FIA post-qualifying press conference – 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Q: So it looks like another good battle with Ferrari, as it was last time out at Monza. Who do you think’s got the faster race car here?

OP: Probably whoever finishes in front tomorrow, I would say! I don’t know. I think it’s very, very even. Through all of practice it looked very tight between us, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. To be honest, I was a bit surprised Red Bull weren’t a bit further up at the end of Q3, but I think our race pace looked good yesterday, but nowadays the top four teams are so close in race pace that qualifying often makes a massive difference. So I’ve got confidence that our car will be quick. But yeah, I think there’s definitely seven other cars out on the track that are certainly not any slower.

Q: Oscar, very well done to you. Carlos, if we can come to you now. Great to see you back in the top three. Can I start with this question as to who’s got the faster race car, Ferrari or McLaren? What is your opinion on that?

CS: I think it’s extremely tight. I think it’s obviously one of… Charles was mentioning it’s one of his best tracks and he tends to always find a couple of tenths on the Ferrari around here and that probably makes us look like the fastest car, but I think it’s honestly within two tenths between the top four cars and it makes it an exciting battle and an exciting race for tomorrow.

Q: Well, let’s bring it back to today for you. Just talk us through the quali from your point of view and Q3 in particular.

CS: Yeah, but I managed to find a couple of things in Q3 that gave me a bit more pace than what I was showing in Q1 and Q2. Probably found it a bit too lat. By the time I found them, I wish I would have had more laps before to get used to driving the car a bit like that. And I felt like I was more competitive. But, you know, it’s always been a track that I struggle a lot at. It’s the best track for Charles and one of the worst ones for me, and I’m glad to be P3 and have a good position going into tomorrow, although it’s something that I keep working on around here because from FP1 I always tend to lack a bit of rhythm and I need to build it up.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit more about what you found in the middle of the session?

CS: Nothing that I can reveal obviously in a press conference, because I would be revealing a bit too much, but just little things. Little things that you can do in quali to get the car to stop a bit better in the long braking zones, that gives you a bit more confidence to brake those three to five metres later that around here is fundamental. It’s interesting because I normally feel very comfortable in city tracks like Singapore, Monaco or any, but Baku has never been, in my 10 years in Formula 1, one of those. But every year I come back here trying to improve myself, trying to find more of an edge in my driving, but it just doesn’t come very natural to me.

Q: Carlos, when you look at the data, Charles’ data, is there one particular area, given how good you are at street tracks, is there one particular area that you look at Charles and go, OK, it’s there?

CS: Yeah, for sure. I mean, the braking, no. It’s all about braking here in Baku and having the confidence to stop the car as late as possible, trusting that the car then is going to turn in into the corner. And yeah, that’s where he excels around here and where he’s particularly comfortable from the beginning of FP1. From my side, I don’t know why I don’t have exactly that same feeling that I have in Singapore, maybe on the higher downforce, or in Monaco with higher downforce, but it’s what it is. I still think I made some good progress. I’m going into tomorrow into the top three. So, yeah, I still think we’re in the mix.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) A question for Charles and Carlos please. Charles, we heard you sort of complaining a little bit on the radio about the tow, I think in Q2. Can you guys just kind of explain if you had any specific plan for that whether it was missing the tow with each other or was it timing it with other cars? Can you just sort of like go into the tactics there, please?

CL: Oh, no, no, it was nothing down to Carlos. It was just because I was the first car of the group, so I had nobody in front, but there was no… Yeah, we didn’t plan anything between the cars. I just wish there was maybe another team in front and I didn’t want to be the first car. And on a track like this it makes a bit of a difference and I also saw Max’s lap in Q2 who had a massive tow in the last sector, so I just didn’t want to be losing out to pole in Q3 because of something like that, so I was just making sure that the team knew that it was going to be important for Q3.

CS: It was, I think, a matter of… I think we both went in the middle of the session in Q2 while every other team waited until the track evolution. We prioritised putting a lap in the middle of Q2 to be safe going into Q3, and that left us exposed to no tow. And yeah, we were just making sure that for Q3 we were having one. That is when it counts.

Q: (Aytan Asgarli – Nargiz Magazine) I would like to ask you, Carlos, Baku has produced some unpredictable races in the past. What’s the most unusual or unexpected thing? How do you prepare mentally before the race tomorrow?

CS: I think the biggest challenge of Baku normally is when there are red flags because that breaks the rhythm of the race. I remember one year there was two or three red flags on the same race and that really breaks the rhythm of the race. and then you have to wait while they clear the track, and obviously that is the biggest thing. Then the Safety Cars. Here it’s very difficult to keep temperature in the tyres, so whenever there’s a Safety Car restart, it’s very easy to front lock, very easy to go wide into the first three corners. So yeah, all these aspects make Baku an unpredictable race, because as soon as there’s one curve ball, like a Safety Car or a red flag, it actually generates even more chaos after, as a snowball effect.

Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) A question for Oscar this time, please. Oscar, we heard Lando sound pretty downbeat yesterday about the car. Were you sort of feeling the same thing about it or were you a lot more happy after FP1, FP2? Was there anything you had to change overnight to be sitting here today?

OP: Honestly, I was pretty happy with it. We had a bit to find for sure. But yeah, I think I said yesterday I felt like we were in the ball park. And yeah, I’m not massively surprised to be sat here. But, yeah, I definitely didn’t feel like we were the quickest yesterday. But, again, I feel like it’s so close between the top four teams that you never quite know who’s going to come out on top. Red Bull were looking very quick at certain points. Ferrari obviously looking very quick. Even Mercedes at points as well. So, yeah, I always thought we were in a pretty good place. So, yeah, not that surprised to be here.

Q: (Lewis Larkham – Crash.net) Charles, your fourth pole in Baku. Where does this one rank compared to the rest, and do you feel it was your best yet, and if so, why?

CL: No, it’s not the best. I think the ‘21 one was probably the best as we were in a very, very difficult year. I think we were fighting for P9, P10, that championship and to be on pole here was very special. However, it was a good lap. I mean, it was a really good lap. Again, there’s not… For some reason, there’s not that much scatter between my laps on this track. It looks like I’m very consistent. But again, I don’t really have the magic answer. But I just like the rhythm of this track. And every lap I was doing was quite competitive from FP1. And the balance was feeling really good. So the lap was good. It was really good. But yeah, it’s also very difficult to compare it to other years.

Q: (Aytan Asgarli – Nargiz Magazine) I would like to ask a question to all three of you. And it’s actually quite an easy one, but more like fun related. What anthem song do you listen to before a race to get into the zone, considering how hard it’s going to be tomorrow on the city circuit?

CL: I like instrumental, motivational music. It’s like the movie music. That gives me a lot of energy before getting into the car. But if I am too tense, which doesn’t happen very often, but it did on a few occasions, like Monaco maybe, before the start this year, then it’s more calming music, and it’s very calm, just to release the tension a little bit. But yeah, otherwise, instrumental, motivational music.

Q: Do you ever listen to your own music?

CL: Before Monaco, I did, because that’s a lot more calming than the other type of songs I normally listen to.

Q: Oscar?

CL: Do you listen to my songs?

OP: No! Maybe I should. I honestly don’t listen to anything. When we’re in Europe, I normally end up listening to whatever Lando listens to because it’s at a volume loud enough for both of us. And then, I mean, whatever they play on the grid, you can kind of listen to whatever you want, but especially when we go to like the Netherlands, yeah… I don’t know how your calming music works in Zandvoort, but normally whatever they play on the grid, which to be honest is normally my kind of music anyway, but in a few places it’s a bit much and you just kind of… You have to shout sometimes to speak to your engineers, which is a little bit frustrating, but it’s all for the atmosphere.

Q: Carlos?

CS: I’m going to sound boring, but I don’t need any music. I’m already pumped up and nervous enough, having the goosebumps before the race to even put something on my ear to pump me up even more. I actually just talked a bit with myself. Sometimes I need to, if I pump myself up, I do a stronger warm up. If I need to calm down, I have a bit more time to chill. I tell you one thing that pumps me up here is the Azerbaijan anthem. It’s quite strong here. It’s a good one. And it’s an anthem that when we’re standing on the grid is very powerful, actually, and it’s good fun.