Why don't we start with the man whose car was fastest in FP1. So, Toto, it's early days here in Austria, but how confident are you of a repeat of last time out in Montreal?

Toto Wolff: Good afternoon, everybody. We start with a civilised question. Never confident. You know, this track hasn't treated us very well in the past. Rough asphalt is not where our car has the sweet spot. And yeah, we've been fastest today with George, but it's also low on temperatures with the cloud cover. So, we need to really keep feet on the ground, see what happens if it's getting hotter, and that's the forecast for tomorrow and after tomorrow, and see whether we can maintain those levels of performance. But definitely, I wouldn't extrapolate from FP1 that we're going to drive home in the sunset and collect some trophies.

Let's talk drivers now. We'll start with Kimi. How do you think his podium in Canada will help him going forward? He said yesterday that now is the time to make a step. Do you agree with him?
TW: Most important is that the development trajectory continues to be positive. I think when we look at last year, it wasn't our most intelligent call to put him in the car in Monza, give him all the pressure, and then obviously with the incident, that's something that's in the back of your mind. And I think with the podium now, you can shake that off and say, "I've proven that I can be fast." And also, throughout the year, we gave him lots of space to explore, to develop, to under-hit, or also push hard when he felt confident in the car. And in that respect, I think that is what you can expect from a driver that can be a champion one day.

What about George Russell then? Five podiums so far this year, including the win. What else has he got to do to get this contract for '26?
TW: Nothing. He has been part of our program since ten years or so. He's always performed to the expectations that we have set, and he's continuing to do so. We haven't given him a car to win a world championship in the last three years, so that's completely on us. And the times the car has been good, he has been winning races. And you can see today, he's always there. You know that when he's getting in the car, he's going to extract what is in the car. Having said that, for whatever reason, in early summer, those kinds of contract discussions start to end up being accelerated in the media or accelerated because of a lack of information. What I have been doing the last 30 years in a normal business, contract discussions are not being held as town halls. So, everything is normal. Everything goes to plan.

Is he top of your list for next year?
TW: Well, he needs to be top of the list because he's a race winner with us. He's a Mercedes junior. He's been with the team for a long time.

So, when he says, as he did yesterday, that discussions with Max Verstappen are delaying things, would you expect him to be talking to other teams as well?
TW: Again, we are going into territory that I don't want to discuss out here. But people talk, people explore, and most important is that in our organisation, we are transparent. But it doesn't change a millimetre of my opinion of George, his abilities, or anything else.

Okay. Toto, thank you for that. Jonathan, let's come to you now. Two points finishes in the last two races on very different racetracks. Just what has been the most pleasing aspect for you of those performances?
Jonathan Wheatley: I think it's a total team performance. What's encouraging is that the work that Mattia started nearly a year ago now is starting to bear fruit. The tools are starting to correlate with each other. The pieces we're putting on the car so far seem to have been going in the right direction. The drivers have more confidence. We understand C45 better than we did five, ten races ago. And there's a momentum building in the team, and it's a great energy.

New parts this weekend, I believe, some floor edges, rear wing, things like that. What is the data telling you after FP1?
JW: It is a little too soon to say. We need to look at the data, we need to analyse it. It was an interesting session in terms of the way the temperature changed throughout, I think as Toto just talked about there. So, you know, the long runs were carried out. I don't think it will be like that on Sunday. So we've got a little bit more to analyse, but certainly at the moment, the feeling's positive.

As I did with Toto, can we talk about drivers now? Let's start with Nico Hülkenberg. He's been bringing home the points. What has impressed you the most about him so far this year?
JW: Well, you know, I've watched his career for a long time now. Working with him has been a pleasure, I have to say. Professionalism, the way he approaches a Grand Prix weekend, he's measured. He's the whole package as far as I can see. He's clearly enjoying the upgrades on the car. He's enjoying his time at Sauber at the moment, and he's delivering. Canada wasn't a circuit that we expected to perform that well on, yet we were able to deliver with both drivers a really solid performance and, as you said, points two races in a row.

How far away is Gabi from Nico?
JW: Well, it's interesting to listen to Toto's comments about Kimi. Each one of these milestones, be that points, podiums, whatever, I've seen it so many times with drivers gaining in confidence. Gabi is so close. The confidence is building. Today, again, another really clean performance, really good feedback through the engineers through P1. He's learning, developing. Really, really pleased with his progress.

Okay. Thank you for that. Should be more questions for you later. Laurent, let's come on to you now. After three consecutive points finishes, Canada was a bit disappointing for the team. What have you learned since then about the problem in Canada? And how confident are you of getting back in the points this weekend?
Laurent Mekies: It's fair to say we were probably missing a tenth or two compared to our ultimate performance in Canada. And that's the difference between being happy at the top of the midfield and getting the points and feeling quite far away from them. I think it's a good reflection of how incredibly tight the midfield is now. We know that if we nail every aspect of the race weekend, we can be on top of that group, which is basically everyone behind the top four teams. So, it's 12 cars fighting for that spot. As soon as you don't get everything perfect, you move back. And yes, we would probably do quite a few things differently if we were going back to Canada. Isack still had a great quali there, the fourth Q3 in a row. But it's fair to say that in terms of race pace, we were missing something. So lots of learning. If I look back at all the steps forward we have been making in the last twelve months, they have all been starting from difficult moments, difficult races, difficult qualis, difficult updates. And it is in this sort of moment that you make a step forward. So obviously, this weekend is a completely different equation, but we are hopeful that we'll be back in the fight.

You mentioned Isack in qualifying. He's nailing Saturdays this year, isn't he? He was the least experienced of the rookies in terms of F1 testing coming into this season. Just how do you assess his progress so far this year?
LM: I think the starting point for Isack has been sensational. Nothing less than that. He came to us in January. He had done one day of testing in his life in Formula 1. And then we did one wet day of testing, and then here we are. Let's go to Bahrain and let's go to Melbourne. If you look at the natural speed, how quickly he blended with the engineers, with all the team members, with the whole Formula 1 crews, and all the pressure that comes with it, it's just something that none of us were expecting him to be at that level. Now we believe, as Toto and Jonathan said, we strongly believe in driver development. So regardless of how incredible his starting point is, we expect him to grow. We expect him to develop. He has already developed a lot from January, and it's our responsibility to make sure we create the environment around him so that he can make these steps as often as possible and be as strong as possible.

Questions From The Floor

(Scott Mitchell-Malm - The Race) It's a question to all three of you. I know we're in the final phases of trying to wrap up the last bits of changes to the 2026 rules. We're starting to hear some more concerned remarks again from drivers who have tried the car in the sim and don't find it particularly enjoyable at the moment. Where are you at with that? Have your drivers tried the '26 car in the sim? What was their feedback? And how important do you think it is that the drivers do end up enjoying this new formula rather than the concerns that they're speaking about at the moment?
TW: Yeah. I think the fans need to enjoy watching Formula 1, and Formula 1 needs to stay true to itself that it's a high-performance sport. Best man and best machine wins. So, this is what we need to deliver: good racing. Some cars have been good fun for the drivers to drive. Some tyres have been good fun, others not. So, in a way, everybody will get used to it. Looking at simulations of today, it's very difficult to exactly know how it's going to be next year. It's a super challenging new regulation in making those energy levels last throughout the lap on some of the tracks clearly at the moment it's still challenging. But the pace of innovation is huge, and it's always been the case in Formula 1. I believe that we are on the right trajectory. At the moment, yes, driving these cars, there will be outliers of tracks that are clearly very, very different to what it is today. But you ask a driver for a good car, give him the strongest, grippiest, less degrading tyres, 1000 horsepower, naturally aspirated V12, and that's what they're going love. We're just in a different era now.

JW: Hard to add much more than Toto said, to be honest. What I would say is it's important we put on a show. I think all of these concerns were raised at the start of this set of technical regulations, and the energy management was a big story back then as well. But then look where we are now with the closest championship in the history of the sport, I think. So, we have to look at the journey through this new set of technical regulations, and we have to make sure that at all times, we've got the best interests of the sport at heart.

LM: Our drivers haven't tried yet, so I hope they're not complaining already. No, seriously, I think it's a bit early to be pessimistic. The challenge is huge, probably the biggest for the teams. I'm sure the teams will need their drivers to help them develop in the right direction to help them grasp these regulations. The guys will be jumping into that competitiveness, into that war of competitiveness, and I'm sure it will take precedence over whatever they feel when driving the car.

Check out our Friday gallery from Zeltweg here.