, I don't think we're going to be quick. And I'm not saying I'm going to be 10th. I'm just saying I think it's going to be difficult to win. We were a long way off—just go and look at the data from last year. Look at the race traces—we were miles off. There have been plenty of races where we’ve not been quick enough this year. It’s not like we've won every single race and you're expecting me to say those things. I’m just giving my opinion on whether I think it’s going to be easy. I won last weekend by 30 seconds—like, very, very easy. I won today by pushing a lot more, only 10 seconds, and Max was probably the quickest out on track today. Do I think that at a track that we've never been good at—we were very good here two years ago, we almost challenged Max for the win—we've never been good in Vegas. So why am I going to think, "Yeah, it's going to be fine"? I'm giving my honest opinion on how I think we’re going to be. We’ve never been good there, so I'm not the most confident about going into that race. Maybe I'll win—then we’ll see. But I’m not going to lie and say, "Yeah, I’m very confident, and I think it's going to be an easy weekend," because I don’t think that’s how it’s going to be. So no—I mean, you're very right to have your own opinion on what you think I should say and what I should not say and whatever, but I’ll do what I like.
KA: My question was? Oh yeah, about the track. I mean, the track is good fun. A lot of elevation change—not easy, especially with the banking. Some corners also have positive camber, so you just need to really understand the line you have to take in order to maximise every corner. I think it’s been really good fun driving around here—challenging, especially to be up to the pace with only one session. But I think on that side, we did the best. On my side, I tried to learn as much as possible every session in order to improve for the next one. And yeah, it’s been a lot of good fun. The support here has been incredible, and it’s been one of the most special weekends so far.

Q: (Maria Clara Castro – Car Magazine Brazil) Max—from the pits to the podium, congratulations. The thought of it seems completely madness, but you’ve actually done it. And something in me, personally, says that although it is madness, you believed before the race that you could do it. Could we get your thoughts if you really believed that you could do this, and what message does today’s race leave you?
MV: Well, I mean, I jumped into the car, I was only just hoping that the car would be more competitive. But in the laps to the grid, it already felt better than the whole weekend, I would say. But then still—after the start, picking up that puncture, then being last again—I was like, “My God, nothing is really going my way this weekend.” But then you just settle in. You try to do the best you can: pass the cars in front of you, try to run the optimum strategy. And it all worked out. With the team, we did the right thing. And then at one point, you're fighting for that podium—you see it with 10, 12 laps to go. That’s nice. But at the same time, in the race, I’m not projecting something. I’m just focusing on the moment, trying to hit every lap as consistently as I can. So, yeah, besides that, of course, the message is that we found a much better feeling in the car again by changing a few bits. But at the same time, it was also quite a bit colder today, and that might also have an effect.

Q: (Maria Clara Castro – Car Magazine Brazil) Yesterday, you seemed upset after the sh**tiest qualifying ever. I'm sorry, but that’s true. Did that push you at any level?
MV: Not in terms of trying to go faster, but more about just trying to understand what we were doing wrong and how we could do better for today. So yeah, you start to analyse everything you’ve done over the weekend as well and what we have done in previous weekends. We went into a direction that we thought, “Okay, that should be the way to go,” and luckily, that was the right thing to do. And then I woke up and I was like, “Well, let’s just try to do the best we can today and try to enjoy it.”