1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
3 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)

PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard)

Q: Max, you just missed out on starting that final lap. You didn't need it. That was a super impressive qualifying. Put us in the cockpit.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was good. I think every segment the car was very strong. Just trying to put the lap together around here sometimes can be quite tricky. Also, it's very hot, very strong winds as well. And then in that first sector, having a tailwind is challenging, let’s say it like that. Yeah, the first run in Q3 was good, just managed to improve a little bit from Q2 unfortunately, and I couldn't do my final run. It was a bit messy with the out laps. But luckily, like you said, we didn't need it. So, yeah, for us, again, a very strong result.

Q: It's been a super Saturday for you. Just explain to me and to our audience the difference in how this track’s evolved in qualifying from yesterday to where you are today.
MV: Yeah, again, just tricky with the wind. The wind picked up today compared to yesterday, and it managed to turn as well, a little bit. So, like a full-on tailwind into all the ‘Esses’, and with that you just lose downforce. So the car is moving around a lot more even compared to yesterday. That made it a bit harder. Of course, in some corners you gain a bit of lap time back, but you can't commit as much as you normally can in Sector 1.

Q: Well, excellent. You did it very well, nonetheless. Now, Lando, you had to work hard for that. It was looking tight, but right at the very end, you found a lap. So it looked like you were not as comfortable as a team until that final lap.
Lando NORRIS: Well, I improved like, I don't know, half a tenth or a tenth. It was a bit more of a struggle today for whatever reason. Yesterday, I was just quite comfortable. And I don't know if it's just everyone else has improved a bit or the wind today hurt us a bit more. But we were both struggling quite a bit more today just to put the laps in and to be as quick as this guy. So we were pushing, and I'm so happy with P2. It could have been worse, but there was no chance we could have gone pole today.

Q: And that sets you up nicely for the race start tomorrow. You had a bit of experience of that earlier today. So, clean run hopefully at the start?
LN: Yeah. Yeah, just don't get hit — that's my clue for tomorrow. But I look forward to hopefully having a good race with Max. You know, we've had some good ones in the past, so I'm looking forward to it again.

Q: Excellent. We're looking forward to it. Now, Charles, you came very late right to the front. How did you find that pace? And we heard from the two drivers there just how difficult the conditions were.
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, I mean, it was quite a big surprise, especially considering the weekend that has been very difficult for us since the beginning. We tried and put everything together in qualifying. We managed to do so, but I think there are still things we need to understand from this car because there's a bit too much of a swing of performance in the same weekend without fundamentally changing the car. So we'll look into it. But it's been an interesting Sprint race this morning. I think we've learned a lot. We applied that in qualifying and it seems to be working. So I hope that from now on we kind of catch back a little bit.

Q: Yeah, well you never stop learning in this game. But overall, solid day today. Set you up well for the Grand Prix tomorrow?
CL: Yeah. Our car is normally stronger in the race than it is in qualifying. So that’s a positive. I don't know if it's strong enough to go and fight with Max and McLaren, but we'll do everything. Hopefully a good start like this morning or last year and then focus to stay in front.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Max, what a lap. You only needed the one to secure the pole this evening. Just talk us through it.
MV: Yeah. It was, I think, a good qualifying. I think the conditions weren't easy, with stronger winds today compared to yesterday. So, Sector 1, yeah, it was a bit harder to be consistent because the car was moving around everywhere. But I guess everyone, of course, is in the same boat with that. And then, yeah, just Q1, Q2, just trying to progress every time with the lap time. I didn't feel like in Q3 the track was actually any better — maybe slightly worse, actually, I think for a lot of people. But, yeah, just trying to find a little bit more pace. And luckily it was there in the car, so just seemed a little step forward compared to yesterday's qualifying.

Q: And how did Isack Hadjar's accident in Q1 affect the track conditions? Did that delay change the track in any way when you next went back out?
MV: I think it just made you aware that it was quite tricky around there, which was the case throughout the whole qualifying. The car was quite loose in that area, so I can understand what happened there. And, yeah, you just had to deal with that for the rest of qualifying.

Q: Let’s throw it forward. You weren’t overly happy with the car in the Sprint this morning. Have you made any changes between then and now? And just give us your thoughts on the race for tomorrow.
MV: Yeah. I hope it's better for tomorrow. It's difficult to say right now what will happen, of course, also tomorrow. But at least I felt a bit happier with the car compared to yesterday's qualifying, and I hope that's enough then for the race tomorrow.

Q: Very well done. Thank you, Max. Lando, well done to you too. Another front row start for you here. How was quali? How difficult was it to extract that lap time from this car?
LN: Too difficult. I mean, comparing to yesterday… Yesterday, I was pretty happy with everything and things came a bit easier. Today, not so much. And I think that was clear already in Q1, Q2, and Q3. So, yeah, I guess some stuff for us to look into why we probably struggled a bit more compared to yesterday, like Max said. And we know that the wind and temperature and stuff was a little bit different. So, yeah, some things for us to figure out. Not my best lap — I said that on the radio after. So, yeah, just not a great session. So to be P2 I'm still pretty happy with.

Q: And no repercussions from the accident earlier? The car was fine in that respect?
LN: Yeah. The boys and girls did a good job to get everything back and prepared. Obviously, never the best preparation for everyone to be rushing to put the car back together, but that was all fine.

Q: Lando, let’s throw it forward. No mileage in the Sprint earlier. How much of an unknown is the race tomorrow as a result? How much of an advantage do these guys here have over you because they completed the Sprint?
LN: I think quite a bit, honestly, because we've not done — I don't think I've done more than three laps in a row and not more than, like, 40 kilos of fuel. So, I have no idea. We don't know if it's going to be amazing or terrible, certainly around here because it's so difficult with the bumps and the bottoming and the winds. It's unpredictable. So, we were hoping to learn a lot this morning in the Sprint, in terms of how the car set-up was going to be from quali to race and how it changes and the things that are good and bad. And then hopefully make tweaks for this quali for the race tomorrow. But obviously that didn’t go to plan. So, yeah, we're certainly on the back foot, but I guess we will try not to use that as an excuse tomorrow.

Q: Alright. Good luck with that. Thank you. And Charles, well done to you. A much better quali today than yesterday. What’s changed?
CL: Well, we've changed a few things, but it's not like there's been something that we've done a massive change with. It was all about fine tuning. There's something more specific that I've changed on my side, which I think went towards my driving style a little bit and maybe that helped. But a swing of performance like from yesterday to today is still to be understood, to be completely honest. There was more wind. We know that with our car, this is normally a strong point, which probably helped us today. But again, it's a big swing of performance, so we still need to understand.

Q: How different does the car feel here this year compared to last year when you had such a successful time?
CL: Not that different. It's just that the overall performance is very poor. So actually, it's pretty similar to last year in terms of qualifying pace to race pace. We seem to be pretty strong in race pace, but in qualifying pace, we don't quite find the grip that the others have. Especially in the first sector, we tend to struggle a lot with the grip there and that costs a lot of lap time for the rest of the lap. So, yeah, pretty similar, just slower.

Q: Looking to tomorrow then, you say you have good race pace. Can you hang on to these two? Even beat them maybe?
CL: I don't know. A good start like last year probably will help with the free air, but I don't think that we quite have that pace in the car. But never say never. I think last year, we were very surprised once we got into free air to see the amount of pace there was in the car. I hope we can have the same surprise tomorrow, but for now, it seems unlikely.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Lando, for you. I’ve seen your comments about the incident at the first corner in the Sprint — that you were saying that Oscar got hit. Other people in the paddock think that maybe he was a bit ambitious with his cutback. Has the team reviewed it together yet? And what is your view specifically on that incident and what happened?
LN: I mean, like all things we do as a team, it'll be reviewed. I think it probably takes a bit more time to understand everything, and certainly just before qualifying and probably before the race tomorrow is not the best time. So, yeah, I think things will be reviewed to just understand a few more things. But apart from that, you know, it's nothing I can do. Like, I just have to crack on and do my own thing. I was pretty unlucky to not have a chance to race earlier. And, yeah, that’s not just hurt me yesterday or today, but also for the race tomorrow in terms of preparation. So, yeah, it was a difficult time. But I said what I said, and I won't add any more.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Another one for Lando. In terms of the picture of this title race, particularly with Oscar a few places back and the momentum that’s swinging back and forth at the moment, how crucial is tomorrow’s race? And from P2 on the grid — that lap at the end you said didn’t feel the best, but it’s put you in a good spot at least.
LN: Yeah. I mean, I think before the weekend, I was asked what's going to help me get further up. At the minute, it's just consistency. I think on a day like today, it's just clear we're not as quick as the Red Bull and therefore we have to be happy with the P2 because that's the best we could have done today, you know. So, yeah, similar to like the questions and stuff, it's just not getting distracted by the mess and the nonsense around that everyone creates and just focus on doing my laps, doing my own job, focusing on trying to get good results and a good performance. But certainly with my position tomorrow and knowing our form in race pace compared to quali, we know Saturdays have just never been as good this year. So I’m hoping we can turn it up a little bit tomorrow and be a bit quicker.

Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) Question for Max and for Lando. Max, you said earlier that if the McLarens had gone on in the Sprint race, you weren’t sure you’d be able to stay ahead. Based on what you saw in qualifying and maybe some changes in your car, do you still worry that you might not be able to stay ahead? And, Lando, I wonder race pace-wise just how optimistic you feel tomorrow about the win.
MV: Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I mean, we changed some things on the car and hopefully that will help tomorrow, and that's the most important. But, yeah, we'll find out. I mean, I don't really think about it too much. I'm confident that I think we improved the car and hopefully we can show that.
LN: I have to be optimistic. Silly not to be. But, you know, I think every single lap that we did today was between, what, five tenths to — three to five tenths off of Max. So to turn that around completely tomorrow, I think it's going to be pretty difficult. I think normally when we have better Sundays, we're quite a bit closer than three to five tenths. And I'm sure if Max did his final lap, he probably would have gone a good step quicker again. So, yeah, not the most hopeful in terms of how our performance was today, but may as well be hopeful anyway.

Q: Lando, did you expect the Red Bull to be as quick here as it is?
LN: They've been quick in many races recently. You know, the last month, two months, they've been doing a very good job — both Max and Red Bull. They've just been doing a good job and have seemed to catch us up a little bit. And, you know, we're not talking a lot — it's just enough that they're a bit more consistently ahead and on the front row. And when you're on the front row and can have nice races, it can get you a lot of points and give you a lot of opportunities. And then, of course, Max is the one who makes the most of them. So, yeah, I think most places we go now, we think Red Bull will be our biggest competitor, and that's how it's been for the last few months — and I'd say the whole year.

Q: (Nigel Chiu – Sky Sports) Lando, on a track like this — Turn 1 and how tight it is — is it just naturally and instinctively a little bit harder to be racing your team-mate compared to someone else? Obviously, you don’t want to clash with anyone, but if it’s your team-mate, is there a kind of natural instinct to be a bit more cautious, perhaps? Is it a bit more challenging?
LN: I mean, it's a challenging track. I think Turn 1 is a challenge in itself. You know, it's never easy, but I think there are quite common situations that cause crashes over the last few years, and one of them happened again today. So, yeah, I think you just have to be aware of what happens on different tracks, different Turn 1s. That’s part of our job as drivers. But, I mean, as team-mates and as a team, we don't want these things to happen. We've said that every single time, and it's the truth. So, yeah, like I said, we'll review it and keep going racing.

Q: (Tim Hauraney – TSN) Max, congratulations on pole. What happened at the end there? Why did you miss doing your final push run?
MV: Yeah. There were just some people in front that were just leaving like ten seconds, easily. So, yeah, then you just run out of time. Then I had two cars in front of me. They were racing as well. I think they set purple sectors on the out lap. Yeah. That’s not ideal. So, yeah, we just ran out of time.