Today's team representatives press conference with Dario Marrafuschi, Laurent Mekies and James Vowles.

Laurent, can we start with you please? FP1 was a bit stop-start for you guys, given the aero upgrades that you're running here. What did you actually get to learn?
Laurent Mekies: It was not the ideal start, I'm not going to lie. We had an engine issue before the session started with Isack, so we had a late engine change. The guys have been fantastic and managed to turn that around and to give him the last part of the session, but he actually completed two fast laps, so we are not going to conclude much on that, but it's part of the game. And also on Max, as you have seen, we've been struggling to get the car out of the garage this morning, so limited running. So, as we speak, everyone is diving into the data, but certainly early days for us to conclude. But we take it step by step. We have FP2, we have FP3 to understand what is working, what is not working, and get to the best configuration for the quali.

So much is new. When you put it through the sim back in Milton Keynes, what are you hoping for in terms of a gain?
LM: I'm not going to lie, it is a large package. You can't do that every race. The last time we've done something of that magnitude was probably in Miami. Then, in terms of lap time gain expectations, we tend to only look at what the racetrack does, because that's the only thing that matters. Probably after a couple of more sessions we'll be able to assess how much we feel we have gained.

Now, Red Bull has a record of out-developing its rivals in recent seasons. So, are we in for a barnstorming finish from you guys?
LM: It's probably fair to say that it will depend a lot on how this package works. We started with a large gap compared to competition, probably more than a second at the season start. If you look at the big picture, some of that is understandable. I think if you consider how late we pushed last year, and if you consider the new adventure of the PU, we probably halved that gap with the Miami update and hopefully we get much closer with this one as well. I think you will probably see quite a few teams slowing down in that rate of development in the second part of the year. So, let's see where we land when the shutdowns come in, and we will know whether we have a fight or whether it will need another push.

Can we talk ADUO? According to that, you have the best internal combustion engine on the grid. What are the ramifications of that for the Red Bull teams?
LM: Look, at first, yes, we have received preliminary information from the FIA, and yes, we were - and we are - very surprised about this preliminary information. We have been having very constructive discussions with the FIA ever since. They are doing a review, we are exchanging as many data as possible to make sure they get the right picture and the full picture, because, as you said, not only do we feel differently about this outcome, but also it has large implications for this year and for next year. So, it's important, first and foremost for the sport, that we get that right, and obviously for Red Bull Racing, the impact of being on one side of the fence or on the other side of the fence will be large.

Final one from me, Laurent. It's almost a year since you took over as team principal of Red Bull Racing. What's been the biggest challenge for you in that time?
LM: Look, I think if I have to pinpoint one thing, it's not a challenge, it's the outstanding aspect of having been there for a year, has been the amazing people we have. Every day you get into deep conversations with our people, chassis side, PU side, and just the quality of the team is so high and goes so deep into the ranks that it's probably the standout feeling for me after a year. And challenges, we've got all sorts of challenges. We have been in the incredible position to be in a title fight last year, at the point where nobody expected us to be able to be in the title fight, and then we didn't have the time to digest the fact that we were missing these final two points, that we had to start that other race to get our first PU with Red Bull Ford Powertrains over the line. So, it's been pretty much an intense 12 months, but the dominating feeling is really what an amazing group of talents in Milton Keynes and what a privilege to be with them.

Alright, Laurent, thank you for that. James, can we come to you now? Luke Browning first of all. He didn't get an FP1 in Barcelona last time out, so how did today's session work out for him?
James Vowles: Yeah, I mean, it's the first time he's driven this car. This isn't the easiest track. I know it looks sort of easy, but there's quite some technique that goes into it. So, to put in a lap that's within a couple of tenths of Alex is a good effort. He's still got, across the remainder of the year, several more FP1 sessions. Let's see how he progresses relative to it, but a positive start.

Now in Miami, last time you were in the press conference, you spoke about developing the FW48 through to the summer break. How much progress have you made with the car?
JV: From the beginning of the year, where we were struggling to get out of Q1, to, save Barcelona, which I don't have a great experience with that track recently, but we're there, able to fight for points at most Grand Prix weekends since then. So, Miami, Montreal, Monaco, and I think you'll see enormous progress resume on that one briefly. So that's positive steps, but obviously that's not where we want to be. I'm impressed by how competitive the field is now. If you go and look at the VCARB, the rate they're developing, Audi, the rate they're developing, it's good to see we have a sport where you have strong entities that are moving forward. Our goal is simply, for the time being this year, to be ahead of all of that, and I think it's realistic in the development rate we've got. But it will go past the summer break. To Laurent's point, I don't think many people will be adding the amount of performance we're planning to towards that period.

There are no upgrades listed for this race. Is there a major package planned?
JV: There are several things. Silverstone will be a nice little step. There'll be little bits that come to most races and, as I sort of alluded to beforehand, towards Baku time you'll see quite a major change.

Thank you. Now, it hasn't been, as we've just been discussing, the easiest campaign for your drivers. We're heading into the silly season. What do you need to do to keep them settled?
JV: They are settled. That's perhaps the difference. I can answer really the question you're asking, which is, is there risk? I'm very comfortable with where we are with Alex and Carlos. Our job in all of this, irrespective of Alex and Carlos, but for the wider picture, is to develop this car and prove to ourselves that we have the capability to move significantly forward relative to the field. That's it. That is the goal. And being transparent about it all, they're looking for exactly the same output that we need to achieve on that point. Are we putting performance on the table, delivering it, moving on and keeping stepping that way? And have we demonstrated sufficiently that the troubles that we had during the winter are behind us? And on that one, I'm very confident it won't ever happen again. So that's why I sit here calm and comforted as a result of everything. And if you don't know my language for it, Carlos spoke about it yesterday, Alex spoke about it, I think in the press conference last week. They're comfortable with where they are. They want to be on this journey with us. We need to make a few steps, that's it.

OK, James, thank you for that. Dario, welcome to the FIA press conference. Now you've been in the job as Pirelli's motorsport director for, what, six months now. Just how's it going? How are you settling in?
Dario Marrafuschi: Well, actually when I started this position I'm taking the heritage of 15 years in Formula 1, continuously 15 years in Formula 1 development. It started from the 13-inch back in 2011, then we went to wider tyres in 2016, 2017, if I'm not wrong, and then we moved to the 18 inches, and then again now we changed the size for this year with a bit narrower section of the tyres. So, this is the result of investment in technology, innovation and mostly people. So now, with the people, we made trust with all our stakeholders and also we'll continue this experience until the end of 2028.

Can we talk about tyre compounds now? In Barcelona, you went softer than you did last year. What's your verdict on how that went?
DM: Yes, we are pretty satisfied with that. Last year, as you said, it was levels one, two and three. This year was two, three and four, and this is the result of a combination of the whole vehicle package, so aerodynamics, power units, and finally tyres as well. Because we have seen that since last year, with the development of the new car, and then confirmed this year with the real cars, there's a different thermal balance for tyres in racing this year. So, this is allowing us to make a different choice. As I said, tyres are different from last year: new size, new design and new compounds. And to promote competition, we decided to go softer in Barcelona. It was the right choice, as a matter of fact, because the two-stop and the three-stop strategy were very close for that race, and this kept the audience a lot of attention, but also a lot of engineering behind the scenes to understand and adapt the strategy during the race itself. So, it was quite interesting.

And will you go softer with the compounds later in the year as well? Is that the plan?
DM: Yes, we always make some assumptions at the beginning of the year, but of course then we analyse the data and we make a better choice during the year. Now, for example, we are looking at Madrid. For example, it's a new track, and the decision is the sum of several factors like the circuit layouts and then, in Madrid, there is banking also, so we need to make some assumptions on the temperatures that we will find in that period of the year and finally, track roughness. So, we are collecting all this data to make the best choice and choose those compounds that permit multiple choices in terms of strategies.

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