1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
PRESS CONFERENCE
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Daniel, the Red Bull has been very strong
here this week, but just how good was the car here today and how were you
able to harness the strengths of the package here?
Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s been good all weekend. Every session we’ve been
quicken. It’s a bit like 2016; we came into this race knowing we had a
legitimate chance to fight for pole. Just knowing how the car has performed
in the first few races and knowing if it got hooked up around here then for
sure we knew we could be here. We didn’t really change much on the car all
weekend, it was kind of one of those pretty smooth ones and we could just
build up to it and obviously find my rhythm and have some fun. I love this
place and it’s obviously a pleasure to drive in a 1m10s, it’s a lot of fun.
It’s been awesome, the boys have done a good job. The team. There are some
girls in the team as well!
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Daniel, what happened to Max
shows how quickly this place can bite. Was that at the back of your mind or
were you able to clear your mind and just go for it?
DR: It’s always in the back of your mind here, I guess, because the risk and
reward is very real and that was proven this morning. It’s one of those
things… it’s there but it is at the back of your mind, because to be fast
you can’t think about those things. Knowing we had obviously a great package
all weekend… we need to push it but I don’t think we need to overdrive it.
The car has been performing well. It’s just hitting your marks and just
trying to keep it clean I guess. We’re all pushing each other, particularly
Max and myself in the same time. It’s no surprise that these things can
happen and, as I said, when we’re lapping 1m10s 1m11s there’s no room for
error.
Q: (Lennart Wermle – Bild) Daniel, who were talking to on the phone directly
after qualifying? I was wondering who you were talking to there?
DR: Do you know or not? No. OK. It was the boss, Dietrich. It was nice.
Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) What kind of guarantees do you have for your
tyres tomorrow?
DR: Come on. Next question. They’re cool, yeah. We’ll be fine, there’s no
rain tomorrow, we’re OK.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for Seb and for
Lewis. Do you think it was the general DNA of your cars why you didn’t have
a chance against Red Bull here or do you think if you had got everything
right, the set-up, the perfect lap, you would have had a chance?
Sebastian VETTEL: I was pretty happy. I think there is always the feeling
that there is a little bit but I don’t think we were a threat to Daniel’s
time today. So, I think you always look back and think ‘here and there’,
especially around this place, but well done to Daniel, he owned the
qualifying session. For us, I think, we were playing around with the set-up
quite a bit trying to squeeze out everything because we knew we had to if we
wanted to have a word for front row and for pole. I think we put ourselves
in a good position. I think they looked strong yesterday, they looked strong
this morning, I think we got as close as we could and now we see what we can
do tomorrow?
Lewis, your thoughts?
Lewis HAMILTON: DNA.
How was the session for you?
LH: It was a good session. We knew we wouldn’t be quickest here. We did the
best we could and the car was in a good place, just a little bit off them
really.
Were you pleased with your lap?
LH: My first Q3 lap… I was happy with my last one. I was 0.27s but I lost it
in the middle and the last sector so naturally not happy with that. That
wouldn’t have been enough anyways for pole but it would have made a
difference, obviously I would have been second. Am I happy about that? No,
but it’s a long race tomorrow. I gave it everything I could and you can’t
always get it perfect. The good thing is the car is in one piece and I can
live to fight another day.
Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question for Seb and Lewis. Obviously, the
unique characteristics of this circuit means that it doesn’t necessarily
translate from here to other places. With that in mind, does it make missing
out on pole here today easier to take, knowing that it’s a special circuit
and won’t necessarily be repeated elsewhere?
SV: I think it was expected that Red Bull will be quick here. I think they
have a strong car, they have more downforce than everybody else. I think in
terms of drag or efficiency, maybe they’re not the best, so at this track,
y’know, we knew that they will be strong. Other tracks, I think we have to
look at ourselves, y’know? I think Barcelona we know we weren’t where we
want to be. Going forward, Canada, will be different again. The think is,
for us, that have potential in the car. We need to make sure we unleash it
and we improve. Then, I think, I don’t need to answer your question, or
these questions. For today, no doubt, Daniel was the best man out there. He
deserves the pole and no matter whether his package was maybe a little bit
better or a little bit worse, he did the job. That’s what it’s about here.
Lewis, the pace of the Mercedes elsewhere, does that make today an easier
pill to swallow?
LH: Like I said, we knew what was going to happen this weekend. So… it still
doesn’t feel great but it’s just one race, so…
Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Daniel and Lewis. On Thursday, there was
some questions about the legality of the Ferrari ERS system. I just wondered
if there’s any feelings amongst you two, whether you think it’s legal. Are
you happy with the investigation, the answers that you’re being given by the
team?
DR: Don’t know about it. Yeah. I don’t. Probably because I haven’t been
reading anything. Particularly since Thursday, just been focussed on trying
to put myself here, in this position. So, I’m sure the team know about it –
but they haven’t bogged me down with that information at the moment.
Lewis, anything to add?
DR: Do you know about it?
LH: I keep my ear very close to the ground, for sure. I know what’s going
on.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To all drivers. Come back to the
subject of tyres, changing the approach. What expectations do you have for
the hyper tyre from Pirelli? And also, Daniel, having around 40hp less than
your competitors, were you afraid at the end in the Q3 that you could lose
your pole position?
DR: No, I knew the first lap in Q3 was pretty good. I felt it was enough but
obviously you never know – but it was a relatively clean lap. So yeah, for
sure the chassis works well around here and we don’t have maybe as much
power in qualifying but we’ve still got enough around here to get it done.
So that feels good. The tyres. Thursday seemed mixed for everyone. Some
people suffered a lot of graining with the front. We didn’t do a very long
run but what we did, it was OK. So, I’m OK for tomorrow. I feel confident. I
think we’ll still be able to one stop. I think everyone will make it happen.
Yeah. It’s good.
Sebastian. Anything to add on the tyres?
SV: Well, I mean this is a track where we put the least energy on the tyres.
So, I think it’s normal the softer the tyres, the better it is for us. We
have more grip. Yeah, we saw, as Daniel said, in practice that maybe the
tyre’s not meant to last super-long. So, I’m sure if you put it on a normal
race track it’s fun for probably half, or one lap – but after that it will
be difficult. But I don’t know. The tyre choices now, going forward, when
will be have the hypersoft next time, I’m not sure. Is it in Canada? Canada
is quite smooth on the tyres so it makes sense. Yeah.
Lewis, your thoughts on the hypersoft tyre.
LH: It’s OK.
You guys experimented with the ultra in Q2.
LH: That wasn’t the greatest either.
Do you think a one stop is possible tomorrow, as Daniel suggested?
LH: I think that’s the target, which I think is not very good here. They
should make us use multiple ultrasofts, or hypersofts. One stop is always a
boring race. Especially on a track where you can’t even overtake. So, it
adds more excitement to it. I’m sure we’ll do one stop tomorrow. The other
tyres could probably go a long way.
Q: Your thoughts on the hypersoft?
LH: It’s OK.
Q: You guys experimented with the ultra in Q2.
LH: Yeah, that wasn’t very good.
Q: Do you think a one stop is possible tomorrow, as Daniel suggested?
LH: I think that’s the target which I think is not very good here. They
should make us use multiple ultrasofts… hypersofts. One stop is always a
boring race, especially on a track where you can’t even overtake, so it adds
more excitement to it. I’m sure we’ll do a one stop tomorrow. Yeah, I think
the tyres could probably go a long way.
Q: (Fred Ferret – L’Equipe) To Seb and Lewis, you’ve won Monaco outside the
pole, what would your mind set tomorrow? Would it be a waiting game during
the race?
SV: Well, jump Daniel at the start.
DR: Preferably don’t jump, like over me. That would hurt.
SV: No, no. I mean it’s a long race. If you look at the race, then it’s
nearly impossible to overtake, we know that, but it’s still one of the most
fascinating races because things can happen. It doesn’t mean that they do
happen but they can. Rain is not forecast, I guess, for tomorrow but who
knows? It’s going to be a long race, a lot of laps, easy to do a small
mistake which goes without noticing or can be very costly. I think the plan
is to – as I said – make a good start and then settle into the race. Keep
the pressure up until the end.
Q: Lewis, tomorrow, do an even better start? What’s your plan?
LH: To catch this one, to catch this guy, that’s my goal. Switch places with
him.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport Magazin.com) Seb, the first lap in Q3, did
you have any specific mistake there or was it just a bit easygoing, well,
just to set a time on the board?
SV: I don’t know what the others did but I did two times one lap and in Q2 I
tried a little bit but it didn’t work so for Q3 I think I knew what I had to
do and yeah, I was happy with the first lap, not so happy with the beginning
or with the feel for the tyres throughout the lap. I think today I was – I
would say sensitive but it was important for me to feel the car, the tyres
switching on. In the last run I definitely felt it was a bit better so I had
a cleaner lap and more trust and that’s where the extra time is usually
coming from. The lap before wasn’t bad but I could do better, I knew it and
I was pretty happy with the last one I had.
Q: (Tomasz Kubiak - Swiatwyscigow.pl) Daniel, do you look forward to a race
when you don’t have to think about passing with your teammate?
DR: I only heard passing your teammate, is that what you said? What was your
question?
Q: do you look forward to the race more when you haven’t got to worry about
passing your teammate?
DR: I don’t know. It’s not a bad question. We’ll move on. At least you
laughed, you got your kick out of it. No comment.
Q: (Scott Mitchell - Autosport) Daniel, because Red Bull’s been so strong
this week, how much of it has been a mental, psychological battle between
you and Max, just trying to get the upper hand before qualifying? Obviously
he ended up paying the price for it on his side but how important was it
just to be the number one guy basically?
DR: Obviously you’re aware of your teammate’s speed and everyone’s speed but
for me, from the start of the weekend, I guess a battle with myself, wanting
to be the quickest from the start and trying to reach my personal goals for
the weekend. Obviously, yeah, we were close throughout all the sessions but
yeah, I don’t know if it’s… it could be a psychological battle if an
opponent sees it that way but for me personally I just wanted to see my name
on top and just try to keep that momentum going from the start. |