Parc Ferme Interviews - Conducted by Jenson Button

Kimi, the most important qualifying session of the season and for someone that's only in their second year in Formula 1, it must be a pretty special one?
Kimi Antonelli: Yeah, I mean, it was one of those laps that we call the magic lap. I was able to put it all together and it was such a close qualifying with Max. I think in the first run of Q3 there was just one millisecond between us, but I knew the last lap was good and I was just hoping that it would have been enough. But yeah, it was very close and I'm very happy with that. Massive thanks to the team because yesterday we struggled a little bit and today, we were able to improve massively.

Was it one of those special moments, like the late, great Ayrton Senna used to say, the out-of-body experience of qualifying in Monaco?
KA: Yeah, I mean, I think this is one of the most intense, if not the most intense qualifying sessions of the year, and it takes a massive effort, also in practices, because you just keep trying to get close to the limit. And when it's about finding the last two tenths, it's not easy because the walls start to come closer and it's not easy to gain the confidence. But I have to be honest, I felt great this morning and I'm happy that we could finish the job today.

Do you think your age is a positive in terms of not feeling pressure, just living in the moment and maximising everything?
KA: Yeah, I mean, for sure, I'm just enjoying the driving, enjoying the car, enjoying the weekend, and that was a big step compared to last year. It's really nice to be able to enjoy the sessions and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Max, so close. It's the thing around Monaco, right? It's about the marginal gains. But you must be happy to be at least fighting at the front again?
Max Verstappen: I mean, if you would have told me yesterday that we'd be on the front row, I would have definitely taken it. And also, this morning I think we had quite some difficulties with the car, so heading into qualifying and being up there, I think was extremely positive. Overall, of course, very happy with how qualifying went, how all the laps went, even though you have to deal with all the traffic and of course the walls. But yeah, I'm happy. Happy to be on the front row and then tomorrow let's see in the start. These cars are quite complicated to start, so I have two cars behind me that start quite well, but we'll see. This was a good day and definitely enjoyed it in qualifying.

The adrenaline must be super high. How is it with these cars around the track? Obviously, change of regulations. Do you still get that buzz? I mean, the cars look like they're on edge the whole time.
MV: Yeah, they are more on edge than, let's say, the last few years. And then also with the power that kicks in, same with driveability, shifts, it's all a bit different. But once you get on top of it and you can get a clean lap out of it, and especially in qualifying, flat out on the limit, it's very rewarding when it goes well.

Lewis, it's been a real pleasure watching you this weekend. It's great to see you pushing the car to the limit. Feels like you're properly on it with the car around here.
Lewis Hamilton: Well, congrats to Kimi. Mega, mega job. Having your first pole here is so, so special and obviously we've got such a great crowd here, so it's a beautiful day. Tough for us. I think we were looking so strong in practice and we barely changed anything, but the car was drastically different once we got to qualifying for some reason, so we have to take a deep dive into that. But I gave it absolutely everything. I was as close to the barriers as I could be and what a privilege it is to be here, to be one of the 22 drivers in Formula 1 getting to do this still. And yeah, I love every second of it.

Well, yeah, you've been doing it for a few years now - and still!
LH: I've still not got grey hairs through, so good.

it's just amazing to see you pushing the limits of the car. Do you think this year is extremely tight in terms of the performance of everyone out on track? I've never seen a qualifying session like that in Formula 1.
LH: I think it is definitely very, very close between us all. You saw. I mean, jeez, I thought I almost maybe nearly had it, I don't know, and then Max put in a good time and then Kimi. And I think it's great to see how close all the cars are. I think we lost something going into today and that's what we need to try to figure out. But a big thank you to the guys back at the factory and the guys here. We haven't added performance this weekend, but we're obviously there in the fight. But I'm really keen and looking forward to seeing what developments we bring in future.

Press Conference

Kimi, very well done. It looked like an extraordinary lap. Just how good was it?
KA: Yeah, it was a good lap, a very good lap. I was able to put everything together and it was so tight. To be fair, I did not expect Max and Red Bull to be there because in FP3 they had a struggle, but an incredible job by them to recover and to be there, because it was such a tight fight. But I'm very happy to come away with pole and now looking forward to tomorrow.

You say you were able to put it all together, but was there one corner or one sector where you were particularly happy with the car?
KA: To be fair, at the start of the session, the quali was a little bit more difficult than we expected. The track felt a little bit weird, a little bit off, so the car felt a little bit more oversteery than FP3, for example. But then the grip came back and the car just started to come more together. I was happy mainly in the lap with Sector 2, where we struggled a little bit more during the weekend, especially in five, six, seven and eight. But yeah, it was good. Very happy with that.

And Kimi, just from a driving point of view, just how much of a rush was Q3 for you today?
KA: Big one. Still kind of shaking, to be fair. It's just super intense. You have no margin for mistakes and when it's about polishing those last two, three tenths, it's never easy. Especially when Max is so close, and also the Ferrari, Lewis, has been so strong the whole weekend. Definitely it's not easy, but obviously very happy to come away with pole today.

And let's talk about tomorrow. What's your approach to such a unique Grand Prix, especially when you've got two multiple world champions around you on the grid?
KA: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I know who is behind and I know they're very good, so for sure they're going to push me and they're going to try to put pressure. But yeah, first of all, I'll try to get a good start. Canada was a step forward but tomorrow, of course, different conditions. And then we'll see. You still need to have a good pace in hand because tyre degradation might be bigger than what we anticipate. I mean, we didn't really try any long runs. We did only a few laps, so we don't really have as much data. But for sure we know that it's very difficult to overtake, but you still need to have the pace because in case of something happening, you need to push.

Max, let's come to you. Kimi says he wasn't expecting you to be challenging for the pole in the way you were. Are you surprised by the pace of your car?
MV: Quite a bit, after this morning... We were like nine tenths off! I was confident that we would make some improvements heading into qualifying, but not to fight for pole, honestly. When I jumped into the car, I was like, "OK, let's try and recover a bit. Maybe top five, that was the target." But I'd say from quite early on in qualifying, the car felt a bit better. I mean, we still have our little problems and especially in the middle sector, that's where we lose the most, where you have a few kerbs that you have to take and there are a few bumps in the track. It's just a little bit more complicated at the moment for our car. But I still think that overall, we had a very good qualifying. We were up there; we were fighting for pole. So even if you would have told me after yesterday, where we looked quite OK, to be starting on the front row, I would have immediately taken it. So yeah, for us it's been a very good turnaround. Yesterday I was quite happy. This morning, really not happy, and now I'm fairly happy again. So that's of course good when it matters. This was of course the most important session of the weekend. Of course, tomorrow there is still a start, which this year seems a little bit more critical to get right compared to other years, where it was not such a big deal, I would say. So that's still something that we have to look at. But overall, for us, this has been a very positive weekend.

And Max, when it's so close, just forty-three thousandths off pole, can you visualise where you lost that time? It's such a small amount.
MV: I never do that, to be honest. It's close. Sometimes you are just ahead, sometimes you're just behind, that's life. But for me, I was happy with my lap. So, when I crossed the line, I was like, "OK, if someone beats that, fair enough. That's part of it." And we just came up short. But like I explained, we had a very difficult FP3, so to be in that final quali, great effort from the team.