Group 1: Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez.
Q: Valtteri, already a winner since you arrived in the US. Just tell us a little bit about what you got up to in Kansas last weekend?
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, different win. This gravel bike race. I actually did the same race last year in Lawrence, Kansas, which was, which is cool. I enjoyed it. It's good fun. And yeah, my first win on a bike.
Q: First win on a bike, and you're coming to a track where you've won before from pole position back in 2019, you also scored your first ever FIA Formula One World Championship points here. Just share with us why you go so well here?
VB: It's always hard to know, like, why you succeed on certain tracks, but I don't know, it really is on top of my list of the best tracks in the world. The flow the track has, the elevation change, the high-speed corners, it's really something that I enjoy. But also on top of that, Austin is such a cool place, you always have a good feeling and vibe here. And great, great support as well. So it's a great weekend overall.
Q: Let's talk performance now. And first of all, about the upgrades that the team brought to Suzuka two weeks ago. I think there are a few more bits here as well. What can we expect from you guys?
VB: We had a new front wing in Suzuka, but obviously in the weather conditions it was pretty tricky to prove how it was, but we think it is a step forward. And also in this race, we have a new floor diffuser, which hopefully will give us a bit of a step. So let's wait and see on Friday, but hopefully that puts us closer to the top 10 and actually we can get back to scoring again.
Q: Well, how important is it for you guys to start scoring again? There is this slightly horrible stat where if you look at the first nine races of the season, you scored, I think 51 points, and you've scored only one point in the second nine races. How do you explain that?
VB: There's obviously many DNFs, but for sure some other teams have been able to improve more than us. But I think now with the upgrade that we had in Suzuka and what we have here, hopefully that will give us an opportunity to score again. That's something that we really need.
Q: Alright, well, best of luck to you. Thank you Valtteri. Lando, we'll come to you now. Not tempted to arrive on horseback today?
Lando Norris: Oh, no, definitely not. I was late on purpose just to miss the ride in, but Daniel had his moment of glory. So it was good to see.
Q: Tell us about just your thoughts on being at COTA again. You've had good results here, seventh in 2019, eighth last year. What can we expect from you and McLaren this season?
LN: More of the same, I'm hoping for. I love Austin. It's probably one of my favourite places on the calendar. Enjoyable. I came out already on Monday, just to enjoy some time here and to get used to the time zone as well. But yeah, good fun. Just a cool atmosphere, you know, with the people, with the places to go and visit. I know a good amount of people around here. So yeah, a lot of a lot of activities, a lot of good things and then the track itself is for me one of the coolest, most fun in a way, and has provided some good racing and some fun races in the past. So, we'll see. You know, maybe Suzuka was not one of our best races but Singapore was there and we've been on the pace in the other ones, so hopefully we can keep it up this weekend.
Q: And this battle for P4 in the Constructors' Championship. It swings one way then the other. Suzuka was a good race for Alpine. How do you read that one?
LN: It was a good race for them. Yeah, simple as that. They're performing well. They're doing a very good job and it's as simple as that, honestly. They're very quick. They have been since race one this year. We're putting up a good fight. I think. We're doing everything we can. I feel like we are doing a very good job. I'm happy with the job we're doing as a team in terms of strategy and maximising the car's potential and just doing what I think is best on every weekend. So yeah, I'm happy. I think we will continue to do that, we'll continue to fight. It's not going to be easy by any means, they are doing a very good job, both drivers are driving well. So we'll see this weekend.
Q: Who has the faster car?
LN: I think it's pretty clear... but not us.
Q: Final one from me. You have IndyCar star Álex Palou alongside you in FP1. What sort of showing are you expecting from him?
LN: I mean, it's always tough coming into an FP1, especially in a car he's never driven before. you know. He's done some of the test days in the previous car, but this one is quite a different one, on such a cool track as well. So it's not going to be easy. It's not like you have a lot of time, especially with the tyres and things, like you don't get that many laps of feeling good grip and things. But he's an extremely good driver. I've known Alex, I guess almost since karting I've known him. More personally probably in the last few years. But he's an incredibly good driver, very talented and he's in the car for a reason. He can give good insight, add some valuable details for us and yeah, help us out as much as possible. So he'll do a good job.
Q: Alright. Thank you, Lando, best of luck to you. Carlos, can we start by just looking bigger picture, because this is the first time you've been in the FIA press conference since Max Verstappen clinched his second world title. Can we get your thoughts on the job he's done, and how you think he's improved and evolved as a driver since you were teammates at Toro Rosso?
Carlos Sainz: I don't think I need to put any more prize to Max for what he's done this year, because I think it's pretty obvious that he's done a very good job and everyone can see how good he has performed and how well he's executed this season, especially after not an easy start of the season with a couple of DNFs, how they managed to recover and put together a lot of wins a lot of good moments through the year, keep it consistent, and be strong in the areas where we haven't been able to be to be that strong. And yeah, congratulations to him, congratulations to Red Bull because they fully deserve it.
Q: Do you think he's evolved as a driver since you were teammates?
CS: For sure. I think eight years in Formula 1 is a lot of years in Formula 1. And since day one of Formula 1 to year eight you evolve massively. For sure he's evolved in every single area. There is not one area where you haven't evolved and the way that he's managed to keep doing step by step, improving everything, you know, because there's nothing that we cannot improve in eight years. And it's fair play to him and now he's maximising also having a competitive car, which is something that you need in Formula 1 in order to win. If not, you're never going to win.
Q: Well, let's bring it onto this weekend and you and Ferrari. You've scored points every time you've raced at COTA, but never been on the podium. How confident are you that you'll have the car underneath you to get on those steps this weekend?
CS: I think we have a competitive car everywhere we go to. This is a fact, I think. We are fighting for nearly every pole position. Wins are more tricky, because for some reason, Red Bull, in the race, they manage to do a step that we don't have, or that recently we don't have as much. But we're working on that. We're taking these last four races to experiment a bit, to see how we can be a bit more competitive in the race, how we can improve our tyre management. We have the next year tyres here for Friday, you know, and it's going to be a key part of understanding where we are lacking also on tyre management for next year, to try and improve.
Q: Just five points between you and George Russell in the Drivers' Championship. How much significance do you place on that battle? Does it matter to you where you finish in the championship if you're not first?
CS: Fifth, fourth, it doesn't change my life as a racing driver. I only care about obviously winning and having a good season. I know this year hasn't been easy. The setback of Japan also was not ideal. made me lose even more points in this fight. And yeah, I mean, if I can finish fourth I take fourth, but I would prefer to win a race before the end of the year, even if it doesn't mean I finish fourth. And I think, for us, it's important to try and win, to get the podiums, to get the consistency. Obviously this would bring P4 to the table but I'm focusing more on that then then on the championship, let's say.
Q: OK, golfing challenge for the drivers in the paddock this weekend. Are you enjoying the favourite tag?
CS: I don't have a lot of confidence. Oh, what happened? We went silent. You were expecting me now to say something important, but I'm going to say that I'm P1 but I don't think it will last very long. I'm putting pressure on Lance and Lando here to beat me. And if they beat me, I will go back and try and beat them again. I'm that competitive.
Q: Good luck with that. Good luck on the track as well. Lance, do you fancy your chances? Are you good at golf?
Lance Stroll: Some days, some days not so good, like all of us.
Q: First up, I did want to ask you about your start at Suzuka two weeks ago. Those opening 200 metres or so were spectacular.
LS: Yeah, it was fun. We had a tough day on Saturday, so I had some work to do on Sunday and it was definitely one of my better ones.
Check out our Thursday gallery from COTA here.
sign in