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DRIVER GROUP 1: Charles
LECLERC (Ferrari), George RUSSELL (Mercedes), Daniel RICCIARDO (McLaren),
Esteban OCON (Alpine), Lance STROLL (Aston Martin)
Q: I think we should start with
the hometown hero. Lance. Great to be back in Montreal. Can we just get your
thoughts on the first races since 2019?
Lance STROLL: Yeah, it's great to be back. I missed this place. It's always
special coming home for the home race and yeah, I think the whole city is
buzzing. I think everyone's happy to be back. Some great memories of this
place. So, great to be back.
Q: Great memories. Just tell us a little bit about what your week is like,
of the Canadian Grand Prix? Is it much busier?
LS: No, it hasn't been too bad, to be honest. I got here on Monday and had a
chance to catch up with some friends that I don’t get to see very often.
It's been it's been nice being back. And now looking forward to the weekend.
Q: And of course, you were in the points last time we raced here in 2019.
What's the trick to putting together a strong weekend around this Circuit
Gilles Villeneuve?
LS: It's a very challenging track. It’s a lot of kerb riding, and so not a
lot of margin for error on a lot of the exits where the walls are, so I
think it's just getting into a good rhythm, having confidence in the car to
ride the kerbs and attack the lap. Just the place. I enjoy driving; it's
always fun coming here.
Q: And for your fans, what can they expect from you here?
LS: Well, it's going to be be great to see some Canadian flags in the
grandstands. And, yeah, hopefully a strong weekend and some points.
Q: Esteban, let's come to you next. Now you haven’t raced here since 2018.
How excited to be back?
Esteban OCON: I'm very excited. It's such a great place, obviously, one of
my favourite tracks, one of the old-school ones that remains in the calendar
and that's pretty special. And we have also a big French community in
Montreal, and it's great to see the support, from the city. Not only in the
track, but also in the city. And since I landed, I saw so many supporters
and it's awesome to see that the city transforms completely to racing mode.
Q: And you were back in the points last weekend in Baku, so you come here
full of confidence?
EO: Yes, definitely. I think we had a bit more pace than where we finished
in Baku. I definitely think there was more in the car than what we showed,
but yeah, the aim here would be to score some good points and perform well
overall.
Q: And does it work for that car that is quick in Baku is also quick here?
EO: It’s different challenges for sure. We were flying in a straight-line
last week, a bit less straight here. I think it's important to be confident,
riding the kerbs here and feeling the grip overall. We haven't been here for
a long time, so there's a lot to discover with these new cars but yeah,
different challenges; we should be competitive; there's no reason that we
can’t perform.
Q: Charles, coming to you. And eventful journey here from what I saw on
social media for you?
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, I missed a flight! But it's okay. I mean, I've been
quite lucky because there was another flight an hour later, so I didn't lose
too much time.
Q: Now let's throw it back to Baku. Obviously a very disappointing race for
you, but now that you've had time to reflect, what positives do you take
from that race?
CL: Well, in the pace. The pace in general is the positive. We cannot hide
obviously, it's hard to take: three races in a row with problems or mistakes
– but as a team, I think we are working extremely hard, the pace is there,
which is the positive to take and we’ll keep working, to try and get on top
of those things as quick as possible.
Q: As you say, it's been three races in a row. What is your message to your
Ferrari team as we come into this Canadian Grand Prix?
CL: I think I don't have to give any message. I think it's clear for
everybody the motivation is still extremely high. We are still working
extremely hard as a team and we just want to get back to winning as quickly
as possible. For the issues that we've had, we are working on them, and
hopefully we will fix them as quickly as possible.
Q: You’ve been on pole for the last four races, and this race hasn't been
won from outside the front row since 2014 – the man on your left – your one
lap pace must give you a lot of confidence coming in.
CL: Yeah, it does. But unfortunately, we don't score any points on the
Saturday! So yeah, the Sundays have been a bit more painful this season. But
yeah, I can see some positive again. The pace on the race days since
Barcelona has been good. Unfortunately, we couldn't show it at the end. But
it's a matter of days before we can finally show it, I’m sure.
Q: Daniel, coming to you. Now, before we talk all things Canada. Can we just
talk about Melbourne? Contract extension till 2035? What's your reaction to
that?
Daniel RICCIARDO: You beauty! That’s probably the best way I can answer it.
Yeah. That's awesome. It's obviously such a long-term contract as well. So
it's really encouraging. And seeing as well, F2 and F3 are going to go
there. I think that's one thing the Australian Grand Prix has done so well
is, I guess, is fill up the weekend. There's always action on track. There's
always things going on around Albert Park, and now with the addition of F2
and F3, I think that's really cool. So very happy, very happy.
Q: Will you still be there competing?
DR: It could be a stretch. I don’t even know how old I’ll be then. It's good
to know that if I am, then I'll be home.
Q: Now Daniel, Baku saw you score your first points since Melbourne. Did you
feel much happier with the car there?
DR: It’s definitely a better weekend. I think it was certainly smoother. I
think it was good just to see how we came out of Monaco and the work that
was done since Monaco, we really kind-of translated well onto the track. And
everything we felt like we'd found or understood, I think we certainly
showed that, or at least good signs of that, on track in Baku. It’s also not
an easy circuit as well, obviously, with the nature of it, low downforce
street circuit. So, to have a solid weekend there was encouraging. Just
good, building blocks moving forward.
Q: Comfortable with the team orders situation, at McLaren?
DR: Yeah, I mean, in the end, it was, simply putting it, I had the orders
early in the race, and then Lando had them at the end, so you could say it
evened itself out. I think in the moment, in the race, if you're the
attacking car, you obviously want to charge through, and try and try and get
on with it. But these are also things that we talk about in strategy
meetings, things like this. We're aware that this could happen during the
race and also, in my experience now, like full trust in pit-wall. And they
see the big picture of how the race is progressing, I guess. So, yeah, it
all worked out alright in the end.
Q: And Daniel, quick word on this place. You won your first grand prix here,
back in 2014, as we've already discussed, fourth in 2018, sixth in 2019.
It's been a happy hunting ground for you.
DR: It's been fun. I still remember the very, very first lap I did here with
Toro Rosso, when I was doing FP1s, and we did the install, and already on
the install lap, I remember coming back, and I was like, this track looks so
fun. So, it was just a place I loved really from the first lap I drove
around it. And yeah, it's got a lot of character. As Lance describes, the
kerbs and everything, you can really… some parts on the track feel like…
remind me of go-karting where you really throw the kart around and try to
chop off the corner as much as you can. And yeah, this circuit lends itself
to that.
Q: George, do you agree with Daniel and everything he said about this place?
George Russell: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I've only raced here once. But it
was a good experience when I was here. And there's so much character, very
unique, got the street circuit vibes and the kerbs and the track evolving so
much. And I remember the fans just being so enthusiastic. This is the first
race I actually had goosebumps when I did the drivers’ parade, because of
the fans were just so upbeat and pumped up for the race. So that was pretty
special feeling back then.
Q: Now podium view last weekend in Baku; team dinner earlier this week in
Montreal. How is the vibe at Mercedes at the moment?
GR: When you get to the race weekend, everybody's so focused and you're
ingrained in what you're doing; trying to find more performance and it's no
secret that, as a team, we're going through a bit of a tough time and we
want better performance, but you need evenings like we had on Wednesday
night where you get away from it all, and you just do something normal. We
were at the restaurant, probably 100 people there, and it was a nice
evening.
Q: You said after the race in Baku, that it was a very tough race for you
physically. Are you expecting more of the same here?
GR: Yeah, we'll have to wait and see. Obviously, it was a bumpy ride for us
and for many, many teams in Baku, and obviously there's been some changes
brought forward from the FIA. So, it's sort of pleasing to see that they've
been on the front foot there. But we need to see if it actually makes any
difference at all, and then go from there.
Q: So, do you welcome the Technical Directive from the FIA?
GR: I mean, I don't… I'm not a technical expert. So, I don't really know if
that's going to improve things or not. But I think we, definitely as
drivers, it's good to see them on the front foot and actioning something
straightaway.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) For everybody. How disappointed Are you that
the action that's been taken on bouncing won't have an immediate effect on
the way the cars interact with your bodies? And do you think there's a
fundamental problem with these new technical regulations, and they need to
be rethought?
George, you've already touched on this. So, let's continue with you first of
all.
GR: Yeah, as I said, firstly, what's been brought forward this weekend, I
think it's probably more of a sticking plaster than the solution. And we
need to wait and see, I think, for even the teams suffering the least, it's
still an incredibly aggressive and bumpy ride. And you know, the FIA have
access to all of the vertical acceleration loads we're going through, and
it's far beyond what you'd expect is safe to deal with – so I mean, bigger
conversations are definitely needed moving forward and where we go from
here.
DR: Not much further to add. I think for me, Baku was the bumpiest ride I've
experienced this year. But up until then, we were a little… I would say
better off with it. So certainly not experiencing as much as some other
teams. You know, watching the onboard, you can see, it certainly doesn't
look fun at times. So yeah, obviously it's such a short turnaround. I don't
know how much that comes into play, of having just a few days between races
and how much we can do. But yeah, obviously open to seeing what we can do,
moving forward. That's all.
CL: I don't completely agree, on my side. I felt like it’s the team's
responsibility to give me a car that is okay to drive. Until now, I didn’t
have any particular problems with it. Yes, it is stiffer than last year's
car. Whether it's undriveable or very hard on myself, I don't think it is –
at least personally. So, on our side, we found solutions to how to make it
better.
EO: In my opinion, I think, we're not as bad as some other cars. You know,
as Charles was saying, some cars are easier to drive than others, it seems
like. But, you know, what's very positive is that, you know, the FIA is
taking action in taking care of us and that's a very positive thing. There
are two sides of it I think that we shouldn't mix. There’s the porpoising
thing and the overall stiffness of the cars, because in some corners, that
had already last year, for example, Monaco, after the tunnel when I hit the
kerb badly, I did feel it hard on my body and that is not, you know, an end
of straight thing or something like that. So, the stiffness of the car in
general is also a problem. It’s not necessarily how much porpoising you have
at the end of the straight.
LS: Yeah, I’m in agreement with what Esteban’s saying: I think it's not just
the porpoising, saying it's the stiffness of the cars. This year, you hit a
kerb, or a bump, it's, you know, big shock to the body. I think that over
the course of the season, 23 race calendar, you know, it adds up. But as
well, I think the porpoising does need to be addressed, I think this year,
at times, it's been, really, really bad and, you know, very, very rough on
the body. And I think, you know, both porpoising and stiffness is something
that the FIA needs to address. And we need to think about going forward,
because it's not sustainable for 23 races and then looking at the future
with these technical regulations. If it's going to be like this every year,
I think it's rough on the body.
Q: (Mathias Brunner – Speedweek) After the Technical Directive of the FIA –
this is to Charles but other drivers are welcome – do you expect a change in
the pecking order in the field?
CL: I'm not sure to be honest. This I don't know whether it will be the case
or not. For me, it's not still very clear exactly what's going to change in
the future. So yeah, I don't know.
George, can we get your thoughts?
GR: No, I don't think it's going to be make a big difference to be honest. I
mean, yeah, I'm not too sure.
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question to George, please about your work
off-track this year. It’s your second year as a director of the GPDA. How
you finding that? It's been quite the year for driver feedback on lots of
things. The missile attack in Jeddah; the porpoisiong; even the FIA and the
jewellery ban, and things like that. How are you finding that side of
things?
GR: There's quite a lot going on, to be honest, but no, all good. I think,
Alex Wurz and Anastasia [Fowle]
who's another director, has been a huge part of this. And they do the
majority of the work behind the scenes. It’s opened my eyes a lot to their
input. I think we've all got a lot, all of us drivers, have a lot to be
grateful for, for those two, especially. But yeah, enjoying it. There's
always conversations ongoing and just trying to improve the sport. Also, in
conversations with Formula 1, trying to improve circuit safety, design,
whatever it may be. think it's just a good… something a little bit different
and I enjoyed it.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) A question for Charles. Could you just give us
an update on the power unit situation? I've read reports that you may be
getting a 10-place penalty on the grid here. What is the situation? You can
tell us?
CL: Well, obviously, we are not in the best situation possible – then for
the power unit change, I think there are still ongoing discussions. We'll
try and push as much as possible the decision, so for now, no decisions are
taken. But yeah, it's not the best situation to be in.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazetta dello Sport) Question for Charles. Do you
prefer to take the penalty in a track like this, that you can make
overtaking, or waiting a little bit more? Thank you.
CL: Well, I think again, this is part of our discussions and it's up to us
to choose the best track where you want to get a penalty – if you get a
penalty. And this is one of the tracks where it's actually quite easy to
overtake, but they're also some of the tracks in the next three or four
races where it's easier to overtake too. So yeah, again, we'll discuss and
try and take the best decision from there.
Q: (Adam Cooper – motorsport.com) Question for George. Just wanted your
thoughts on Silverstone. You're going there with a car that you can at least
aim for a top six. Are you hoping that it will be more towards the
Barcelona-side of things on bouncing rather than Baku?
GR:I think we're definitely hoping to have more performance in Silverstone –
but definitely, really excited to go there: home crowd, to have a chance of
fighting for a podium. And I think Silverstone is always driver’s favourite.
Not just for the circuit itself but all of the fans there, they’re so
passionate for the sport. Hopefully the weather holds off – but yeah, all in
all looking forward to it.
Q: (Will Wood – Racefans.net) It’s been discussed about Baku being one of
the more difficult circuits for all the bouncing. Very, very high-speed
circuit. Next year we're going to Las Vegas, which could potentially be even
higher speed down the very long straight. Do you have any concerns about the
potential for how it's going to be at those high speeds there? Would you
like to see the organisers do anything in advance to try and make the
surface better? Or to try and stop the problems from being so bad?
DR: It's a long way away. I think it's so hard to… I'm sure we're going to
be much further down the road by the end of next year with all this kind of
stuff, and regulations and whatever. But yeah, I mean, I don't wish for the
speeds to be lower in terms of … like, it's fun going fast. So, I'd rather
we just set the cars up differently to be able to still go fast and have
long straights. And I think they also encourage overtaking, you know, with
bigger, bigger tows, slipstreams and all of that. So yeah, right now, it's
not really… I wouldn't say I'm concerned a year or 18 months removed from
it.
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Question to George, Daniel and Charles.
This past week, I conducted an interview with a world leader in his field
with regard to spines. He’s the past president of the British Association of
Spine Surgeons, and is the spine lead for the World Federation of
Neurosurgeons. So, as you can tell, he's got quite the credentials. His
comments to me where, if this continues, you are at serious risk, or either
rupturing or severely damaging your spinal disc. And obviously, there is
also as well, the consideration of minor brain haemorrhages, given the way
the head bounces inside the helmet, when you hear those kinds of comments,
does that make you think twice about what you're doing? And how imperative
it is that F1 and the FIA get on top of this as soon as possible.
GR: I mean, from everything you've said, there's not really much more to
add. And there's obviously a lot of mixed agendas here from different teams
and drivers. And we've heard it from Carlos at times, and Checo and Max
earlier in the season, how bad it's been. But now that their performance
seems to be strong, they obviously don't want changes because it can only
hinder them. So it is obviously a bit of a shame to see performance
prioritised over safety. But you know, there's no doubt in Baku, I could see
my pit board, but I couldn't read my pit board because I was bouncing around
so much. I think I saw a video of Lance on one of the laps, struggling to
change the buttons on the steering wheel, because you visibly just saw how
much the car was shaken around, how stiff it was, and everything. So, you
know, we're all competitive animals here in this sport, and we all want to
win. But yeah, we can't put our bodies at risk before any of that.
DR: Yeah, I think it's probably one of those ones where: is it an
unnecessary risk? That's what we have to, obviously, answer. I think we take
many risks, getting in the cars every weekend and it's part of what we love
about the sport as well: going fast and putting it on the line and trying to
balance on that fine line of risk and reward. But this one, obviously what
some drivers are experiencing, it's not who's the bravest, it's just, you're
going down the street holding it flat and it's just how… you've basically
just going to hold on for the ride. So it's a risk I guess out of our
control, if that makes sense. So yeah, I would… hearing some of that
feedback, that you've that you've gathered. I'm not really surprised in
terms of all that, because it is, it does. I mean, I felt it in Baku and
obviously watching the others, it does… like it is quite real. I think the
position we sit in as well, we're not really braced for these impacts. We’re
kind of curled over, so we are probably a little bit vulnerable with our
posture. But yeah, I think there's enough probably risk already in the
sport.
CL: Yeah, I don't know exactly which data has been taking. But it's clear
that when you look at Lewis, by example, getting out of the car after Baku,
it doesn't look nice – but again, I think we should be careful and take data
from various cars. And then and then see, because I don't think it is the
same for everyone. And again, if when we race our car, at least, it is okay.
I think we need to be careful to that, and see with whatever the problem is
in different teams, and try to understand how bad it is from one car to
another.
Q: (Jon Noble – motorsport.com) Question to George. The inference from the
FIA TD was that they were looking at setting up this maximum bouncing
metric, and any car bouncing and bottoming too much, would have to change
the setup to stop the bouncing. Any concerns for Mercedes? Have your
engineers told you about whether there could be competitive consequences for
Mercedes, you've got to lift your car up to stop the bouncing that takes us
out of the ideal set-up window?
GR: Yeah, I think, as we said before, from our side, from a performance
aspect, having any changes is a total unknown. At the end of the day, the
FIA are the rule makers, and they could bring in any regulation change they
want. And nobody sat here knows if that's going to improve their performance
or have a negative effect on their performance. So, we really have to see:
there's so many different aspects and elements of these cars, that by
raising the car, doesn't necessarily reduce it or remove. You're going in
between porpoising and bottoming: it's two sort-of different issues at play
here. And obviously, the stiffness of the cars are really bad, but I mean,
time will tell. It's… I hope it's easier to drive for everybody and it
doesn't have a knock-on effect for performance for anyone.
Q: (Daniel Mora Jimenez – Motorlat.com) Question for Charles. You've shown
outstanding performance, pace throughout the season, as you've out-qualified
your teammate at every single race to date. What is it about this car that
is suiting you more than Carlos? Thank you.
CL: I like the way the car handles. I like the balance of the car through
cornering. It's a bit more of a pointy car this year. The rear is quite a
lot more moving around. And this seems to fit my driving style a little bit
better. But yeah, I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before Carlos
gets at ease with this with this car.
DRIVER GROUP 2: Pierre GASLY (Alpha Tauri), Nicholas LATIFI (Williams),
Sebastian VETTEL (Aston Martin), Fernando ALONSO (Alpine), Sergio PÉREZ (Red
Bull)
Q: I feel we should start with the local boy, Nicholas Latifi, your first
home race. Is this what you've dreamt of for a long time.
Nicholas LATIFI: Yeah, it's definitely a very special feeling to finally
have the opportunity to be here and get to experience my home Grand Prix.
You know, I've obviously driven in a few FP1 sessions here but I think
coming here as a race driver, and once I finally drive past in FP1 session
is going to feel pretty special. I mean the last few years… I think it goes
without saying that it's been pretty frustrating and disappointing to have
missed this race, not only because it's my home race but I think it is
really one of the best races on the calendar. So yeah, to have the
opportunity to be here now, it's just a very, very special feeling.
Q: Well, how different does it feel? And are you doing anything different? I
think, a special helmet?
NL: Yeah, I do have a special helmet. And yeah, I think naturally, at any
driver’s home Grand Prix there is, for sure, a bit more going on in the
background. I flew straight from Baku so I've been here since Monday
evening. We have tried to get some media stuff and commitments done before
Thursday, just to kind of lighten the load a bit throughout the weekend. In
reality, I'm just trying to treat it the same as any other race. In reality
this race is no more important than any other race. For sure there’s that
special feeling of being here and having that home support? I know I'm going
to have so many family and friends here. A lot of them wouldn't have even
been able to come to any Formula 1 races so far in my career so yeah, it's
obviously pretty special. But I'm just going to try and keep it business as
usual once I get on track,
Q: As you say, you've done some FP1s before but did you ever come to the
race and watch as a kid?
NL: Yeah, many, many times. To be honest I don't remember the first year
that I came here. I was maybe like seven or eight years old, something like
that. And I think since then I've only missed the Grand Prix once in 2012,
when I was in Italian Formula Three. I just happen to be racing on the same
weekend. So yeah, even before I started racing, it was always kind of like
the first weekend off after school is done, you know, come over here, make
it a family weekend, reuniting with a lot of my family that still lives here
in Montreal. And yeah, it was always just a very enjoyable weekend in the
summer, well to kick off the summer really, the summer break so it's pretty
cool to be back.
Q: And what about the track? Give us your thoughts?
NL: Yeah, I think it's always been one of the more kind of technical tracks.
It's very old school which is cool because we don't have a lot of them on
the calendar anymore. I think this track - specifically the curbs - has
always been quite a unique aspect here in these fast chicanes. Nowadays all
the new street tracks on the calendar are very similar curbs, all the
permanent tracks, very similar curbs. And this is one that has still kind of
retained, I think, a lot of its character and that, I think, is going to add
a challenge especially with these new cars that don't like curbs at all. At
least that's for our car. So yeah, it'll be interesting, for sure.
Q: Pierre, let's come to you next. Been a busy week for everyone in Formula
1 coming from Baku, but I believe you've had an even busier week than most
tell us what you've been up to.
Pierre GASLY: It's been quite a busy time, yeah, we were actually quite busy
with Max. Red Bull always manage to get a lot of activities into… yeah,
always keep us entertained, let's say. So yeah, we flew back to Monaco with
a nice day in Monaco on Monday just to recover. And I flew to Austria on
Tuesday where we got to drive a Formula 1 double-seater. This was my first
time driving these cars, taking some passenger and scaring them around
Austria which was pretty cool. Also driving a V10 engine which I must say I
really enjoyed and really liked. It was from ’98. No, the one they had in
Australia. The one they had in Australia this year, the double seater. I
can't actually remember but anyway, it was very pleasant experience. It was
only nine laps so it was pretty short and then we flew straight from Austria
to Canada, but oh yeah, quite busy. We managed to be in three or four
different countries in 48 hours so it was quite intense.
Q: Did I see a photograph of you being driven by Max?
PG: No, no, no, this didn't happen. I tried to take him behind. He wasn't
keen. I tried to get Helmut in the car behind me but h wasn't keen either. I
wonder why. But no, it didn't happen.
Q: All right. Well, let's talk a little bit about Baku. You said prior to
the race that you wanted to kickstart your season there. And you certainly
did that with that P5. What made the difference last weekend?
PG: Well, I think we were just, yeah, more competitive and yeah, definitely
faster there. We didn't do any mistakes from FP1 until the race and yeah,
this was positive, you know, we just did a good job from FP1, good strategy,
and yeah, just maximised our weekend.
Q: Do you have reason to believe that you'll be quick again here this
weekend?
PG: Yeah, we should be, we should be. We'll find out in the conditions, in
the rain and the dry but I think she'll be good.
Q: Sebastian, coming to you now. Two points finishes in a row with sixth
last time out in Baku. How good is this car now, this Aston Martin?
Sebastian VETTEL: It’s getting a bit better. We didn't have any new parts in
the last couple of races but I think we've been able to experiment a little
bit more with the setup and tuning it a little bit more, understanding more
where the car wants to be because, you know, bear in mind that in Barcelona
it was a basically brand new car and no experience with that car yet. So
yeah, I think we still have some ideas for this weekend that hopefully help
us to be again competitive and, you know, fighting that midfield. It’s very
close, you have Alpine, Alpha Tauri, Sauber or the Alfa, ourselves and if
Williams has a strong weekend they can also be in the mix so it's a tight,
tight field and if we manage to find a little bit of extra then immediately
starts to start to pay off and look better. So let's see. I like the track
and hopefully we have a nice, nice weekend.
Q: It's a small sample of only three races, but you have got more and more
competitive by the race. What can you achieve going forward?
SV: Well, I think we need to be realistic as well. Finishing in the points
for us is a major success. Obviously, we had two positions that we benefited
from in Baku because of the Ferraris not finishing. But yeah, I think if we
can get in that range, if we can qualify around P10 and then race there as
well then I think that's good for us. You know, you have already four
positions completely locked at the front, and then another two with a
Mercedes that are usually ahead of the midfield. And then you have those
four positions left. I think McLaren will be stronger again. Maybe Baku
wasn't their cup of tea. Maybe they will struggle a bit here as well with
the big rear wing they have. So we will see. But yeah, it's not going to be
easy, but we will fight and try to squeeze everything we can
Q: You say you'd like the track here. Why is that?
SV: I won last time around here, at least I felt like it.
Q: Crossed the line first.
SV: Yeah. Yeah, I'm over it so clearly, as you can see. No, I think it's
always been a good place. I liked it, enjoyed it here, it's a rough place.
It's like others said it's technically demanding and with the curbs can be
quite harsh. I don't know how this year’s car will perform or will like it
or this year’s cars in general. But yeah, I think it's a circuit where the
driver can also make a difference. So let's see what we can do.
Q: Fernando coming to you now. Talk to us about ice hockey and your trip to
the Montreal Canadiens yesterday.
Fernando ALONSO: Well, not much. I just visited the team here. It’s the
first time that you know I see any arena of ice hockey. In Spain I never saw
on TV or I never put the skates on so yeah, I cannot comment too much.
Q: You got the T-shirt.
FA: Yeah, that's cool.
Q: Now Fernando, what about this place? You've won here before you've had a
couple of podiums. Just how good is it to be back?
FA: It is good. Montreal is one of those places that everyone wants to come
to. It's a fun city. It's a good weekend normally, a lot of action on track.
The walls are very close, the exit of the corners. The weather can be a big
factor as probably also this weekend, and yeah, the whole city seems to
embrace the event. Everyone is happy to welcome Formula 1 again, and it
should be a good one.
Q: You've scored points for three races in a row: 9, 7, 7. Is that where the
car is now? Or do you feel there's more performance in it still?
FA: I think right now we are struggling a little bit more than at the
beginning of the year, which I think we were top five, top six, honestly,
before Mercedes fixed some of the problems. I think we were in the fight
with them. And now we seem two or three steps backwards compared to
Australia or Jeddah but yeah, there are some new parts again this weekend to
fine tune the car for this circuit. We were very fast on the straight in
Baku. The car seems to like the low, medium speed circuits. And Canada is
one of those so hopefully we are competitive.
Q: Checo, thanks for waiting. Now, you said after the race on Sunday that
you had a few questions for your team such as the pitstop delay. Have you
got the explanations you were after?
Sergio PÉREZ: I didn't say that but… I mean mainly was the lack of pace,
that cost us the victory. We had too much degradation and I think we’ve got
on top of it. We understand why that happened and I think with the pitstops
it can happen you know. The boys are pushing flat out and a little mistake
can be huge. It's only two and a half seconds slower but it's quite
penalising, you know, in a race time. But it’s part of the game, the boys
are pushing extremely hard. They've been really good throughout the season
so we just had a one-off, hopefully.
Q: And what about here? How confident are you coming in?
SP: Yeah, we are, we are confident. I think we can be strong here around
this place. Obviously, it's a track that you have to be very good in low
speed and Ferrari seem to be extremely strong in in that.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Adam Cooper - motorsport.com) Sebastian, can you tell us about your T
shirt this weekend, the climate crime shirt? And secondly, how do you find
out about these local issues in every country we go to. Do you do your own
investigating or people now contacting you and asking for help?
SV: No, nobody's contacted me. I do a lot of reading on the subject because
I find this… fascinating might be the wrong word but there's a lot going on.
And I think we live in a time and age where we are so much aware of a lot of
things. I think, you know what happens in Alberta is a crime because you
chop down a lot of trees, and you basically destroy the place just to
extract oil. And the manner of doing it with the tar sands, mining oil
sands, mining is horrible for nature. And obviously Canada's greenhouse gas
emissions also have gone up since they started doing it. The site has only,
I think been, as far as I read, founded like 20 years ago. I think the prime
minister said that no other country would find these resources and not take
them up. I think in principle, you know, every country and every person has
their opinions and their stance. My personal opinion is I disagree. I think,
you know, as I said, there's so much science around the topic that fossil
fuels are going to end and living in a time that we do now these things
shouldn't be allowed anymore, and they shouldn't happen. So I think it's
just in principle to raise awareness of what's going on in the first place.
I think a lot of people in Canada, a lot of people around the world don't
know about it and yeah, that's only a small gesture. We'll have a special
helmet as well this weekend, highlighting the fact and yeah, I think, you
know, it's just to think about future generations and the world we leave in
their hands once they’re old enough to carry on, to take care of it. I think
it's only fair to look after it and not destroy it.
Q: (Jesus Balseiro – Diario AS) Fernando, it doesn't look like the Alpine is
the car with the worst bouncing so far. With this new Technical Directive,
if some other cars have to raise up a little bit, do you think the Alpine
could gain some competitiveness?
FA: I don't know honestly. This is a very difficult topic to really have an
answer. I think in our case we will just concentrate on the things that we
have to do. We've been quite okay in the first races, so it seems that we
can control it. We just stopped lowering the car at one point because then
it’s undriveable. And yeah, only in Barcelona, I think we had a very extreme
case, when we had a little bit of a problem setting up the car and we had a
very difficult race in Barcelona with the bouncing. I think it was actually
the double of what Mercedes experienced in Baku. That was my rate of
bouncing in Barcelona but still okay, manageable.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) On the porpoising issue again. The FIA Technical
Directive, what are your thoughts on it? George said he thought it'd be a
bit of a sticking plaster to try and look at a solution to the issue. And do
you think it's fair that the FIA is intervening or should the onus be on the
teams to just raise their cars a little bit to stop the cars from porpoising
so much?
SP: Well, I think all the teams are chasing the balance or chasing the
downforce and the way to find that is just to go as low as possible. But
there certainly is a limit on how low you can go. We all want to be lower
than we currently are but we all have limits where we can go to and if
you're hitting those limits, that is not healthy for the drivers, like few
of the drivers commented last weekend. So I think it's a good intervene from
FIA to try and calm it down.
FA: Yeah, more or less agree. I think as drivers we seem to wanted to ask
some help from the FIA, because obviously from us, it's difficult sometimes
to go to our teams and tell them to lose performance, just because we have
pain or whatever. So you know, if they can do it for us it’s better, easier.
SV: Yeah, I think it’s good. Obviously it will be very difficult to foresee
now what the solution is, for everybody. It will be impossible for all the
teams to agree either. But, you know, it cannot be that as drivers (we) will
suffer injury short- or potentially long-term, and suffer for the rest of
the life for stuff that can be avoided. Not every sport practised to the
extreme is not healthy to some degree but yeah, I think, you know, looking
at the future it can't be going on for another four or five years like that.
So it's good that the FIA starts to look into it and, you know, put safety
over performance.
NL: Yeah, I agree with all that's been said. I think, you know, if you look
to the next three, four years, if these were the kind of cars with the
bouncing and you know, harsh ride that a lot of guys are experiencing, it's
for sure going to have longer term negative health effects so I think, yeah,
the intervention from the FIA is good. I think there's going to be the
specific teams and drivers that are maybe happy to deal with it at the
expense of gaining more performance versus some that are not as so for sure
there's going to be some people happy with the directive, some people not.
But yeah, I do think it was a good thing for the FIA to intervene.
Q: Pierre, I've just been informed by Fred Ferret at L’Equipe that
Jean-Louis Trintignant, the actor has just passed away very sadly. He played
a rally driver in Un Homme et Une Femme. He would like your reaction to
that.
PG: I'm not too sure who we are talking about… I'm terrible with names. I've
always been terrible my whole life, so I need to double check.
Q: (Jeff Pappone – Inside Track Motorsport) Sebastian, back to your
activism. I'm just wondering, you've been very vocal on the LGBTQ front. How
important are organisations like Racing Pride to Formula 1 and motorsport in
general? And also, personally, why did you feel compelled to speak up?
SV: Well, I think it’s important to use… to realise that you have a
responsibility or you have a platform to communicate, to reach people and
you know, if you want to sell stuff then you have a platform and it probably
allows you to make money but I don't think ethically that's a really
important thing, that those are not important things. But when it comes to
human rights or equal treatment, I think those things are big when it comes
to the climate crisis, which affect every one of us already today. And more
so in the future, I think those things, you know, are more important than
anything else and therefore they deserve to be mentioned and deserve to be
addressed and trying to reach people and raise awareness. Why are they
important to me? I think it's just fair, it's just the right thing. It
naturally feels like the right thing to talk about, and to express my
support for people who suffer from prejudice and just because maybe they
fall in love with another man or with another woman, or because they are
different, you know, coloured skin. So I don't see why these things should
matter. It should be accepted, just like a lot of other things are accepted.
So yeah, it feels like a natural voice that comes out to talk or to speak
up.
Q: (Andrew Benson - BBC Sport) This is for everybody: in the context of this
Technical irective, and the fact that ground effect cars will always need to
be run low and stiff to get the ultimate performance, do you think Formula
1's taken a wrong turn with these regulations, especially given that they
don't seem to have achieved any of their objectives?
PG: Well, personally, I don't think they took a wrong turn. I think it's
just some of the side effects we are getting at the moment are probably
slightly more extreme than we expected. And I think it’s just fair to look
at some options, look at all the solutions available to find the fairest
treatment towards all the teams, but just to consider we should, probably as
drivers, not been put in a corner where we’ve got to trade between our
health and performance, because obviously we're racing drivers, we will
always go for performance every single time. So no, I think they did it
clearly, didn't take a wrong turn. But it's just finding the right
compromises going forward and as you say, like for sure with the ground
effect, that's the way it works. But I'm sure there's other ways to find
more performance so we could be as competitive but just having that fine
margins that gives us the availability to stay in shape over the next 10/15
years so yeah, just for probably some of the guys, not going to be here in
five to 10 years, but also the young guys coming now, it's probably clearly
something that needs to be to be addressed. And just happy to see there is
some action, a plan to move forward.
NL: Yeah, I agree with what Pierre said. Yeah, I don't think it was the
wrong direction that F1 went into. I think, yeah, the, let's say, porpoising
that's returned now (with) the reintroduction of ground effects cars, yeah,
maybe it wasn't anticipated, how extreme it's been and how it's, let's say,
you know, just a very negative feeling from behind the wheel. I think with a
whole new set of regulations, a whole new generation of cars, there was
always going to be, let's say, maybe some growing pains, if that's the right
word. So I think it is a lot of obviously very, very smart people, smart
engineers, working in Formula 1 and obviously a lot of smart people working
for the teams so I think, yeah, with the new directive over time, whether
that's by the end of this year, going into next year, the coming years, I'm
sure there will be solutions that will be found to still have performance
and yeah, mitigate the negative effects for the longer term health of all
the drivers.
SV: Well, I think the objective with the new regulations of the new cars was
to make it better so I think the turn has been right. Obviously, we still
have to see the bigger picture over years to come, whether it has been the
right direction or not, but we are able to follow each other closer.
Obviously, the cars have less drag, which means we have to follow closer as
well otherwise we won’t make the overtaking. We still rely on DRS. Ideally,
we find a set of regulations where we're not relying on any assistance to
overtake but let's not forget where we are coming from. I think in the
bigger picture, with these cars and regulations, we just need to find a way,
as I said before, for no upside with the porpoising that we suffer other
than a little bit of performance. And there's no upside to the sport. And
there is a lot of downsides for us driving the cars when it comes to
comfort, health long term. And therefore I think it's good that the FIA is
trying to have a look and we will see in which form they are going to
intervene.
FA: Nothing to add.
SP: You should be concerned about it for them. I mean, I think it's too
early to judge this regulations. I think they've brought good racing, you're
able to follow closer. Certainly, yeah. I think the downside of it is the
bouncing that we are experiencing. But I think it's only race number eight
so we are just starting a new era so we have to give time to the new
regulations to get on and I think should we be OK.
Q: Fernando, back to you. Pierre’s question: will you be here in five years?
Will you answer that?
FA: I don’t know, maybe, yeah. There is a possibility.
Q: (Daniel Mora Jimenez – Motorlat.com) Checo, you're clearly on a streak
right now of good results. Do you think you have found something in your car
that makes you feel more confident with it? If that's a yes, what would that
be?
SP: Yeah, I think I'm definitely more comfortable with the car than I was
last year. For example, it took me a bit longer to adapt to last year's car
so this year, I can feel that already from FP1 I can start working on the
car instead of working how to exploit the maximum out of the car. So that's
a huge difference over the weekend so when I go into qualifying, I'm much
more prepared and similarly when I go into the race, so I think, yeah, we’ve
got a good platform. I'm confident with the car and I know what I have to do
with the team to take the most out of it.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) Fernando, a question about Andretti and their
continued interest in Formula 1. You raced for Andretti at the Indy 500.
Obviously, you know, that operation very, very well, in terms of their
seriousness in terms of how good they are as a racing team, how do you think
they would fare if they got on the F1 grid?
FA: Yeah, good, good. I had the same question in Australia I think, and when
there were some rumours that they could join, and I’m still thinking that
they are very good organization, very professional, they have a lot of good
guys there. And Formula 1 is a different level for sure but, you know, they
have the passion for motorsport, and it will be super good, I think, for the
sport to have Andretti name on the grid.
Q: (Christian Nimmervoll – Motorsport.com) Sebastian, Audi and Porsche are
entering or considering hoping to enter F1 in 2026. Do you think that by
then you will still be around and would driving for a German brand, again,
something that would spark extra excitement in you?
SV: Fernando says yes, I say I'm not sure. How old are we going to be in
2026, Fernando?
FA: I don’t know how old you are.
SV: Now you are?
FA: I’m 40.
SV: I’m 34/5, so in ‘26, I'm going to be your age and you're going to be a
little bit older.
FA: So we should both keep going.
SV: So we should both keep going. So let's think about it. I don't know is
the answer. I mean, it's a long way away. Yeah, I'm very much looking at
this year, and then the next year rather than 2026. But I think it's good
news that there's talk of new teams like Andretti and big manufacturers
coming in. F1 seems to grow in popularity so who knows what the sports going
look like in ‘26. But yeah.
DRIVER GROUP 3: Zhou GUANYU (Alfa Romeo), Mick SCHUMACHER (Haas), Lewis
HAMILTON (Mercedes), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Alex ALBON (Williams)
Q: It is now group three. Max, we're going to start with you. You've been
having a bit of fun, since Baku, tell us a little bit about what you've been
up to?
Max VERSTAPPEN: I drove a two-seater.
Q: And how much how much fun did you have?
MV: It was alright. I’ve never done something like that before, so it was
good. The people in the back had fun, which I think is the most important
thing, right? So they get a little bit of an impression of how a Formula 1
car behaves. Of course, it's a bit heavier and stuff. But I have to say it
was still breaking really well. It just was a bit difficult to steer because
when you had a tall passenger, of course you can't move your elbows around.
So in some corners I had to driver with one hand, but yeah, overall, it was
a good day.
Q: Great. And what about being back in Montreal first race here for three
years?
MV: Yeah, I always enjoy coming here. First of all, it's a great city, the
track as well is quite unique, in the layout and the way the corners are,
with the chicanes and the way you have to take kerbs. So I'm excited, you
know, to be back and hopefully we’ll have a good weekend.
Q: And Red Bull are on a bit of a roll at the minute. Just how confident are
you and the team and coming into this Canadian Grand Prix?
MV: It's not about confidence, just we had good races, but it's still a very
long season and a lot of things can happen. Clearly, you saw that in the
last few races how big of a turnaround it was, but we still need to focus on
one-lap performance. You know, we haven't really had a lot of pole
positions. And I do think that there is a lot of margin there. On the other
hand, our race pace always looks good, some races really good. But on some
tracks it’s very hard to pass, so you make your life a lot easier if you
start at the front.
Q: And this weekend is all about riding the kerbs as well. How different
will that challenge be with these 2022 cars?
MV: I guess in general, yeah, it will be a bit stiffer, a bit more difficult
to hit the kerbs compared to the past. But everyone has to deal with that.
But yeah, just looking forward to see how the car is going to kind of
behave. I mean, we haven't been here in a long time. So I'm also just
looking forward to how the track is going to be like, what state that is in,
in terms of grip, bumps, and things like that.
Q: While we're talking about the ride of the car, can we just get your
reaction to the Technical Directive that has been issued by the FIA with
regards to porpoising?
MV: Yeah, you know, for me, regardless if it's going to help us or work
against us, I think always these rule changes in the middle of the year, I
don't think it's correct. Of course, I understand the safety part of it but
I think if you talk to every engineer and in the paddock, if you raise your
car, you will have less issues anyway. But of course, naturally think
ourselves but also the team, you know, you're going to try to find the limit
of what you can cope with, your body itself, for performance, but I don't
think it's correct that now they have to intervene and start applying these
kind of rules that if you can't deal with the porpoising that you have to go
up on ride height, because it is very simple: just go up on ride height and
you won't have these issues. So makes it a little bit complicated. I think
it will also be very hard to police in a way. But we'll see.
Q: Thanks, best of luck this weekend. We'll hear more from you later. Lewis,
welcome. Can we start on this point with you? It seems sort of natural place
to start given Max has just been talking about it. Your thoughts on this
Technical Directive, please?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, I mean, I was always interesting seeing people's
perspectives and opinions in different lights. Obviously in front of you
it's one thing and another in the background, sometimes people say different
things. But ultimately, I think safety is the most important thing. And I
don't think… I think there's at least one driver in every team has spoken on
it and I don’t think it’s going to change a huge amount but I think there is
a lot of work to be done and it’s positive that the FIA are working towards
improving it, because we have this car for the next few years. So it's not
about coping with the bouncing for the next four years, it’s about
completely getting rid of it and fixing it so that the future drivers, all
of us, don't have back problems moving forwards.
Q: And when you say you don't I think it's going to change much. Are you
referring to the pecking order? Do you think it won't change the order?
LH: Yeah, I think I don't think really is going to change much in
performance. It's just going to… Well, I might be wrong. Who knows? We'll
see.
Q: All right. Well, let's can we get your thoughts on being back here in
Montreal, you have a fabulous record at this racetrack.
LH: Yeah, very special coming back to Montreal. It's great to see the
people, the city, it's great to see the energy throughout the city as you're
going through. I remember my first time here and my first Grand Prix win
here. My first pole, in 2007, so it's always special when I come back here.
And, you know, my dad called me, and we reminisce about these sorts of
things. And yeah, so it's great to be back. I can't wait to drive this track
because the track is awesome. I just hope our cars better this weekend.
Q: Talking of reminiscing, tell us about this retro game shop that you found
in Montreal and what you got up to there?
LH: I just had this itch to play old games. I've just recently bought an old
Nintendo 64. Actually, no, I didn't but it, I found it in my storage. And
then I went and got Golden Eye. And then when I landed I went to get Mario
Kart, but they didn't have the Nintendo 64. So I bought a Sega Megadrive, a
Sega Genesis, sorry, and then they had the Senna game there. So I was like,
‘Oh, this is perfect’. So I've been spending the last couple of nights
driving the Senna game, but I’m not that quick on it.
MV: Any porpoising issues on the game?
LH: No, no porpoising.
Q: Max, you're into your sim racing. Are you into retro games as well?
MV: Sometimes, like when I'm on a holiday? Yeah, we do play, because it's
fun, right? It's, let's say, a bit more easygoing. You don't need to go into
technical stuff and you just have a bit of fun with friends as well. So
yeah, it's good.
Q: Alex, coming to you next. Let's throw it back to Baku. Seventh fastest
race lap for you and Williams there. How good was the car in that race? And
how confident are you coming into Montreal?
Alex ALBON: Yeah, it was a it wasn't a bad weekend for us, actually. We were
struggling all weekend and we seem to be a bit better in the races than we
are in in qualifying trim. So it's one of them things that we are obviously
trying to focus more on a Saturday. But it shows that there is pace in the
car. Obviously, we haven't had any major upgrades since the first race, so
we are a little bit behind in that sense. But if we are still able to fight
in the races, with what we have right now, then it's promising into the
future.
Q: You raced here in 2019. Of course, it was a bit frustrating because you
had the problem at the first corner. But tell us a little bit about how you
extract performance while you're here. What what's the key to a quick lap
around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve?
AA: I wasn't very good on my first weekend, so maybe I'm not the one to ask.
No, it's obviously very challenging. As Max said, there's a there's a big
trade-off between how can you take the kerbs, but also, you know, downforce,
more than ever with these cars. It's going to be very tricky. I'm sure we're
going to be using less road, less kerbs than we were doing in 2019. But then
there's also the long straights, so relatively low downforce here, which
makes it lively through the corners.
Q: Zhou let's come to you next. Now, in terms of pace. Baku was a very
strong weekend for you, out-qualifying Valtteri. Do you feel like you've
made a step forward in terms of your own performance now?
Zhou GUANYU: Yeah, I mean, definitely it felt like Baku was another step up
from my side in terms of just adapting the speed straightaway, from the off,
in P1. And yeah, obviously, the whole weekend, especially in the race craft,
we were very strong, looking very good to finish definitely in the points
and probably, you know, around just behind or in front of Sebastian would
have been the position, if we get to finish but yeah, obviously four races,
three DNFs is pretty frustrating on my side. Regarding, especially last
weekend, I think I felt like I was able to pretty much give everything I had
and to be up there together fighting with the midfield battle. But so yeah,
in terms of progressing it’s very clear that I'm getting much better and
better and more confident in the car. But in terms of results, it's still
not time yet to show them on Sunday.
Q: Well, as you say, you've had three retirements in the last four races.
Just how worried are you about reliability coming into this race?
ZG: I mean, I'm not too worried, just because the team has been pushing so
hard from Sunday night to Wednesday to get the reliability issues solved or
to be having a short turnaround, a short, quick upgrade in that, because
it's very limited time. But in terms of package, I think we have a little
bit better understanding before when we go to Silverstone, with more time,
but yeah, obviously is a bit more of a question mark. But looking at the
temperature, everything is a little bit cooler. These put us in a window
where we are facing maybe, you know, less issues. But yeah, from my side, I
just really want to get the race to finish because it seems like we've
always had a good chance to be fighting for points finishes.
Q: And it's another new track for you this weekend. Just tell us a little
bit about your preparations? How many laps have you done on the sim, for
example?
ZG: Enough, I think. Obviously, is another new track but not the first time
going to a new track. It’s a little bit similar to you know, Melbourne,
looking at how the track grip is and looking at how the track is different.
You have to ride quite a lot the kerbs, and with this year's car, like the
others said, you know, it's not going to be the easiest ride. But on my
side, I think the preparations didn’t really change much compared to other
races. So I'm just quite, quite happy with how we approach each weekend. We
just, you know, continue like this.
Q: Best of luck this weekend. Thank you, Zhou. Mick, let's start by talking
about your preparations and new track for you. How's it going? What are you
expecting?
Mick SCHUMACHER: Yeah, I mean, the simulator work went pretty well. And I
think you know, it's one of those tracks where it is quite historical, so
you have driven quite a few laps beforehand. And so yeah, just excited to
get on it and do my first laps on this real track.
Q: And in terms of competitiveness. How do you think it's looking?
MS: Yeah, we'll have to see obviously. It seems the Baku straight-line speed
was a bit of a critical issue for us, but hopefully that will be a bit of a
better, let's say, trade-off for here and yeah, we'll be competitive.
Q: Tell us about the porpoising in Baku? You said after the race it was
pretty extremely expecting the same here?
MS: Yeah, I think it was more of a combination of porpoising and bouncing,
like the touching. My back was quite sore afterwards as well, which is an
issue I think we all face in some ways. So yeah, hopefully it will be a bit
easy here but it looks quite bumpy out there.
Q: Now I read a story that you've been here before and there's you did a bit
of fishing out the back of the paddock. There's a great story there I think.
MS: Yeah, there is I mean, I came here in 2011 with my dad and you know got
to see the whole work behind the scenes but also got to spend some time
behind the tents and fish. So, I caught quite a few fish actually and put
them back in every time. It was good and just a lot of memories. I mean,
that was in the Mercedes time, I think, if you guys still remember that.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Joost Nederpelt - NU.nl) Lewis you had some difficulty getting out of
the car in Baku after the race. Could you have done that within the required
10 seconds because of safety reasons and put the steering wheel back?
LH: I don't think so at that time. No, it was excruciatingly painful at the
time, so I'm just grateful I was able to get out. But yeah, definitely not
at the speed that you’re supposed to be.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) Lewis, looking ahead to the British Grand Prix
coming up, obviously a very big weekend for you. How do you think Mercedes
is going to fare at Silverstone, given it’s a much smoother surfa
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