Track Interviews - Conducted by Jolyon Palmer
Well, down here with the top three. First things first, welcome back, Oscar. What a weekend it's been for you so far and that looked like a really controlled drive.
Oscar Piastri: Yeah, I mean, it's been a good weekend so far. I think everything went smoothly in the Sprint there, so yeah, happy with how it's been so far. Just need to keep it rolling.
What do you feel has changed for this weekend compared to the tricky ones you've been on recently? Because from the first lap yesterday, you looked like you were right back in the zone.
OP: It's obviously a very different circuit to where we have been. Much higher speeds, much higher grip. I think the last couple of weekends it's just been things going wrong rather than a lack of pace, so to speak. So, I think here, everything's going smoothly so far and the pace has been strong. So yeah, it's a track I've enjoyed in the past, so enjoying it again, clearly.
Three out of three Sprint wins, well done. George, playing detective, I saw you at the end out of the car. We heard a little bit of chatter about your left front. How was the race for you? And obviously, you spent a bit of time in the dirtier air. How was that?
George Russell: Yeah, I mean, it was a good race. Good to get P2. We obviously know these guys are really quick but those last two laps were a real struggle. This track's so quick. It's one of the most fun tracks to drive and it's obviously brutal on the tyres, on the car. So yeah, glad to bring it home.
Talk me through the physicality around this place. Obviously, the high-speed corners, especially that last sector. I imagine the necks of all of you guys are going to take a bit of a working, but particularly for the Grand Prix tomorrow.
GR: Yeah, I mean, I was trying to rest it as much as I could to be honest. It's pretty brutal. I mean, I don't know what the G-force is - it's like five G for what feels like forever around that triple right. But it's really cool. It's what it should be like everywhere really. And yeah, glad we got the chance to race around here.
Absolutely. And Lando, good points for you, up in the top three once again. I can't imagine you loved seeing Max in your mirrors so close in the early laps, but you dealt with it very well. How was it?
Lando Norris: I never saw him, actually, I just saw George ahead. So yeah, I tried to go forwards. We got pretty close at the start, but it was good. No, I didn't see what happened behind. So, long stint, it felt like a lot of pushing. So, like you said, it's going to be a tough race tomorrow. But yeah, just not easy to pass around here. Too difficult. So yeah, it's all about qualifying.
He was having half looks down your inside at Turn 1 on lap two...
LN: Never saw him!
Good to see you focused all the way in front then. Speaking of being in front - qualifying. You said yesterday you thought there was a little bit more in there. Didn't quite hook up the soft tyres. You've got another chance later on. Feeling confident?
LN: Yeah, I mean, George was almost on pole, so he's showing that the Mercedes is quick and he's doing a very, very good job. So, I think it'll be close. I don't think it's going to be an easy one. But, you know, the team have also given us a very good car once again, as they always do this year, and it's been quick. It's a hell of a lap around here in qualifying, so I'm looking forward to it.
Great. And Oscar, back to you. Lando's saying the car has been great for you, but we know from the Sprint to the Grand Prix, things can change. You've been so good so far. Do you stick with where you're at or do you have to keep moving forward to find more pace for qualifying?
OP: Ideally, if we can find more pace. I think, you know, everyone slowly finds a little bit more through a Sprint weekend, so you've got to try and get every bit out of the car that you can. But yeah, we'll try our best to do that. But I think our base performance seems very strong around here, so it's more just tuning rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
Press Conference
Very well done, Oscar. Your first P1 of any sort since Zandvoort. Just how sweet was it to be back up front with a clear road ahead?
OP: Yeah, it was nice. It was nice to have some clean air again. It makes a pretty big difference. So yeah, just nice to get off to a smooth start to the weekend, really. So yeah, car's been good so far and I feel like I've been able to gel with it pretty good. So yeah, obviously, the short part of the weekend's over, and now the real stuff begins.
It looked like a very controlled race from you. Were there any anxious moments? At one point, you were talking about a vibration on the radio?
OP: Yeah, like five or six laps to the end. I think it was front left that was starting to vibrate a bit, and I hadn't locked up or anything, so it's never a great sign when you start getting vibrations out of nowhere. So I think it was a similar thing for other people as well. So yeah, we'll see if there's any concerns with that, but that was pretty much the only concern.
You seem much happier in the car here in Qatar. What do you put it down to? Is it the different circuit? Is there something different in the car?
OP: I mean, it's definitely a different circuit. You know, incredibly high-speed, much higher grip surface as well. But I think, honestly, the last couple of weekends have been not bad in terms of pace. It's just been mistakes or things out of our control going wrong. So, I think this weekend, the pace has been probably a little bit stronger, but everything's just been smooth. So, I think that's the biggest difference.
Any changes set-up wise ahead of qualifying this evening?
OP: I'll find out shortly, but the car's been good so far. So, if it is, it'll be tweaks rather than anything major.
George, let's come to you now. Very well done to you. From your point of view, how was the Sprint? How was the performance of the car?
GR: Yeah, it was a pretty lonely race, to be honest. It was fun, because it was flat out, but I didn't really have any chance of attacking Oscar and had a pretty good gap ahead of Lando as well. So it was pretty uneventful until the last three laps - similar to Oscar's - started getting a big vibration on the tyres. I could just see it opening up and I thought, "yeah, this could be it," you know, bit of a puncture or something. So just brought it home in the last two laps.
It was quite a static race at the front, as you say. Coming into the weekend, did you expect to have a similar pace to the McLaren?
GR: We weren't too sure, to be honest. I think we all expected Red Bull to be the favourites this weekend based on their high-speed performance. Qualifying was strange yesterday. You know, every single lap was improving so much, and it was whoever put the lap together on the last lap of Q3 that defined the starting order. And ultimately, on a track like this with the lack of tyre degradation - at least at the front - where you finish lap one is where you're going to finish the race. So I was happy with qualifying. It doesn't mean that this afternoon is going to be the same again because ultimately, it's just so tight.
Going to make any changes? Do you think you can challenge for pole again today?
GR: Yeah. I mean, I felt really happy with my lap yesterday. It was one of my strongest of the season. I don't think we've really got the pace, to be honest. I think if we absolutely nail it, we can be there or thereabouts as we were yesterday. But I don't think it will be as straightforward this evening.
Lando, let's come to you. Congratulations. Another Sprint podium for you. Just how did the race play out?
LN: Pretty simple, really. You know, there's not a lot going on. Nothing much throughout the whole race. Just impossible to follow around here, you know? As soon as you're within three seconds or so, you start to struggle. So yeah, not a lot. I tried to save my tyres a bit for the end and the pace was certainly a little bit better. But yeah, after doing the whole race not too far behind George, then you pay the price in terms of tyre deg. So yeah, honestly, not too much.
Paying the price for tyre deg - is that the understeer that you were referring to over the radio with your engineer Will Joseph?
LN: A bit of everything around here, to be honest. It's understeer, oversteer. It's a little bit more all over the place than in some of the last few tracks. So yeah, I mean, it's just such a quick track. You really require every bit of downforce possible. And when you're following so closely, you lose a lot of the downforce, so it just makes your life very, very difficult. Nothing out of the ordinary.
And just how happy are you with the car? I mean, Oscar's talking about only making minor tweaks ahead of qualifying this evening. Are you in a similar boat, or do you feel there's more to find?
LN: No. I mean, the car is in a pretty good place. There's certainly little things you might want to tweak as well, but it was more I just didn't put things together at all yesterday, but the pace was there. So yeah, some things, some driving styles that have been working the last few weeks have just really not worked at all here, especially when it got quicker and quicker. The more I leaned on what's been working, the more I just went slower and slower. So yeah, I tried to use the Sprint to try and learn some things. I feel like I got some things figured out and other things not. So yeah, maybe not in a perfect place, but probably a bit better than yesterday.
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