Track Interviews - Conducted by James Hinchcliffe
Lando, 12th career victory, back-to-back here in Hungary. It was a dominant day, but it didn't start necessarily the way you were hoping. Walk us through what happened on that first lap with Oscar in Turn 2.
Lando Norris: I'm tired! What happened? I don't know what happened, to be honest. I just kept losing the rear. I had three or four big snaps. It felt horrible and, of course, Oscar did a good job to get the cutback and get past. I think I was just a bit wide, in the dirt, and game over for the first lap. But, man, I was pushing like hell to try and force him into a mistake or something. My pace today was probably some of the best pace I've ever had. The car was beautiful to drive and I felt very confident, so a great race. To get it back in terms of going long, which is certainly not what I was expecting, but the pace was so good. I could always extend the stints and fresher tyres than anyone else in the race. I'm just happy to be back and see the number one again.
Number one in victory lane for the first time with you on this car as World Champion, back in the winner's circle. The team did a lot of effort, a lot of work, to get the upgraded car here. It has obviously worked well this weekend. Are you confident, from what you're feeling behind the wheel, that this kind of performance is going to carry forward?
LN: I want to believe so. Considering how good it felt today, I certainly want to believe that we can continue it. There are going to be moments when we struggle more, moments that might be even better, but we know this track is a good one for us. It's probably one of my best-suited tracks of the year. This is maybe as good as it can look for now, but I certainly believe we can still win races. I knew it was coming and, like you said, the team have put so much work in to make it a car that can finally win again. It's nice to be able to do it for them.
Alright, we'll come back to you in a second. Max Verstappen, it has been a difficult weekend for Red Bull. We've heard comments on the radio: balance issues, shifting issues, the car is aerodynamically broken. You're standing here in P2. Is this beyond what you were expecting coming into today?
Max Verstappen: Yeah, for sure. I didn't expect to be on the podium today, but we worked hard for it. I think the start was decent, to get through Turns 1 and 2. Then, after the first stop, to get back ahead of Lewis under braking into Turn 1. Then just trying to survive on the compounds, trying to make the right calls with the strategy as well. Very happy, considering, to be second here.
You had some great battles on track there, especially with Lewis Hamilton. A great dive-bomb into Turn 1 there. Just walk us through some of those battles that you had on track.
MV: I saw the opportunity as my only one and I just went for it. We were good on the brakes, so that helped, but it was all under control.
Very good, congratulations. Kimi, you look hot, you look tired. We've talked about how hot it is this weekend. What was it like inside the car physically?
Kimi Antonelli: It was a tough race. It was really hard to overtake, so we had to do something with the strategy. Initially, we tried to go for the one-stop. I tried to go for the one-stop, but they told me that the tyre was too much on the limit, so we stopped. Then, with the Virtual Safety Car, the two Ferraris boxed and I knew it would have been very hard because I was on Hard and they were on soft. Luckily, we managed to keep them behind.
Kimi, we're halfway through the season now. We head into the summer break. You've extended your lead in the championship. More than two full Grand Prix wins is the buffer. Could you ever have imagined being in this position halfway through the year?
KA: No, not really. Of course, I'm very happy and it's the best way to go into the summer break. I think today was big damage limitation and we've got to keep pushing because the second half is going to be hard, but we'll try our best.
Great recovery today from P7. Congratulations on the podium. Lando, we talk about momentum in this sport a lot. You head into the summer break off the back of a great result. How important is it to keep the spirits of the team up going into a break like this?
LN: It helps, that's for sure. It helps you get through it. The team are still working hard to bring even more to the car. We have tough competition. The Ferraris are quick. Kimi is the one who is always there every single session. He's doing a good job. If we want to come back, we need a lot more of these and we need to keep putting pressure on our competition. Today, or this weekend, was a perfect weekend for us, but it's going to be tough. We'll keep pushing and working hard. I owe the team a lot. They've done an amazing job to even get back to winning races at this point, so I'm proud. We need to enjoy a good break. We're all going to enjoy a nice break and some time off, and hopefully we come back even stronger.
Got big plans for your time off?
LN: Just sleep, that's all. Catch up.
Press Conference
Max, why don't we start with you, please? A brilliant race. Earlier, you described it as "unbelievable". Just tell us how hard it was to achieve this result.
MV: Yeah, I was still struggling with the same things as yesterday, so the car was just extremely oversteery, just degging quite hard at one point as well. But I do think that, you know, at the start, moving forward was, of course, making our first stint possible. Then, of course, we got undercut, but then I made the move on Lewis, which I think made my second stint a little bit more straightforward. Then the team also put me onto the Softs, which initially I was like, "that's going to be a long run to the end," but we made it work. So, yeah, overall, I still don't really understand how we are second, but I think as a team we performed strongly. So, yeah, I see it as a bit of an overperformance compared to what we expected, so I guess that's, of course, a good thing considering how everything felt. I also saw, when I jumped out of the car again, there was damage on the car for whatever reason. So, yeah, it was not made easy for us.
You say the same issues as yesterday, but are you happier with the car today?
MV: No. It was exactly the same. There's nothing that you can change anyway after qualifying, so I knew that it was going to be tough, and it was very tough. Honestly, I think it was one of the hardest races of this year in terms of how I felt in the car, how I had to manage the balance as well, corner to corner. So, to be on the podium, I think, was an incredible result for us.
You mentioned your overtake on Lewis Hamilton. Can you just walk us through that one? It looked very spectacular from the outside.
MV: Yeah, I mean, I knew that that was my only opportunity as well, because they were not too bad in terms of pace. So, when I saw the opportunity arise, I went for it and, yeah, it was a good move.
Okay. Now, this is your third podium in four races. I get everything you've just said about this Grand Prix, but as we head into the summer break, how would you sum up this first half of 2026?
MV: Tough. In general, it's been very tough. Some good moments, some bright, shining moments, I guess, but overall, tough. So, I think we need to try and be more solid, a bit more all-round, to have more straightforward weekends. Plus, we need to find more performance. I mean, it's as simple as that at the end of the day. Then, besides finding more performance, just not having the issues as well with the current package, let's say, that we have.
Okay, Max, thank you for that. Kimi, if we could come to you now. P7 on the grid to P3 at the flag. Very well done. Just how satisfying is a race like that?
KA: Yeah, I think today we maximised the result. Obviously, we were a bit lucky with the VSC, I mean, with Oscar's issue, but other than that, we did the best we could. Conditions were quite difficult today, struggling a little bit with oversteer, balance and then understeer. So, yeah, conditions were not easy today, but I'm happy with the result.
You say you maximised the result. Had you started higher up, how consistent was your speed today? Do you think you could have challenged Lando Norris for the win if you'd been higher on the grid?
KA: I don't know. I mean, if I'd started P3, then it would have been another thing. But I think Lando still had the upper hand this weekend, even on us. On pure pace, I don't think I would have been able to challenge him, especially with how difficult it was to follow as well, with a lot of tyre overheating. So, I think it would have been very difficult. But other than that, it was a great team effort. Also, with strategy, we took a risk initially and then we kind of pulled back a little bit because we were a bit concerned about safety. But still, despite that, they put me in a position to fight for, eventually, the podium. So, it was a great team effort.
And, Kimi, just a moment of reflection from you as well. Nine podiums in 11 races. We all knew you had a good car coming into the season, but have the results exceeded even your pre-season expectations?
KA: Well, for sure, I did not expect to find myself in this position. But, you know, the car has been extremely good, the team has done an incredible job and, on my side, I try to maximise every opportunity I have. Of course, there's still lots of work to do, lots to learn, but it was a good first half of the season. Now I'm looking forward to the second half and we're just going to keep pushing.
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