PART TWO – Lance STROLL (Aston Martin), Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Yuki TSUNODA (RB)
Q: Why don’t we start with the reigning world champion, Max. I hope you’re in good form. How are things? Good?
Max VERSTAPPEN: All good.
Q: Excellent. Now look, Marina Bay was a bit of a bogey track for Red Bull last year. You qualified 11th, you finished 6th. How confident are you that it’s going to be better this time around?
MV: Well, I mean, I know that it’s not going to be our easiest weekend, just straight up. But, of course, you know, you analyse the race that you did last year. A few things that could have, you know, been done better. That’s what we’ll try to do this weekend. But, yeah, I don’t expect it, of course, suddenly to be one of our strongest weekends. But, yeah. I just hope that what we did in Baku already, it stabilised the car a bit more. That was positive. And hopefully we can just build on that and see around here. I mean, of course, around here normally it’s a bit more bumpy than Baku, but hopefully the car can take it.
Q: More bumpy than Baku, but how much of a good testing track was Baku ahead of this race?
MV: I think it was good enough to see a few things on the car. And yeah, hopefully you can just work from there.
Q: And what were the issues last weekend that you think might repeat themselves here?
MV: Just our car. Generally, it’s not very good on bumps and kerbs. And that’s, of course, what you have around here. So we need to try and, yeah, try and stabilise that a bit.
Q: Can we put a number on it? I mean, you didn’t quite make Q3 last year. Are you confident that you can at least do that this time around?
MV: I would hope so, yeah. But I mean, putting a number on it, I don’t know even where to start. But yeah, I’m confident that we can do a better job than last year. But at the same time, of course, also the competition has improved quite a bit, naturally. But yeah, I’m definitely targeting Q3, but let’s see where we end up.
Q: Alright. Look, there have been some structural changes within Red Bull that have been announced recently, one of which involves your race engineer GP. Is it a concern to you that he’s taking on more responsibility? Will it somehow take away from the work that you two do together in the garage?
MV: No, it doesn’t. I mean, he already did more than just being my race engineer anyway. So I think it’s well thought about and basically spreading a bit the workload. So for me, that’s fine.
Q: Final one from me. Can we talk about the Championship? You know, there are seven races to go. The gap’s 59 points. Are you mentally preparing for a fight to the wire? Or do you think Red Bull’s going to get its mojo back when we go back to permanent racetracks like Austin?
MV: It’s not mentally preparing. I just want to make the car faster and better balanced. If I manage to do that with the team, then I know that we can be very competitive again. And that’s the only thing that I can do. I mean, there’s no secret to that. You know, we just need to find a bit more performance and just make our lives a bit easier.
Q: Alright, Max, thanks for that. Good luck this weekend. Yuki, can we come to you now? If you didn’t have bad luck, you’d have no luck at all at the minute, Yuki. What’s your headspace coming into Singapore after a couple of frustrating races, let’s put it that way?
Yuki TSUNODA: Yeah, I think anyway, the races, even if I have good races, I’m still able to reset. So, yeah, I mean, the last two races are the things that I want to, you know, it’s not the way I wanted to finish, obviously. But, yeah, I like the Singapore track, so I’m trying to think in a positive way. You know, there’s nice food here, exciting track. It’s going to be anyway a very tough race, a physically demanding race ahead of us, so yeah, i’m still motivated and aiming for high.
Q: Well, you haven’t done many laps with the upgrades yet due to the various issues you’ve had in the races but have you done enough to know that they’re a step forward and do you think they will have a positive effect on the car here?
YT: Yeah, definitely from the new floor that we introduced in Monza, for sure it will still work here. I think it’s more, I guess it works well in mostly slow speed, like we’ve done in Azerbaijan and Singapore. I think still probably still need to look into it into more to Monza, for example. What I had, definitely I felt not really fully comfortable then more towards like high-speed corners, so I’m not sure it will work, for example, in other tracks but I felt definitely positive in Baku and if you ask me ‘OK now you what you’re going to choose between new floor, old floor in Monza’, if I’m going again, I’m not sure yet, to be honest. And probably I’ll stick with the other floor, maybe.
Q: Can we talk team-mates now? There’s a lot of speculation surrounding Daniel Ricciardo’s future at VCARB. Do you get any say as to who your team-mate is? And who would you like to be your team-mate going forward?
YT: Of course not. I can’t say anything. I mean, probably I don’t really… Yeah… I don’t know. To be honest, it’s just speculation. I don’t know anything about it. So, yeah, it’s up to them. It’s not up to me at all. I just have to focus to what I can do.
Q: Can we focus on the incumbent, Daniel? What have you learned from him in the last 12 months or so?
YT: I definitely respect him a lot, especially, like, the things he has are the things I don’t have. Especially the emotional control and how he’s able to consistently being consistent to the team, I would say. I’m a bit more probably emotional, for example. Like if I have a bad session, whatever, for example, the quality of the feedback might be a little bit worse than usual, but he’s very consistent, and I think he understood more about the car. Well, like, he understood more about the situation and what things it will give positive to the team exactly. So, yeah, I learned a lot of things from him, and I’m still learning about that. And, yeah, those things I definitely respect him.
Q: Alright. Thank you for that, Yuki. And Lance, if we could come to you now. Like Yuki, you’ve had a rough run in the last few races. Can we talk about the performance of the Aston Martin since the summer break? Do you feel relative to the opposition it’s dropped a bit?
Lance STROLL: I mean, compared to the beginning of the season, yes. I think we were comfortably the best of the rest at the beginning of the year, I think the last few weekends we’ve been on the back foot but looking forward to Singapore this weekend and we’ll see what we can do.
Q: And after the I don’t know what we call it, the collision with Yuki in Baku at the weekend, did the race turn into something of a test session for you and did you learn anything about the performance of the car there that can help you here?
LS: Yeah, I mean, it was never really going to turn into much after the Lap 1 incident. Unfortunately, it was one of those races where, you know, just kind of hoping for something to happen, maybe some Safety Cars to get back in the mix. But yeah, you know, we circulated and yeah, an unfortunate end to the weekend. But like I said, looking forward to Singapore.
Q: Well, let’s look at some positives now. The first time you’ve been in the FIA press conference since the announcement that Adrian Newey is joining the team next year. What aspect of working with Adrian are you most looking forward to?
LS: Just working with Adrian. You know, he’s the most successful person to build cars in the history of the sport. And I think it’s just a very exciting chapter for Aston Martin. Not only Adrian, but other people that are coming on board. And I think we’re growing into a team that is setting up for a very bright future. And it’s very exciting.
Q: Lance, as you say, the team is growing, growing rapidly. How important is it to have a guy like Adrian who has, what is it, 40 years of experience in Formula 1? How important is that to help guide all of the new people at the team?
LS: Yeah, very important. I think it’s important that, you know, we have a leader and we have direction on what we’re doing. And, you know, yeah, a vision and a structure that, you know, gets us to another level. And that’s what we’re in the process of doing.
Q: Final one for me, Lance. You didn’t get to race here last year after the crash in Quali. Just how much are you looking forward to getting back out there around the Marina Bay track?
LS: Yeah, really looking forward to it. It’s a great track. I always enjoy coming back here. Aside from lap 55, 60 of the race, I think it gets pretty hot in there. But it’s a great track. It’s, you know, like all the street circuits, a good challenge, close to the walls, very intense in the cockpit. So, yeah, looking forward to it.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Roldán Rodriguez – DAZN Spain) A question to Max. Last weekend, for the first time of the season, your team-mate was in front of you in qualifying and then in the race until the crash. I would like to understand, as you guys watch all the telemetry, where he was faster or adapting better to the car, at least in qualifying.
MV: I don’t know, man. Different set-up. So as soon as I went into qualifying, I knew the car was *****. Yeah, I tried to optimise the car all the time and this time it didn’t work out. So I knew that I was stuck with it. And then you tried to optimise it. But yeah, also, I mean, of course, my run one in Q3 that would have been enough for P3 in qualifying hurt me. And you start in the back of the top group. The balance was, of course, not there in the race. Then you get stuck behind two cars in the middle of the race. So you kill your tyres. So, you know, basically everything just went wrong from qualifying. Because the rules, of course, don’t allow you to change anything on the car. You’re stuck with it, and that’s what happened.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) A question to all three drivers. Lance, you’ve got a close relationship with Daniel Ricciardo. Max and Yuki, you have two and were former teammates. Does Daniel Ricciardo deserve to stay in Formula 1 for next year?
MV: Daniel is a great guy. I think he has proven himself as a great Formula 1 driver. He’s a friend of mine. And I think, in general, always being in this kind of position is never nice. But at the other end also, I don’t think he has to feel sorry for himself. Sometimes things maybe don’t work out the way you want them in certain stages of your career, but you still have achieved a lot more than anyone could ever dream of in their lives. So even if this is, let’s say, the last race or whatever, you can still look back at something amazing that not many people can achieve and do something else maybe in life also. I mean, why not? Many more… other race series or not. Maybe just chill back at the farm. Have a lot of fun. I mean, he’s a great guy. So, you know, for me, yeah, it doesn’t really matter or not if you deserve to be here. A lot of people deserve to be here. Some don’t deserve to be here. That’s life also, you know, in all kinds of sports. It’s how it goes.
YT: Yeah, I think same as Max. Yeah. Yeah, like I said previously, I respect him a lot. And yeah, I mean, we see how it goes, but I like him. Obviously, we all want to see him racing as well. So yeah, it doesn’t matter if he deserves it or not. The thing is, we want to see. But yeah, like Max said, he achieved a lot of things as well at the same time. So let’s see.
LS: Yeah, I think most of it was said. Wherever he goes, if it’s in the sport or outside of it, whatever the future holds, just wish him all the best.
Q: (Laurent Dupin – Canal+) McLaren is the only team having both drivers with two wins this season. Do you feel they are the strongest line-up? And do you feel that Oscar is overperforming for a second year in Formula 1?
MV: Yeah, for sure. Oscar’s doing a great job, you know, being in your second year. You’re still learning a lot about Formula 1 and in general. Yeah, he’s doing a fantastic job also lately. He’s really scoring the points also for the team. And yeah, they at the moment are very strong as a team. So it’s now up to us to try and make it a bit more difficult for them, generally, I think, but that starts with ourselves. We have to be better and make the car faster and that’s what we’re working on. But yeah, for sure from Oscar’s side, he’s having a great run now.
Q: (Diego Mejia – Fox Sports Mexico) Following up on Crofty’s question, I mean, Daniel was a good benchmark for you in your Red Bull days as teammates. Are you surprised that he hasn’t been able to make quite the impact back in the Red Bull fold?
MV: It’s, again, very difficult to comment on these things because you cannot look within the team as well, right? I mean, OK, from the outside, maybe people always expect more or wish for more. It’s just very tough in the midfield, I would say, to have a great run of form also. Yeah, I don’t know, it’s just, I guess everyone hopes for more. I think also himself, right? You always want to be better, naturally. Every year you want to become a better driver and sometimes that works a bit better than other years.
Q: (Fred Ferret – l’Equipe) Max, do you have an explanation on why you never won in Singapore? Is it because you don’t like the track or is there another?
MV: I mean, Most of the time, we just came up short. I mean, I’ve been on the podium. Unfortunately, the last, I think, few years, the car has not been the best. Yeah, we’ve just been struggling on the bumps and the kerbs. ‘22 would have been a good shot at it, but I didn’t have enough fuel in the car in qualifying. So then you start further back. Sometimes, you know, it’s it just doesn’t work out where in other races the luck is a bit more on your side or naturally the car is in a better window in these tracks and it comes to you a bit more, where here I think so far it hasn’t been like that. But yeah, I still have a few more goes at it. so we’ll see if it changes.
Q: (Ben Hunt – Autosport) Max and Yuki, if I can ask you, please, as probably the most passionate and outspoken drivers, not afraid to call it how you see it, the FIA have announced that they want to stop and limit swearing. Max, obviously, I noticed your response earlier on. Do you think we’re being a bit too sensitive and you should be allowed to say what you think, not worry about all this bleeping out and all this sort of stuff, or do the FIA have a point about language?
MV: I think you will swear anyway. if it’s not in this room maybe somewhere else. Everyone swears. Some people a bit more than others. It also depends a bit what language you speak. Of course, abuse is something else. I think a lot of things get broadcast nowadays where in other sports you don’t run around with a mic attached to you. I think a lot of people say a lot of bad things when they are full of adrenaline in other sports, it just doesn’t get picked up. Where here, probably also for entertainment purposes, you know, things get sent out and that’s where people can pick up on it, discuss it on social media and you get all sorts of trouble. So I think it already just starts with not broadcasting it. I mean, if you don’t broadcast it, no one will know. Only the team, but with that you deal internally with these kind of things. But yeah, it’s just probably a bit the world that we live in, within the sport but also in general it seems like people are a bit more sensitive to stuff. Yeah, that’s how it goes. I guess the world is changing a bit, but I think it already just starts with not broadcasting it or not giving the option for people to hear it in general. Of course, there are a lot of apps where people can listen to radios and stuff. You have to probably limit it or have a bit of a delay that you can censor out a few things. That will help a lot more than putting bans on drivers because for example I couldn’t even say the f-word. I mean it’s not even that bad right? I mean the car was not working, the car is f-ed, yeah. And then, excuse me for the language but come on, what are we? Five-year-olds six-year-olds? Even if a five-year-old or six-year-old is watching I mean they will eventually swear anyway even if their parents won’t or they will not allow it. When they grow up they will walk around with their friends and they will be swearing. So you know this is not changing anything.
YT: Yeah, I think definitely sensitive. I mean, because probably we have radio systems, so that’s why the broadcasters, you know, they get to accidentally maybe show the swear words in the TV. But I’m sure if you mic’d up in every other sports, you know, football, if you mic’d up every players or, you know, basketball, whatever, they’re all swearing, I guess, so… I mean, just because there’s radio and things, that’s why…
MV: You’re in the wrong sport, man, we have to play basketball.
YT: Maybe, yeah, I think so. In America…
MV: You can be on my shoulders…
YT: That would be great, huh? I mean, it’s part of the… I wouldn’t say personality, but, like, just the things, and… Obviously, there’s certain words that obviously will go above the limit. It happens to me this year, but yeah, it’s just like f-words or whatever. It’s just part of the part of the world that you express the feeling. So, I mean, I don’t I don’t see why there’s an issue. And yeah, it’s just I’m sure those even FIA people they swear sometimes.
Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) Another question for yourself, Max. A lot has been made over these past few days of the rear wing on the McLaren. I don’t know how much you’re aware of it, where you’ve seen the rear-facing onboard footage. What do you make of it, first of all? Have you asked your technical team? What have they made of it? Whether they feel it’s legal? Your thoughts, please.
MV: Yeah, I mean, of course, I’ve seen the footage. That’s the beautiful side of social media, right? Everyone has the video ready. And then, of course, a lot of discussion is made. I mean, it’s quite clear, of course, that it’s moving, like, it’s at speed. It might be smart, might not be smart, but at the end of the day it’s up to the FIA of course to decide if it’s legal or not right? Of course Baku is not the first time that it was used so there were other tracks as well. I guess it’s important to come with a clarification. But that’s not only on the rear wing it’s the front wing as well. What is allowed? How much is it allowed to bend? All these kind of things, right? So we just have to wait and see, yeah from our side.
Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Question to Max. Max, the drivers love to watch the scenes of the race, the top three drivers always love to see the start, the crashes, the battles, and the screens. But do you drivers watch the full race after you’ve done it, like on Monday or Tuesday? And if so, do you do it alone or with the team? Does it help you to understand the other teams, other drivers, or does it make any difference?
MV: It depends a bit. Most of the time I watch back my races and see what could have been done better. Sometimes, of course, you have a bit more time to do so or more in-depth. But the one from Baku is still quite fresh in my memory, so I didn’t really need to look back at it in full length. It was not the most exciting one for me anyway. But again, there are always things that can be done better that you look at.
Q: Can we open this to the other two. Yuki? do you watch the races back sometimes not every race.
YT: Sometimes.
Q: Not every race?
YT: No.
Q: Lance do you?
LS: It’s been a while since I watched a race. At the beginning I did and now we just have too many races, so I don’t watch them anymore.
Q: (Norman Fischer – Motorsport-total.com) Ollie and Franco made a good impression in Baku. Were teams a bit reluctant in recent years regarding rookies? And do you think that some teams kept some people for too long? The question is to all three, please.
LS: I have no strong opinion on the matter.
MV: Yeah, it’s always a difficult one. Sometimes you want to go for experience or when a team had a bad experience in the past… But yeah, I’m impressed. They’re doing a good job when they jump in. You can see they’re well prepared. And yeah, they’re just doing a great job. So it’s nice to see that from rookies. And hopefully that just opens it up a bit more for future talent to come into the sport. Naturally, I think, of course, you need your experienced drivers and stuff, but also opportunities for rookies. And, yeah, it looks like now, finally, that is, again, you know, happening a little bit. So that’s great.
YT: Same.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Max, you talked about the need to, I guess, get back into the competitive picture at the very front. How important is this period coming up? We’ve got the gap to Austin. There’s no ban on, I guess, development at work as there is in the summer break. And Austin being a normal track will, I guess, give a chance to see where the car is at. So is that race going to be really make or break to how the rest of the season, the championship picture looks?
MV: I don’t know if it’s a make or break, but from now on, of course, we want to make steps forward. When or how it will arrive, I don’t know yet. But we’re just trying to get the balance back together. I think Baku is already a small step forward, so we just need to continue that route. And yeah, of course, here this weekend, you can’t really do a lot from Baku, but hopefully with the two, three weeks that we have, we can make some further improvements. There’s still a few more rounds left where I think we can improve the car, which will also help for next year.
Q: (Frederik Hackbarth – Motorsport-total.com) The question is to all drivers. On the upcoming calendar schedule, we have now a long break coming up after Singapore. Then we have two very demanding triple headers in the end of the season, including races like Vegas and Qatar, which are very hard. So how do you like that? Would you wish for a change there?
YT: I’m OK, I think. I feel, I mean, there’s a three weeks gap also after Singapore. So there’s times a bit to rest and recharge ahead of two in a row, back-to-back, three weeks. So I feel OK, but it will be for sure tough, especially more towards the mechanics, you know, engineers, like for those people it will be much tougher than us. So, yeah. Yeah, it’s more concern to them, I guess, rather than drivers.
MV: I mean, I’ve always said, it’s quite a lot of races, of course, that we have in the calendar. But I think for me, it’s more just travelling with the time zone differences, you know, between Vegas and Qatar. You’re flying almost to the other side of the world again, which I think we can do a little bit of a better job if we do triple headers, that they are a bit closer together. For me, that would make a bit more sense. So that’s probably something that we have to look at. if we’re going to do so many races at least make sure that they are closer together. But again, of course, it depends on ticket sales. But yeah, I mean at the end of the day you have to come to a bit of a middle ground, right? It’s a long flight, Vegas to Qatar. But then, of course, you’re in Qatar, you fly to Abu Dhabi, which is fine. For me, that is not a problem. But yeah, end of the season, when you’re getting a bit tired, it’s easier also to get sick. And then actually flying for a long period of time is not helping.
LS: Yep. I agree. I think we could probably do a better job, like Max said, just geographically linking up the races, so that we do Asia, and then America, and then you know, the Middle East. There’s still a lot of jumping around and jet lag and stuff on the teams, you know, where I think as drivers we have it pretty easy compared to some of the team and staff members that have a tough time getting around.
