George Russell:
We've had a lot of bad luck this weekend and that is unfortunate as we were definitely in the fight for the win today. After a difficult start, we'd managed to get ourselves back to P2 but stopped just one lap before the safety car was deployed. That changed the complexion of the race and unfortunately, after taking the restart in P3, we lost two more positions as a result firstly of hitting the harvesting limit and then an unexpected superclip. It was pretty frustrating but that's the way racing goes sometimes.
It's clear from this weekend that our competitors are beginning to optimise their cars much more now. We have enjoyed a great start to the season, but our rivals are hot on our heels as we saw today. The upcoming gap in the calendar will also give everyone a chance to develop further so we know that, once we're back on track in Miami, we are in for a proper fight.
Kimi Antonelli:
It feels great to get my second win! I made a bad start from pole and was kicking myself that we lost so many positions. When we were in free air on the Medium tyre though, I was able to improve my pace quite a lot. We were fortunate with the timing of the Safety Car and that put us in the lead; it made my life a lot easier! Who knows what would have happened without that, but I felt like we had the speed today to challenge for the win without it.
This is the best way to head into this mini break in the season. I am going to enjoy the moment but use the time well to work on where I can improve. As a team, and despite winning the first three races, we know we need to keep raising our game too. We had a real battle today and we know that it's not going to be easy to keep up this run of form. We're looking forward to using the time ahead of Miami well and hopefully putting ourselves in a strong position once the season resumes.
Max Verstappen:
"For this race I tried everything I could to get back into the points and work myself forward. I had a better start, maximised my race and recovered positions. I tried to pass the Alpine, but Pierre did a good job with no mistakes and made it unfortunately too difficult. When trying to overtake, there was no battery on the main straight; I was waiting to see if he might make a small mistake, but he did everything well and there was no way to pass by. We ultimately scored good points considering the issues that we had this weekend, but it was not really where we want to fight. Now of course we have a month to analyse everything so we can be more competitive and sort more things with the car. It will be important to work to find a bit more rhythm and understand more about the car, the engine and deployment. Everyone is working flat out and doing the best they can and there is a lot that we can do over the next few weeks."
Isack Hadjar:
"Today felt like a long race for us. I had a good start and a strong first lap, the plan was to fight with Pierre, and I was able to do that until the back straight where I lost a lot of battery. We need to improve our deployment, as we really struggled with it today. The timing of the Safety Car was also unfortunate and after that we found it hard to get back into the points. I had a good fight with the Audis but didn't have the pace to get passed them. Everyone is working hard to understand the issues, and we now have until Miami to put ourselves in a better position."
Charles Leclerc:
We really had to work hard this time. We were a bit unlucky with the Safety Car, so I found myself having to chase the cars ahead. On the first few laps after the pit stop, I lost a few positions, but in the end stopping earlier wasn't a big disadvantage. I had to be very careful and manage the tyres well to make it to the end.
The race was good, I just lacked a bit of pace to catch Oscar (Piastri), but it was still a positive race, and with good energy management, I could defend the podium from George (Russell)'s attacks and bring home good points for the team.
We will use the next weeks to review and work on taking some steps forward before we head back to track in Miami and see how things stand after the break.
Lewis Hamilton:
It was a demanding race, and clearly not the result I wanted. My first stint went well in terms of tyre management, but I simply didn't have the pace to compete.
The focus now is on understanding why and finding ways to improve. With a month before the next race, we'll use the time to analyse every detail from these first three races and make sure we come back stronger.
Alex Albon:
"I was in traffic for the race so nothing really happened to me and it turned into a bit of a test session as we wanted to try a few things on the front wing to understand it a bit better and have some data. The car is feeling okay for what we have and the team has been working really hard to get it into a good position in these three weeks. Realistically we are achieving what we can achieve and executing our races as best as we can but we just need to get on top of some issues and get a bit more speed in the car. We have a lot of work to do but we have about five weeks now as a team so there's a lot that we can improve and I think this is going to benefit us so that we can come back stronger in Miami."
Carlos Sainz:
"We got absolutely everything we could out of the car in the race today. Also, another solid start and good pitstop timing meant we did our best possible race, so I'm satisfied with that. The team and I are working well to understand this car and these regulations, and I feel like we're going into this early break ready to make some real progress on the car's performance. We have to make sure we maximise these five weeks and head into Miami in a better position for the season ahead. Last but not least, very happy that Ollie is OK after that big impact."
Arvid Lindblad:
"The timing when the Safety Car came out is probably the thing that hurt us the most today. I was running in P10 until that point, and after that, I went down to P14. From there, we didn't really have the pace to come back through. It's a shame, but we knew before the start that it was going to be more of a defensive race instead of an offensive one. It's disappointing not to finish in the points today, but well done to the team and to Liam. There have been some things this weekend that haven't really worked in our favour, but I'll use the April break to work hard and put myself in the best possible position for Miami."
Liam Lawson:
"I'm very pleased with today. From where we started and the doubts we had from yesterday's issues, the team did a great job rebalancing the car, which led to a strong race. The first part of the race was really tough, but we got the car into a better window during the Hard stint towards the end. We were also a bit fortunate with the Safety Car, which helped us move into the points. Without that, it would have been difficult to finish where we did, so it's good to come away with something. That's three point-scoring finishes in the last two races, which is a nice bit of momentum heading into the break. I'll spend time training and with the team to reflect on the past month before Miami, as we keep working to improve."
Lance Stroll:
"I was enjoying the race today, even though we were not competitive and battling for the last few positions. Suzuka is always a fun track to drive so it was a shame we couldn't make it to the end. We still need to investigate, but it looks like a water pressure issue on the ICE. I was having a fun race up until that point, defending from Fernando, but it's clear we have a lot of things to work on and need to find a lot of speed. We know the issues we have so it's about tackling those as quickly as we can."
Fernando Alonso:
"Finishing the race here in Suzuka today shows clear progress for the team, and that's a strong positive we should take from the weekend. While we didn't have the pace, it was still enjoyable to gain valuable mileage and to race with Lance. We'll now analyse the data across both Silverstone and Sakura and continue pushing development, so we have a better understanding heading into Miami."
Esteban Ocon:
"First of all, I'm glad that Ollie is okay. Unfortunately, though, it has been three out of three races where the safety car timing has been bad for us. We had a decent start and it was going okay, then we lost to Gabi and Liam. I managed to overtake Gabi on track, but with Liam it wasn't possible. There was a nice fight between Max and Pierre ahead, so I would've liked to have been part of that, however, I got stuck behind Liam, so we'll never know if I could've been a part of it or not. Overall, it was a positive weekend on our side and we got the maximum out of the car in every situation. It could've been a few positions better, but we can't control everything."
Oliver Bearman :
"First of all, everything is fine and I'm good. It was a scary moment out there, but everything is okay, which is the main thing. The adrenaline is wearing off a bit, so it's going to be a long trip home, but I'm absolutely fine. The car is a bit worse for wear, but we now have a month to reset, but I can only apologize to the team because it's a lot of work. There was a massive overspeed - around 50kph - which is a part of these new regulations, and we have to get used to it, but also I felt like I wasn't given much space, given the huge excess speed I was carrying. We need to be a bit more lenient and a bit more prepared, as unfortunately this was the result of a massive delta speed which we've not seen in Formula 1 before. We have a month to reset and come back strong in Miami - that's the goal now."
Nico Hulkenberg:
"We had good pace and a realistic shot at scoring points, but our race was compromised by a poor start. Improving our race starts is something we need to focus on as a team over the upcoming weeks. I lost several positions on the opening lap, from P13 to P19, which made things difficult from there. Being stuck in traffic for most of the race limited our opportunities to make progress.
"These cars are still quite tricky to race with the current energy management and overtaking dynamics. Moves can be made, but you end up vulnerable immediately after, so it's a bit of a trade-off at the moment.
"On the positive side, it was valuable to complete the race and gather a lot of data. There's plenty for us to look at and improve, and with a month until Miami, we have time to analyse everything and come back stronger."
Gabriel Borteleto:
"The race was quite okay overall: the Safety Car worked in our favour, as I had decided to stay out longer to avoid being stuck behind other cars on harder compounds; our pace wasn't too bad, although I had some struggles on the straights. What mainly affected us today, unfortunately, was the start: we've been knowing since the first race of the season it's something we need to work on, to try and put things back in place and not compromise the job we do on Saturday.
"Now, with almost five weeks away from racing, we'll keep our head down and make the most out of this time to work together across our bases and improve our car in order to come back in Miami in May in a better place."
Pierre Gasly:
"That was a really intense race throughout and I am very happy with P7 and score more points for the championship. It was a very good race and well managed by the team throughout. It was like having two different phases before and after the Safety Car. Based off what we have seen so far this season, the races have been quite action packed so we probably expected a Safety Car or VSC at some point. During the first part of the race we were building a nice gap to the cars behind. Then, after the Safety Car, we had to defend from Max [Verstappen] who put on a lot of pressure for 25 laps. We had to defend a lot and that is not easy against a four-time world champion, so I am glad we could hold onto the position and secure some solid points. It's been a positive weekend for the team and we are not too far off some of the quicker teams ahead. The car has a solid baseline so we have to stay motivated and keep working hard to catch those ahead."
Franco Colapinto:
"It was a very long and frustrating race today, where we spent a lot of time staring at the rear wing of another car. We had a really good start off the line and made up a place on the opening lap, running closely with both VCARBs and within reaching distance of the points. We reacted and pitted to cover Ollie [Bearman] and managed to stay ahead. I was racing with him for a few laps and suddenly saw him slide in front of me across the grass into Spoon. Having viewed the footage afterwards, there was a big speed difference, which can be a characteristic of these cars, and I'm really glad he's ok. The Safety Car came out after that, which was badly timed for us and meant we lost places. It's a pity, as we were in the mix with Liam [Lawson] and others before that, and those I was fighting with at the time ended in the points. Ultimately, we need to have a stronger Saturday to put ourselves in a better position to race. Now we will use the gap in the season to work hard at Enstone and come back stronger in Miami."
Sergio Perez:
"Today was our strongest race so far this year. We've made a lot of progress in a short space of time, and we can be happy to get two cars past the finish yet again. Yesterday we had some issues with the deployment and today it felt like we were on top of it. We were clearly faster than Aston Martin and we can see our pace is getting stronger. Hopefully the upgrades we bring to Miami will put us into the mix a lot more."
Valtteri Bottas:
"Another double finish is really good for the team. I was lacking a bit of performance, which meant I struggled to challenge the Aston Martins today, so it's something we need to look at. We tried a different strategy by starting with the Hard tire but unfortunately it didn't seem to work. However, throughout the whole weekend it was much cleaner with fewer issues. We've learned a lot that we can use to improve for the next race. We now head into this gap in the calendar after our first three races with the opportunity to analyze everything learned so far and spend more time developing the car. The mood is good in the team as we fully focus on preparations for our first home Grand Prix in Miami."
