1 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
3 – George RUSSELL (Mercedes)  

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard and Sam Worthington)

DC: We're going start with Verstappen in Vegas. Congratulations, Max. Your second victory here and in the end, that was—I won’t say dominant, but it looked comfortable.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, it was good. I mean, of course like in practice, not really knowing what the tyres were going to do. Even in the race, I think you could see everyone just trying to find a rhythm, seeing how much you could push, especially in the first stint because you're on the more fragile tyre. And yeah, it worked really well. I mean, normally the race is always a tough one for us. We are normally not that great on tyres. But today it seemed like we had that a bit more under control and I could push a little bit more. And that just unlocked a bit more pace. I could stay out a bit longer and split, basically, the race in half. And yeah, that definitely helped a lot. The car was working pretty well, much more to my liking. And yeah, then it was, at the end, quite a decent gap. But yeah, it was just every lap feeling comfortable and not taking too much out of the tyre.

SW: I thought making Avatar was exciting. What you guys do is unbelievable. That was a great race. And you're exactly right. My question is: Lando, when he hit that first turn—when he just went for it—how did that make you feel?
Lando NORRIS: No, he didn't go for it. I went for it and no one else.

SW: They said you ran out of road.
LN: Yeah. Actually, I let Max win. I let him go. Let him have a nice race! No, I just braked too late. It was my f-up. I don’t know—I wanted to put on a show, right? So that's why we're in Vegas, I guess. No, it was not my best performance out there. But when the guy wins by 20 seconds, it's because he's just done a better job and they're a bit quicker. So, fun race out there. Difficult as always, but we were fine.

DC: So George, just bringing you into it. It looked like you were putting the pressure early doors on Max, and then we heard you say there was an issue with the steering again, like you had. Did that manifest itself all the way to the end, or did you mean your pace dropped?
George RUSSELL: It was there throughout, but it was the tyres. When Max came out the pits, I thought I had a chance here with the cold tyres and I really, really pushed hard and I just damaged the tyres. From there on in, I was on the radio saying I'm not sure this tyre is going to make it to the end. And it was really difficult. So again, it wasn't a great race outside, but standing here on the podium is, yeah, probably the maximum we could have achieved.

SW: So Max, they told me that’s your 69th win. So since we're in Vegas, I'm thinking I'm going to be having to put the numbers six and nine on the roulette wheel. What do you think?
MV: I mean, I’d either stay at 69 or I have to go to 169, because it's actually quite a cool number.

DC: That's awesome. Look, Max, absolutely brilliant. One of the things I love as well is the racing respect between you guys. It was nice to see the little jokes there from Lando saying that you gave Max the opportunity to get the win here. But Lando, just very briefly—
LN: I said I f***ed it up.

DC: Well, you can't say that. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. But if we just bring it to the fact that this championship is still moving along. We've got two more Grands Prix, one more sprint. It's going to keep going.
LN: Yeah. You know, I’ve honestly had a good run. I think the pace was still good today. Max just drove a good race and he was quick. I made the mistake into Turn 1. You know, you’ve got to be punchy into Turn 1. I was just a bit too punchy, and that cost me. So that’s the way it is sometimes. Still a good result—second—and still good points. You know? So it's not like I'm too disappointed. I’ve got to congratulate Max and Red Bull. They drove a good race. So onto the next one.

DC: So Max, just finally for you then. Where's your mind at here? You've won this Grand Prix. Brilliant drive. Are you thinking a little bit about the championship still, or are you just taking these—two races, one Sprint—just one by one?
MV: Yeah, I think that's the better approach. I mean, it's still a big gap. But, you know, we always try to just maximise everything that we've got. And this weekend, that was first. And yeah, the upcoming weekends we'll again try to win the race. And at the end of Abu Dhabi, we'll see where we end up. But I'm very proud of everyone. You know, we've had a really up and down season and tough times, but also really beautiful moments. And we learned a lot throughout the whole season, and that's also very valuable for the upcoming years. So that's something that we just have to cling on to and [we’ll] just try to improve even more to come back stronger for next year, to put up a fight from the start of the year in the championship. But we're enjoying it now, and then we'll see next week what we can do again.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Max, great drive and fastest lap on the last lap as well. It seems once in front, you had everything under control. Is that the reality of it?
MV: Yeah. Well, I mean, it helped, of course, to get into the lead in Turn 1. I do think in the first stint, we were all finding our feet a bit with how much to push or not, how much we had to manage, because I do think we were all quite close up until the pit stops. So we were just trying to get a good balance, because we didn't really get to have a good understanding on Thursday. But yeah, it felt better than expected, I would say, already on that compound. And then, when we got onto the hard compound, I think already because we did quite a decent first stint, it made the second stint a little bit easier. But even there, you have to also make sure that you don't overcook it with the tyre. But yeah, we did well. Good communication with the pit wall as well. So yeah, actually very enjoyable, very nice, relaxed. So it was great.

Q: You referenced the start there. It was close between you and Lando. Just talk us through the opening 10 seconds or so.
MV: Yeah. I mean, that's what you should do to cover off the inside. But I think it's very easy to get caught out with where you have to brake also, because normally in the start, you leave the grid and then you look in the mirror. But here, it's almost like you don't have a lot of time to look in the mirror because you immediately have to brake again. And it's quite slippery anyway. So yeah, I guess that's what happened.

Q: You found some consistency with this car after the frustrations early on at Interlagos two weeks ago. Are you confident now that you can challenge for the win at the last two races as well as you have done here?
MV: Well, we have been more consistent on the podium, let's say like that. Some races we've not been in contention for the win, but from, I would say, the middle of '24 until the middle of '25, we were more probably off the podium than on. And now, at least, we are always fighting for a second or a third place, but at least on the podium, and that's already, for us, I think a very good step forward. I think that should have been the case from the start, of course, if you want to really fight for a title. But yeah, unfortunately, we didn't get it right in the beginning, but at least now it's more consistent and sometimes, yeah, it's good enough then to win.

Q: What about fighting for the title? You said coming into this race that it wasn't on your mind. Is that still the case?
MV: Yeah. Just trying to enjoy, have a good time, and when you can win, you try to win.

Q: Alright. Well, you've done that. Max, thank you very much. Very well done to you.
Lando, let's come to you. Great race as well. Although you were haemorrhaging time on those last couple of laps, just talk us through what was happening on laps 49 and 50.
LN: I think there was just some issues with the car, the team were telling me on the radio. So, yeah. Just had to back off a bit.

Q: Alright. Well, apart from that, Lando, just sum up your race. This was your 18th podium of the season, in just 22 races. Satisfied? Happy?
LN: Not really. We just weren't quick enough today. We didn't have the pace. I messed up Turn 1—it was pretty poor from me. I just braked too late. So yeah, it was all on me, pretty poor from myself. But even if I came out in P1 out of Turn 1, we were not quick enough today. Same as Brazil. Max has done a very good job and the Red Bull is very quick. They deserve the win today. They were in another league compared to us. So a bit of a shame that we didn't have more pace, but we’ve got to try and improve a bit more.

Q: Very differently to McLaren this race, but when you think where the car has been here for the last two seasons, do you feel satisfied with the step you've taken in '25 at this Grand Prix?
LN: Yeah. Of course. I think we still know that there are certain corners here and certain characteristics that are really not good for us. But we still finished second. It's not like it's the end of the world. We just have high standards and we want to win. We want to come away from here with a gold trophy, not a silver or bronze one. So, I guess we're disappointed it wasn't better, and we're disappointed we didn't come away with another win like we've had the last few weekends. But it just wasn't possible today. I think we still look at it in terms of: are we doing a good enough job as a team? And today we didn’t. The car just wasn't performing well. We had a lot of issues, and Max has done a good job and Red Bull have done a good job. So, you know, we're just comparing ourselves to the level that we need to be at if we want to win races. We come to every race to try and win. So when we don't win, we're not very happy. Still two more weekends. So, two more opportunities to try and make up for it.

Q: Even with P2, your lead in the championship is now 30 points. Two weekends to go, as you've just referenced. You're in a great position. Do you dare to dream?
LN: No. I'm just pretty disappointed with today. So, no. I look forward to Qatar. I look forward to getting somewhere warm and, yeah, just go play some golf, go play some padel for a few days, enjoy a few days off, and do everything we can to try and win in Qatar.

Q: Alright. Thank you for that, Lando. George, let's come to you now. Very well done to you as well. It looked like you were nursing an issue for much of that race. What was it? How did it affect performance?
GR: Well, I had the same steering issue as I had yesterday after about five laps. But after probably four laps after the issue, I was managing to drive around it. The pace was not bad in the first stint. Obviously made a good start. Probably only a tenth or so slower than Max in that first stint. Then after the pit stop, I saw that opportunity to attack and just pushed really hard for two laps, and I destroyed my tyres. I knew with about 16 laps to go—or probably 20—it was going to be very challenging to get to the end. So it wasn’t very enjoyable, to be honest, because I just couldn't get around left-hand corners.

Q: If you hadn't gone so aggressively after Max in those early laps in the second stint, might you have finished P2, do you think?
GR: I don't know, to be honest. You can always have that debate. But honestly, if I was sat in Lando's position now, it doesn't change anything for me. I want to fight for victories. I saw that half an opportunity. I thought Max was going to struggle a bit more on his out lap, and I had to go for it. And if I nursed my tyres in those laps, I'd be sitting here still in P3, maybe wondering if only I could have attacked when I had the opportunity. So no regrets. It just wasn't an enjoyable race.

Q: George, Mercedes as a whole was in confident mood coming into this Grand Prix, given where you were at this race last year. Are you disappointed? Are you surprised with the level of performance you've had?
GR: I think we have a car this year that's just more consistent over 24 races. I think our car last year was either exceptionally strong or exceptionally weak. And that’s really why we had more highlight moments last year as a team. But over 24 races, we scored substantially less points. So, of course, you want to win races, but the goal ultimately is to score as many points as possible in a season. And we have a car this year that has given us a substantially better opportunity to achieve that than we had 12 months ago.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lando, just to expand on the issues you had with the car. Will mentioned fuel over the radio. Was that the main concern, and how marginal was it either to make it to the end or have George catch you?
LN: I'm pretty thankful George was also having issues. Otherwise, today would have been even worse. So I'm not sure how close it was. I don't know if the sensor was saying things it shouldn't have been or what, or we just used more than expected or what it was. I don't know the full extent. I need to go and see the team and understand more, to be honest. So it was more I was just annoyingly listening to what they were telling me to do, which was losing a lot of pace, and, yeah, certainly didn't help in the chance to try and attack Max a bit more.

Q: (Arjan Schouten – AD Sportwereld) Question for Max. Max, you said you really like to enjoy yourself, not thinking about the championship. Seeing you celebrating, you looked very happy with this one. Is that because of all the ups and downs this season?
MV: It's because they don't come as easy as '23. So in '23, it was more like ticking boxes. Now it's not like that, and we come from a very tough period, already last year. This year, it's been annoying at some stages as well. Everyone, of course, was not happy with the performances. And then, yeah, to still have this kind of end to the season for us is amazing. So you need to enjoy that because it's a big motivational boost for everyone. And that's why—it works the same for me.

Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) Lando, in the second half of the race, when you got past George, could you tell us a little bit about what you were thinking? How much of it was wanting to go all out to attack Max’s lead versus how much were you thinking there’s some comfort in the fact that even if you finished second to him, you'd be in a very good position for the championship?
LN: I was all out. We just weren't quick enough. They were just much quicker than us today. Not miles, but we certainly had our issues, and that made the gap probably bigger than it was. But otherwise they were just quicker. Even if I came out of Turn 1 ahead, I don't think we would have won the race today. So I still take P2 as a good result. I'm pretty happy because of it. But I'm not happy because it's P2. Like Max says, it's tough, it's close, and I gave myself a good opportunity yesterday to try and win the race. Of course, I messed it up and made my life tougher into Turn 1. But even after that, we just weren't quick enough. Even when I thought I kept the tyres in a better condition than the others, kind of brought them in nicer, I was pushing flat out, and Max was still pulling away. So it seems like lately we've been able to improve our quali pace, but our race pace has taken a bit of a hit. Even when you look at Brazil—our quali pace was very strong, but Max was still a little faster in the race. Similar this weekend—we were very, very good yesterday, like incredibly strong yesterday, but just not good enough today. So we'll see what's maybe changed over the last few weeks and what we can improve on for Qatar.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lando, just going back to the title race. I appreciate you're obviously taking it one race at a time, but Qatar will be the first chance that you'll actually have to win the world championship. So do you approach that week any differently? Is there going to be any more nerves? Is it going to be harder to put to one side? Just your approach to this week, really?
LN: I don't know. I guess I've never been in that position before, so I probably can't really answer it. But nothing feels different now, even though that is the opportunity I'm entering into. And even when I felt like I had a bad day today, it was still relatively a good day, you know? So, no, I treat it the same. I treat it like I want to go and win. I'll do everything I can to try and win the race. It's certainly a lot more fun when you win than when you come second place. So yeah, my goal is to win both races to the end of the season, and the Sprint as well. So I'll try and win all three, I guess. But no, I don't know if anything changes. Nothing for the minute. I just focus on having a few days off and obviously shifting the time zone all the way back to wherever we have to get back to and then focusing on FP1.

Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari Masahiro) Congratulations, Lando and George – 150 races. And the question to Max and also for you, it’s also 150 (sic) races with Honda. Please pick the three best races for you, and the reason, please.
MV: My three best races with Honda... I think our first podium together—that was a very big milestone. Everyone was, I think, very emotional. First World Title, because that is always very special, and also for Honda after the initial struggles with the engine, to then basically deliver such a powerful engine, and so strong and reliable—I think that was very impressive. And honestly, it’s just been fantastic working with them. I really, really like everyone. They have their own way and own mentality of how they operate, and I really like it. And they've always been super respectful. So I will always remember the years that we have been working together. Yeah, I mean, to pick the third one is probably very hard, because we've had so many great wins together. So I just picked the ones that probably were more emotional and that was definitely those two.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) For all three of you, we're into the third running now of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and I think the balance of sport and show has been something that's been debated quite a lot. Do you feel that's in a good place now? You can still do fun things like the ride to the podium with Terry Crews and the Lego car, but it’s not too much—or would you like to see things change? A couple of drivers in the media pen talked about the bumpiness of the track and the timing in the calendar. Is that something that you think needs to be addressed in the future?
GR: Yeah. I think overall the weekend's very enjoyable, and they've done a great job. It's been evolving over these three years. Of course, it is a massive challenge—the time zone, not just for us, but for the thousands of people who travel to every single race. So I guess it'd probably be nicer if this was a standalone race rather than back-to-back. But either way, at this time—and if you're going to do a night race in Vegas—whichever way you do it, it's going to be very challenging.
MV: Yeah. Well, I mean, you have to, at the end of the day, also make up your own mind, right? Some people like more show added. Some people like different kinds of tracks as a fan also. And I also have my opinions about what I like. Some weekends I like more than others. I still like to be in Vegas, but I'm personally less of a showman. I'm not really into that probably. But I get it, you know, it's part of the calendar. If you're in Vegas, it needs to be like this. So I get it, and that's fine, you know.
LN: Yeah. I think it's certainly better than it was a few years ago. I think that was a bit too much for everyone. Might as well have been in Cirque du Soleil with what we were doing back then. So I think we're all much happier with what we're doing now. But it’s a nice event. I think it would be better if it was a little bit warmer or something, I think we would all appreciate if it was a bit more... I don't know if it’s a few months earlier or later, whatever it’s going to be, but yeah, if it was a bit warmer, I think everyone would enjoy it as a weekend a bit more. I think even the fans—it’s not pleasant for the fans sitting out there in the cold the whole day and in the rain. So if it could move around, I'm sure some things would please everyone.

Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) A quick one for Max. If you don't have the number one on your car next year, would you go back to 33, or are you considering the number 3?
MV: I'm considering a lot of options at the moment.

Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) No decision yet?
MV: No. I'll let you know when I make my decision.