FIA post-race press conference – 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix

1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 2. Lando Norris (McLaren), 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Marc Gene)

Q: Charles Leclerc, a podium. I know it was a difficult race. You had to manage temperatures at the beginning. You had a big moment with Norris. How was the race? How difficult was it?

Charles LECLERC: It was a difficult one. On the first stint it was all about trying to manage the temperatures, which was quite difficult. But, yeah, at the end, we did the best race we could do today. I was… I mean, the whole weekend I’ve been a little bit on the back foot. So third place was the best we could achieve on my side today. Amazing race by Carlos today. and yeah, it’s a good weekend overall for the team, which is positive.

Q: You managed to do the fastest lap at the end. Every point counts for the Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari’s back. Ferrari has been doing very well lately. What do you think is it the teamwork? How come it has improved so much lately?

CL: I know we are working super well as a team. I think it’s been quite a few races now that we are coming back to the level we should be at and it’s amazing to see. Obviously, the Constructors’ is still our target and with weekends like this we are getting closer to it. So, I hope we can continue in that direction and get that Constructors’ title, which is very important.

Q: Thank you and good luck for the podium. Lando, that was an eventful race, fighting at the beginning with Max, then with Charles. How happy are you with P2? Everybody’s delighted with the race you did.

Lando NORRIS: It was a very tough race. You know, the first few laps, a lot of it was just trying to stay in the race and avoid any crashes. But Carlos drove a very good race, so congratulations to Carlos and Ferrari. They were very quick today. So, I tried. I tried my best. And a big thanks to all the fans. The fans make it very enjoyable here. So, yeah, a big thank you to everyone.

Q: Talk us through the overtaking with Max. Okay, that was, of course, very polemic. He got two penalties. But let us know from your car, how did you prepare for that overtaking?

LN: Yeah, I mean, I knew what to expect. I didn’t want to expect such a thing, because I respect Max a lot as a driver, but I was ready to expect something like this, and this is, yeah, not very clean driving, in my opinion, but I avoided it, and it was a good race.

Q: And the championship hopes, I guess they are more open than ever. You got many points to Max. How is it looking for the next races?

LN: I just keep my head down, you know. I’m doing my best. We’re doing a very good job as a team. I think today we were probably the quickest in the end. But we’ll keep our head down. That’s all I can do for now. Focus on ourselves and we keep pushing.

Q: Well done. Carlos, you are the king of Mexico! Let us know how… I’m going to talk about the overtaking later on, but first, what is the feeling to be inside here with all those fans? You can also answer in Spanish if you want.

Carlos SAINZ: Gracias, Mexico. Yes. It’s incredible to see this crowd. I’ve been feeling their support all week. I feel like I have a lot of fan base here in Mexico and they gave me a lot of strength to do the weekend that I’ve done. Honestly, I really wanted this one. I really needed it also for myself. I wanted to get it done. I’ve been saying for a while I wanted one more win before leaving Ferrari and to do it here in front of this mega crowd is incredible. Now four races left, I want to enjoy as much as possible, and if another one comes, I will go for it.

Q: You did such an amazing overtake on Max. Tell us, how did you prepare that overtaking? How confident were you that you could succeed on it?

CS: I didn’t prepare it, to be honest. I was just a bit annoyed at the start and having lost position to him. And I said, I need to surprise him one way or another because Max is super difficult to pass. He’s proven it many, many times. And yeah, I was a bit far back, but I said, I have nothing to lose. I’m just going to send one down the inside. And I’ve been very confident and breaking into turn one this weekend. And I knew I could make it.

Q: Last question in Spanish. There are a lot of Ferrari fans here in Mexico, apart from Checo fans, also for Ferrari. The last victory for Ferrari was in 1990, it’s Ferrari’s fifth here. How is it that you have improved so much? You were very confident, you had a lot of confidence that you were going to win.How did you feel that you were going to win? How did you know?

CS: Yes, I have noticed all weekend that it could be my weekend. I also have all my family here watching me this weekend and I wanted to do it in front of all of them. What a weekend. What a day from pole.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Congratulations Carlos. You wanted one more win with Ferrari and you delivered it in emphatic style today. Just how special is this victory for you?

CS: Yeah, really special. I felt like this weekend was going to be a very good opportunity to win that race. And yeah, I had a very good feeling coming into the weekend. Also, obviously very determined to win it. I knew coming into it that we might have a chance to win. And I’ve been focused, been on it all weekend. On top of that, I knew my family was coming and my best friends, my girlfriend, a lot of people were here to support me. And I said maybe destiny has something ready for me this weekend, that my maybe last win with Ferrari can come in front of them with all the support that I had from them all this year and in a great podium, a great place like Mexico City. I’ve been driving well and I made it stick and you cannot imagine how happy and proud I am right now.

Q: Well, how emotional was it up there on the podium with your race engineer, with your car next to you?

CS: It was extremely emotional. I did shed a tear, you know, in the Spanish anthem. Yeah, for sure it’s one of the best moments in my career. My mum had never been present on a race win with me, and the fact that she was coming here this weekend, I wanted really to win a race in front of her. And yeah, on top of that, the way the whole weekend planned out, it was just perfect. And, you know, with that move… Losing at the start and then having to fight back with Max just made everything a bit more tricky. Probably makes it taste even better because I had to work hard for it. And to do this weekend in front of all of them was incredible.

Q: As you say, the only point in the race where you were headed was just after the start. Can you talk us through the opening 750 metres of the race?

CS: Yeah, I didn’t get a good start, but at the same time, I think Max, you know, tends to start very well. Max and Red Bull on low-grip tracks and here is very low grip. And whenever there’s low grip, the Red Bull tends to start really well. So I was kind of prepared also for a scenario where Max was going to go alongside me into Turn 1, I braked as late as I can break, and he brakes as late as me, and I had no space to go into Turn 2. And from then on, I didn’t lose my head, and I knew that every half opportunity that I got to the lead back, I would try and do it. And yeah, you know, with Max, you need to be determined, you need to be decisive. If you’re not, you’re never going to pass him. And in that case, I think I caught him a bit by surprise and I could make it stick. Yeah, high tension at that point also because then that initiated a fight behind me that nearly got me involved also from what I heard. So, yeah, it was an exciting moment of the race.

Q: It was a great move on Max, as you say. Once you were past him and back in the lead of the race, were there any dramas? We did hear a report of a misfire at one point. Was that an isolated incident?

CS: Isolated, completely, yeah. The only misfire I had all race was at the exit of Turn 3. Landing after the curb, I did a little short shift and it gave me a misfire, which was a bit scary, but we’ve had them during the weekend and we know it’s due to the altitude and the mapping. But once I was in the lead, I was trusting my pace, my management, and I knew this weekend I’ve been very quick and I knew I just had to do whatever I had planned and the win was possible. Towards the end, McLaren and Lando proved that they are still fast and they’re still very quick and very difficult to beat, but I’m glad that we got fastest lap with Charles and a lot of points for the championship.

Q: You and Charles set a ferocious pace in those early laps when it was Ferrari 1-2. Were you concerned that you were pushing too hard at one point?

CS: I felt like it. And that’s why at the time in the heat of the battle and the moment, I obviously opened the radio to give my opinion about the situation. And I felt like potentially, especially after being 1-2, which was a dream scenario, and exactly where we wanted to be after Turn 1. It happened a bit later, but in the end it happened. I felt like, yeah, the ideal was to obviously make it to the target lap and obviously keep our tyres alive. So I gave that opinion in the heat of the battle, but honestly, I also understand why Charles obviously was there behind and trying to speed me up, because that’s what you do when you’re P2 and when you also want to win, so yeah. Racing situations, heat of the battles, heat of the moment, but nothing that has never happened before, also from my side, so I completely get it.

Q: Now, you told us in Austin last weekend that you’d be quick here in Mexico, so what’s going to happen in Brazil?

CS: It’s a good question, and please let me enjoy Mexico before I think about Brazil, because I’m going to enjoy tonight. And as I said, I want to enjoy this one. I want to let it sink in and enjoy. I think from now on we can dream and dream about the championship, dream obviously about the constructors and yeah, we can think about Brazil tomorrow. Today’s time to enjoy.

Q: Alright, very well done Carlos. Thank you for that. Lando, let’s come to you now. Great job by you as well. It was an important P2 for you today. Just how pleased are you with today’s result?

LN: Very, very pleased. I’m happy with P2. Normally I wouldn’t be, but I think on a day like today, I was happy. Things looked like they could go a lot worse, especially the first part of the race. So to keep the car in one piece and to kind of keep the race alive was important. And the pace was extremely strong you know. A shame that we lost so much in the first stint with some of the battles that we had. If I was a bit more in there and in the mix then I think our opportunities could have been even better. But Carlos drove the first stint very well and the gap was already 15 seconds, so I had a lot to try and catch up. But it was a good race. The car was strong. Our pace, especially in the second stint, not really the first, but the second stint was very, very good and kind of gave me a bit of hope again that we were competitive comparing to the Ferraris. Until then… They’ve been pretty dominant this weekend, you know, so a good race. Would have loved to be on the top step and it looks like a cool podium here. It was a cool podium, but I’m very satisfied with the P2.

Q: Now, Lando, you said you lost a lot of time in the first stint. Of course, that came down to your battle with Max Verstappen on lap 10. Can you just talk us through the off-track moments at Turn 8 and Turn 4?

LN: I don’t think I need to say much. Yeah, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory on what happened. You know, I did everything I’ve been told in terms of what the rules are and the guidelines and all of this stuff, yet it just wasn’t to be. And, of course, he got some penalties for that. But, you know, I think… I always, like I said before in some of the interviews, I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max. It’s clear that it doesn’t matter if he wins or second, his only job is to beat me in the race. And he’ll sacrifice himself to do that, like he did today. But I want to have good battles with him. I want to have those tough battles, like I’ve seen him have plenty of times. But fair ones. It’s always going to be on the line. It’s always going to be tough with Max. He’s never going to make anyone’s life easy, especially mine at this point of the year. But I think today was just… It was not fair, clean racing. And therefore, I think he got what he had coming to him.

Q: Do you think he was harsher with you today than he was in Austin last week?

LN: Probably, yes.

Q: do you think you need to talk to max about this? do you talk to Max about it?

LN: I mean, we talk about different things. It’s not my job. it’s got nothing to do with me in a way. Today I felt like I just had to avoid collisions and that’s not what you feel like you want to do in a race. He’s in a very powerful position in the championship. He’s a long way ahead. He has nothing to lose. People can say it’s the other way around, like he’s got everything to lose and it’s all for me. But it’s not the case, you know. So it’s not for me. I’m focused on myself. I’m doing my own job, which was a good job today. And I’m happy with all of this and I’m happy with my whole weekend. But it’s not my job to control him. He knows how to drive. And I’m sure he knows that today was probably a bit over the limit.

Q: You say he’s in a very powerful position in the championship, but you have taken 10 points out of him. How encouraged are you by that?

LN: I mean, I’m 47 behind still, so it doesn’t feel like I’m much closer than what I was, but every point helps. Charles got fastest lap at the end, so that’s one point they took away from me, but… Yeah, I don’t know. I’m just doing my own thing and focusing. And as a team, we’re doing our own thing and focusing on ourselves. A lot of people against us, but we’ll keep pushing forward.