Q: Ayao, why don't we start with you? It's a bit of a milestone moment for the Haas Formula 1 team. 200 races this weekend. You've been there throughout. Tell us about the journey the team has been on to get to 200.

Ayao Komatsu: I don't think we've got enough time to talk about our journey. But yeah, I still remember ten years ago like yesterday - car build, pre-season testing, going on to Melbourne. Yeah. And then, lots of ups and downs happened since, but now really proud that we are here. 200 races, and improving the team, fighting in the midfield. So yeah, something I think all of us in the team should be proud of.

Q: You talk about ups and downs. Give us a highlight and a lowlight, if you could.
AK: Yeah, the first high was really the first race in 2016, Melbourne. By the time we left car build, we felt like we'd done a season already. Then we realized that we hadn't done anything. Then pre-season testing - we don't remember much because we hadn't slept much. And then going to Melbourne, we were really almost dead. And then couldn't do the pit stop practice, then to score the P6 with Romain was amazing. And then following that with Bahrain, race two, with a P5 with Romain on the aggressive strategy. So those are the clear highs. 2018 was a really good season, and Austria, P4 and P5, was an amazing result. It really was like a win for us. And then the low was when we started going in the wrong direction in 2019, and we couldn't fix the car. We had a half-decent qualifying car, but we just couldn't race, and they couldn't solve it for the entire season. That was a low. And then COVID hit, and we really couldn't do much. So that was a low. But now, we are improving again. So, it's good.

Q: Improving again now. Let's just talk about this weekend in Canada. What are your hopes? What are your expectations for this one?
AK: Honestly, expectations are always very difficult. Every single circuit we go, especially with the C6 tyre, which is very sensitive, I find it a bit difficult to predict exactly where we're going to be. And then for me, just here in Montreal, we focus on having a clean weekend, build up to it, and then try to get the best out of the car and drivers. And then hopefully we can fight for the points, but a long way to go. Yeah, we need to improve the car quite a bit.

Q: Okay. Good luck with that. Thank you very much. Fred, if we come to you now. Can we just start with Charles' car in FP1? How much damage is there? Are there any ramifications for FP2?
Frederic Vasseur: When I left the garage, we think we damaged the chassis. And by the way, we won't be able to do FP2, by regulation. We need to do some checks, but I think it's over for today for Charles.

Q: Now can we talk about the Italian media? Lewis Hamilton was in here yesterday, and he dismissed recent criticism of you in the Italian media. What's your take on it?
FV: I have to stay calm because I will have to finish to the stewards. It's some Italian media, it's not all the Italian media. It's not about myself, I think, because this I can manage. It's more about the people of the team. To throw their name like this, I think it's just disrespectful - for them, for their family. And we had the case last year with the chief of aero already. We had some other names this season. I don't know the target. I don't understand the target. Perhaps it's to give s**t to the team, but in this case, I don't see the point. Perhaps it's for them the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason. But it's really hurting the team. It's, at one stage, a lack of focus. And when you are fighting for the championship, every single detail makes the difference. And from the beginning of the weekend, we are just speaking about this. And if it's their target to put the team in this situation, they reached their goal. But I think it's really - it's not like this that we'll be able to win a championship. And at least not with this kind of journalist around us. I won't go to the stewards for this - so far!

Q: Fred, Does it go with the territory of being team principal of Ferrari that you have to deal with this kind of thing?
FV: No but to be the team principal - I knew when I took the position that you are exposed, and this I think is quite easy to manage. It's more for the people of the team. They are working very hard and to decide one day that "this one will be replaced, this one is useless" - honestly, it's very harsh. These journalists, and I'm not putting everybody in the same basket, but they have to consider that these people, they have families, they have wives, they have kids. And this is completely disrespectful. But I don't want to speak anymore about this stupidity.

Q: Okay. Let's talk about performance. This was a tough race for Ferrari last year. Do you come into it feeling more confident?
FV: Well, at least we won't do worse than last year - it was a double DNF. But the pace this morning was okay for Charles before the crash. And with Lewis it was okay also. We made a step, I think, if you compare to the first races - now we came back to P2, we had the last three or four weekends with strong pace. It was already the case at the beginning, but more on the race pace than the quali pace. Now I think we're able to put a little bit more of everything together and do a good weekend. But it's still a long way compared to McLaren because they are still one step ahead. We have to keep McLaren as a target and not look behind us. But we're on the right way.

Q: Okay. Fred, thank you for that. James, let's come to you now. Can we just start talking about something off track? The Williams FW14B - you drove it recently. Just tell us what that was like and what the overriding emotion was for you when you were behind the wheel.
James Vowles: Yeah. It's exceptional. I mean, genuinely, after we stopped, they left me in the car and said, "do you need a minute," and I stayed in there for ten minutes just enjoying the moment. We were getting it basically ready, making sure it was okay before we take it to Goodwood, and it's an opportunity of a lifetime. I can't really describe it any other way. It's something I saw on TV thirty years ago that I never would have dreamt of even being close to, let alone having the ability to drive it. It's a very light car. It's exactly Nigel's car as he won the championship in Budapest in '92. And it's an exceptional moment for me to just have the ability to be a part of it.

Q: Not too tall?
JV: No. Thank you! I thought you were going say too wide! Genuinely, again - I went on a diet a little bit last year to get myself a little bit thinner to make sure I'd get inside it. The biggest problem is my feet are a little bit big. I think Nigel's feet are smaller than mine. So, it's quite difficult to get everything fitting into the nose box.

Q: Alright. And what about the here and now? Spain looked a little tricky for the team. On the evidence of FP1, are you going to go better here? How do you explain that? Is it the return of short radius corners?
JV: Yeah. So I'm only laughing because Fred said... Well, basically, he said there's no corners here and that's why we're quick. Spain's quite a unique circuit. Turn 3 and Turn 9 now are flat-out corners that you're in for a long period of time compared to other corners on the circuit, and that isn't the case for most other tracks now. Unbelievably, that's actually more an outlier than anything else. And without question, we still have a problem baked into our car that if we're loaded for a long period of time at high speed, we struggle. And Barcelona proved that. The only point I would make is we have improved, though. We were in a situation - at least, we had both front wings missing after lap one - but we were in a situation where the car could have scored a point there, which is different to how we've been many other years. But without question, Montreal, conversely, is the complete polar opposite for us. It's very much a circuit that suits the characteristic of our car - the short corners. And I don't think it'll be quite as rosy as we saw this morning. McLaren weren't up there, and Charles wasn't there either, and I'm sure he will be. But the point is we should be competitive enough to still be fighting for points this weekend.

Questions From The Floor

Q: (John Noble - The Race) To Fred, I don't know if Ferrari would be satisfied with the season you've had so far, but what's been the kind of dialogue with John Elkann so far this year? And what's the kind of battle plan agreed going forward to recover the rest of this season into '26?
FV: The initial goal was to fight for the championship, but I think it's true for us, it's true for McLaren, for Red Bull, for Mercedes. We are all in this mood to fight for the championship at the beginning of the season. I think if you compare with expectations, probably McLaren is one step ahead compared to everybody. And we didn't do a good job on our side.
Just speaking about us - Ferrari - we didn't do a good job, the couple of races, we had the disqualification in China. We were 60 points behind Red Bull and Mercedes at this stage of the season. And overall, I think we had a decent recovery, at least compared to Red Bull, Mercedes. Compared to McLaren, they are still one step ahead. It means we have to continue to try to do a better job each day and improve. I had the feeling that on some occasions this year, we missed opportunities, and we didn't do the same level of job as we did last year, let's say. And this, clearly, we need to improve. But it's true that if you want to win the championship - and I think it's a good lesson of 2024 - you can't leave points on the way. Last year, we had a double DNF in Canada. We had a couple of events with DNFs and issues, and it's where we have to improve, clearly. But I think it's difficult to say because we are still behind McLaren. The target is to be P1. But I think we are improving from the beginning of the season to today.

Check out our Friday gallery from Montreal here.