Track Interviews - Conducted by Jenson Button.

Kimi, can we have a word with you first, please? Kimi, it seemed like quite a quiet race for you until it wasn't, and then there was action everywhere. How was the race for you, getting a podium? I think we're all quite surprised, but you pulled it out of the bag, as you always do.
Kimi Antonelli: Yeah, I mean, it was a very tough race out there, but really happy with the podium at the end. I managed to take advantage of the fight of Lando and Lewis and to make the move on both, and to bring home P3 is a great result for the team. And yeah, very happy with that.

I'm sure it's nice to stand on the podium, and I have to let you know this bit of information, but the next race in Austin, you could clinch the World Championship. How does that feel?
KA: Can I really? Well, let's not worry about that. Let's try to do the best weekend as possible and finish the job.

Charles, it looked like you were going to give Max a run for his money at the start of the race there. Great start, the pace in the first stint looked pretty awesome as well, and then it sort of fell away a little bit.
Charles Leclerc: Yeah, we were quite strong at the beginning of the race, then we started degrading a little bit more in the first stint. But then we did a slightly different strategy to Max with the Safety Car. I believed in it until the very end, but I pushed a lot at the beginning of that last stint and then degraded a bit more than the others. But yeah, I gave it all and I don't regret anything. I don't think there was much more to do today, apart from maybe being a bit more aggressive at the start. That's the way it is.

You've spoken over the last couple of races that you guys have lost a little bit of pace to the front. Do you still feel like that after this race? Obviously, Max won the race, but you seem a lot closer and you're in front of Mercedes and McLaren.
CL: Yeah, I still feel that way. However, it's true that we brought some small new parts to the car, which maybe helped us to do another step forward, but it's not enough. We'll push until the end and we've still got to bring some new things to the car to be at the level. But I think today we had a good pace overall.

Nice work. Max, a masterclass. Your first ever... I can't believe I'm saying this, your first ever Singapore Grand Prix victory.
Max Verstappen: Yeah, it's taken a while, but I think this race was very good. I mean, yeah, we had pace when we needed to have it on the Soft tyre and on the Medium, even though I think the Medium tyre for everyone was a bit more of a struggle. But it worked out, so of course very happy to win here.

Were you a little nervous before the start? It's not been the easiest for you, the starts over the last couple of...
MV: Yeah, well, you always try to do your best and luckily it was just good enough.

Yeah, so the last couple of races we've seen you win on a fast-flowing track like Sepang and then a stop-start sort of track here in Singapore. You guys are on the up. It seems to be working for you guys wherever you go.
MV: I think the last few races have been really positive for us. It's just great to see and yeah, we have a lot of motivation in the team to try and deliver even more results. So yeah, it's a really good group of people. I really enjoy working with them and yeah, hopefully we can have a bit more fun till the end of the year.

Press Conference

Max, you've done it. Very well done. You've won in Singapore. It looked completely dominant. Just how smooth was it for you in the cockpit?
MV: Well, the start was critical, so that was just good enough. And again, something was not particularly right at the start, so I need to understand what went wrong there. Before releasing the clutch, it didn't feel good. But yeah, it was just good enough. Then we had a few laps with some deployment issues, so that's where Charles almost got me actually into Turn 7. And once we had cleared the deployment problems, yeah, it was fine. The car was really good on the tyres. I could really manage them well. But to be honest, I think it was one of the first times that I've driven in clean air here in Singapore in the race, so I guess that's also nice. And yeah, it's been just a fantastic weekend for us. I mean, we were flying on the Soft, we were okay on the Medium, and then of course with the VSC, I think it was right what Charles did with pitting and going back on a Soft tyre. But yeah, we just had it under control and of course, yeah, really happy to win here.

Just a few more words on the start. You were a bit nervous about it yesterday. Was this a big step forward compared to recent starts?
MV: Well, like I said, there was something again not right, so I need to understand what went on with the engine before even dropping the clutch, because I think that did hurt my start. So, I just need to understand what went wrong there because it was again not fantastic, you can say that.

What about the radio? I mean, that perhaps was your biggest issue of the whole race. Did you and GP have to speak in code? How did it work?
MV: Yeah, maybe he was happy that it was not working! I couldn't really say anything. Yeah, he did try at one point to ask me a few things in code, and I think he understood well what I meant or did not do, right. But it's never nice. I've been having difficulty with my radio already the whole season, and this weekend has been particularly bad.

Yeah, so it's been the perfect weekend here in Singapore. It's actually been a very good triple-header for you in Asia, hasn't it? Just how much more can you achieve in the remaining races this year?
MV: Yeah, I mean, very different tracks that we have gone well at now. That's of course always nice to see. I really think, of course, that our car has taken a really nice step forward. But at the end of the day, yeah, it's just been more driveable and more predictable. That's what I wanted and needed from the car to find that last step to fight up front. And I hope that we can carry that momentum forward. We don't really have anything to win in the championship, right? I think Kimi is miles ahead. For me personally, I don't care if I'm second, third or fourth. Like, yeah, it doesn't do anything. But I just want to have fun till the end, you know, try to go for a day's success.

Yeah, Max, very well done. Thank you for that. Charles, let's come to you now. Great to see you back on the podium. Just how satisfying was this race for you?
CL: Well, I mean, happy but not super happy. I mean, second place is a good result, I think, considering the tendency that we've had lately where we were lacking just a little bit of pace. I feel like, at least particularly in qualifying yesterday, we had strong pace. Today in the race, Max had a bit more pace than we did, which was expected, but we were maybe a little bit closer than what we expected as well. So, it was a cool race. I believed in it until the very end, but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough.

Your best chance to pass Max came at the start. Just talk us through those opening 200 metres. Did you think you had him at one point or not?
CL: I mean, you don't have much time to think in those moments. I just saw that Max had a bit of a difficult start. I had quite a good start, so I went alongside him. Then there wasn't much space anymore, but I would have done exactly the same. And yeah, then it's quite tricky. I mean, I was on the left, a little bit behind him, couldn't see the panels on the right, so you lose a little bit all your references because that's normally on the right that you have your references to brake. I tried to judge it in the best possible way, but Max managed to keep that first place. And then there were a few opportunities in the first three laps when Max had the deployment issue, but I always thought that it was a one-off, so I wasn't really using my battery, which maybe was a mistake. And when I was realising that he had no power at the end of the straight, I couldn't do anything. It was too late for me to use my power. But I don't know if it would have changed much. Maybe, of course, for the first stint it would have helped, but I think eventually they just had too much pace for us.

Do you think anything would have been different if you'd been on a different tyre to Max at the start?
CL: No, I don't think it would have helped. If anything, it probably would have been worse because the Medium just didn't feel like a great tyre. So, I probably would have lost any flexibility to put Max under a bit more pressure around the pit stop time, even though he was still far. I think with the Medium he would have been further away.

Charles, let's throw it forward. This is your first podium since before the summer break. Is the car now back in a window where you think you can challenge for the podium at every race?
CL: It's too early to say, but it's true that we've brought some small parts here and there on the car, which maybe helped us to do a step forward. But yes, we cannot forget as well the tendency of the last three races before this one. And the tendency I'm speaking about is that we are losing a little bit of pace compared to Red Bull, compared to Mercedes and also compared to McLaren. But McLaren have been struggling a little bit more maybe in Sepang and here. But yeah, at the end of the day, it's all about who brings the upgrades as early as possible. And hopefully we'll be the ones to do a bigger step than the others at the next upgrades we bring.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Singapore here.