TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Mattia BINOTTO (Audi), Ayao KOMATSU (Haas), Laurent MEKIES (Red Bull Racing)

Q: Laurent, if we could perhaps start with you and Isack Hadjar, who’s had a very good week. Not only is he back in the cockpit here in Baku, he has also got a new contract for 2027 as well. Let’s talk about the comeback first of all. What convinced you that Baku was the right place and the right time for him to get back behind the wheel?
Laurent MEKIES: You know, we always follow a very simple principle. We wanted to get Isack back when he was 100%, and perhaps even more importantly than that, when we were sure that we would not be taking any risk for his future long-term recovery. So, this was not possible in Zandvoort, not possible in Monza and Madrid. He had his last scan on Sunday this week and we had him on the simulator on Monday, and we couldn’t get him out of the simulator on Monday night. So, we felt it was a good enough test and he’s fit, and so it’s good to have him back. We are pretty convinced that he’s going to be close to 100%.

Q: Alright, let’s throw it further forward now. That new contract, was it an easy decision for you?
LM: Yes, it was really easy, really. I think we discussed it a few times here through the season. He has done a very, very strong first part of the year. First with his natural speed, then with the way he has integrated with the team. Very quickly in the early weeks, he moved to the UK. He was pretty much every other week with us in Milton Keynes. And then, not less importantly, the way he has progressed through the races. We have really seen him doing something a bit better pretty much every race weekend. Therefore, it was a very, very easy decision to make.

Q: He was quite amusing in the press conference yesterday because he couldn’t tell us whether or not he had a multi-year deal. He said he didn’t know. Can you shed any light on that for us?
LM: Isack has been with Red Bull for a very long time, and that means that, yes, we have a very long-term contract with him as part of him being part of our junior programme, and we have activated our options to secure him for 2027.

Q: Final one from me. Can we talk about the performance of the car? Do you feel that you’re on an upward trend at the moment?
LM: Let me put it this way. We had two strong weekends in Monza and in Madrid. Now, strong weekends mean you fight for the podium. I think we had five or six podiums in the last seven races, so that’s a positive. Does it mean that we have had, in any of the races, the fastest car? No. So, we are close. We always knew the last one to three tenths would be the most difficult to cancel from the best competition. There are four teams that pretty much are within these two or three tenths, so you can slide very quickly from competing for pole to being on the fourth row. So we think, yes, we are getting closer. Whether or not it’s going to be enough to get that last step that will give us the fastest car pace, for that we think we still have some work to do.

Q: Okay, Laurent, thanks for that. Ayao, if we could come to you now. We’re going to start by talking about drivers, or driver actually, Esteban in particular. He said yesterday, and I’m quoting him, “I’m definitely a free agent next year.” Is that the case? How do you see his future at Haas?
Ayao KOMATSU: Yes, we haven’t made any decision yet. But like Laurent said, every driver has a, let’s say, a closing certain point in the year to decide on the option. It just means that we haven’t decided on that option yet, but that was quite a long time ago. So his situation hasn’t really changed. We still are trying to finalise what we’re going to do for next year.

Q: So with him, it’s still an option for him to be at the team?
AK: Yes. Like I said, we haven’t made any decisions yet.

Q: Okay. Can we talk in more general terms then about that seat alongside Ollie Bearman? What kind of driver are you looking for? Does it have to be an experienced driver, or would you go for youth if the right driver was available?
AK: Look, what we’re looking for in the drivers, first and foremost, the guy needs to have speed. The guy needs to be fast. That’s something, you know, that’s their talent. We cannot teach them speed, so he needs to be fast, but really needs to be a team player, work closely with the team. And especially for a small team like us, those two drivers, the integration into the team, how they motivate the team, how they drive the team, is very, very important. It’s got to be a personal character that is very important for us. But I think it’s the same for any teams, but especially for teams like us. We are a small team, so it’s very, very important.

Q: Ayao, you’ve been busy with the TPC car recently. Can you put a timescale on this? When do you expect to make an announcement as to what’s happening next year?
AK: Soon, within the next couple of weeks. We’ve done all the evaluations, so we’re just waiting to summarise our findings, have a discussion internally, have a chat with Gene, and then we’ll take the final decision.

Q: Okay, thank you for that. Can we talk about the car now? You’ve introduced various upgrades over the last couple of races. How much of a step forward has it been?
AK: The one we introduced in Monza was a really good step forward. But just to put it in context, I mean, we started the season very well, but the one we did in Montreal, yes, that upped the performance in certain areas, but didn’t deliver everything. And also, we later found out the direction really wasn’t the direction we should have gone for. So, we made some mistakes there. Then again, for teams like us, it took us a long, long time to put those mistakes right. So finally, in Monza, we proved our hypothesis, assumption, and the work we’ve done addressed the issues in the correct way. So, not only put downforce on the car, but put downforce on the car that drivers can exploit. So that was really, really pleasing, and I think gives lots of confidence to everyone in the team. Identify the problem, solve it. But of course, in the future we try not to make the same mistake and also try to put that performance on the car quicker. So just trying to accelerate that process, that’s a challenge for us.

Q: Ayao, thank you for that as well. And Mattia, thank you for waiting. Let’s come to you now, and why don’t we start by talking about drivers as well. Tell us about the jobs that you think Nico and Gabi have done for you this year. Are you very happy with what they’ve done?
Mattia BINOTTO: Very happy, yes, I would think that’s the answer. So, you need then to analyse. It’s a different situation for both of them. You’ve got an experienced driver, Nico, more a junior driver with Gabi. Nico is consistently delivering. I think Nico, when he’s come to, especially on the Sunday, the race, the consistency, being robust, very little mistakes, exploiting always the potential of the car, scoring points wherever there is a necessity or an opportunity. And I think that’s Nico. And so far, he has delivered well. Whenever he had an opportunity, he exploited the maximum potential for our car. Gabi is being more junior. It’s a learning phase, so it’s more, I think, we need to look at him more in his development, the rate of development. And here again, I have to say I can see his confidence growing race after race. You can see that he is becoming faster and faster, having obviously more confidence himself. No big mistakes, maybe a couple, but that’s part, again, of his learning phase. But overall, he is consistent as well. He is exploiting certainly the potential of the car. He is very fast in quali, on the single lap, when it matters. So overall, I have to say that I’m pretty pleased. So happy with the line-up, compared to both of them. I think our situation is even simpler. We have no discussion what’s the plan for the next season. Our drivers were contracted, so we knew that it would have been no change. But on top of that, I think we are happy on the speed of them. So, we never announced really what would happen next year because there was no necessity. So, we have a line-up which is confirmed and on which we are happy with.

Q: What about your junior driver, Freddie Slater, runner-up in F3, going up to F2 next year? Is he going to take on more F1 duties in 2027?
MB: Or maybe even earlier. So, certainly Freddie is part of our driver development programme. High potential, he’s doing well. Just finished second in the championship. He was leading the championship before the last weekend in Madrid. Now finishing second. I think we discussed that with him. It can be as well a great lesson learned. Sometimes it’s not that, and that will be forgotten very soon. More important what he will deliver in the future. F1 duties yes, because that’s part of the development plan. F1 seat in the future, that will depend on how strong he will continue developing. But when you’ve got a driver in your academy, somehow the plans are for him, sooner or later, to be in your F1 seat. So again, happy with him, the way he has progressed. If you look at his F3 season since the start, where maybe he was abusing a bit too much on the tyres, he has become more balanced, managing better, getting experience and finishing very strong this season.

Q: What about the car? Heavily upgraded here in Baku, I think 14 registered upgrades on the car. What did you learn in FP1? Is it doing everything you expected?
MB: FP1, first we had one car on the old package, the other one on the new package. It has been more gathering data, collecting data, and now we are going through all the analysis. I don’t think there is a proper performance comparison which has been concluded yet. Yes, if you look at the first, let me say, impression of the data, the package is delivering as expected, which is good, which is our main focus, as a matter of fact, for the weekend. For us, upgrading, yes, it’s important for the performance, it’s important for our fight in the championship. But again, for us, what’s more important is to make sure that the team is developing in terms of methodologies and capacity. So, from being brave when it comes in terms of mindset, to the type of aero concepts we may deliver, on the lead times, engineering, production, manufacturing, we raised the challenge. We raised the challenge, I think, with the upgrade we have brought here. It doesn’t matter how much it will deliver in terms of lap time. I think what matters for us the most is having raised the challenge, having again pushed the system on whatever is mindset and lead times. And hopefully the correlation will be, that’s the conclusion now of the exercise, hopefully we’ll have a correlation which is right compared to the wind tunnel and the sim.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) A question for Ayao. So just to summarise what you just said, you might yet continue with Esteban, that’s a possibility. Could you go as far as to say it would be your intention to continue with Ollie Bearman in the other seat? And is he experienced enough now, and also in what he contributes to car development, that it wouldn’t be a risk to put a young driver potentially in the other seat if he carried on?
AK: No, look, driver combination is obviously a pretty complex topic. Yes, we’ve been happy with Ollie as well. Like I said, we are still finalising our internal discussion. I really can’t say anything more than that.

Q: (Ted Kravitz – Sky Sports UK) This one’s for Laurent about the Red Bull young driver programme. Do you and your colleagues in the Red Bull young driver programme feel that Nikola Tsolov could benefit from maybe another preparation year before Formula 1? And is that bearing in mind that there may not be an opening at Racing Bulls for him anyway?
LM: Look, first, Nikola is doing a very, very strong season. He is leading the championship and we are very, very happy with the progress he’s been making, both on track and from what we see he’s doing with us in Milton Keynes at the simulator. We think we have time to make the decisions on what’s going to happen for him next year. In all cases, a bit like when we discussed earlier for Isack, we have a long-term view on Nikola. What matters to us is that we make sure that we put him in the right environment so that all his potential is coming out. So, potential seems very high and we will make the decision in a few months on what his programme is for next year. For now, we’ll let him concentrate on a rather busy weekend here with three races in Baku.

Q: (Niccolò Severini – Sky Sports Italy) A question for Ayao. You said that you need a fast driver. Is there a strong option to put in the car a rookie, like maybe Rafael Câmara or Leonardo Fornaroli?
AK: Yes, that’s why we’ve tested them. If that wasn’t the option, why do we test? And then, to be fair, all the three drivers we tested in Portimão, and also Jack in the last weeks, they’ve done a very, very good job. So, I think we are in a very fortunate position to have such interest from very talented drivers. So, we have just got to analyse the result very carefully because it’s a TPC test. It’s very, very difficult to normalise the condition, changing wind, the track temperature, lap time changes quite a lot. So yeah, it’s a very, very important decision, obviously. And of course, we’re talking about the lives of those people. You know, for those guys Formula 1 is always a dream to achieve. So, we’ve got to make the right decision. So yeah, that’s why we’re taking time to just make sure we do it right.

Q: (Sergey Podosenov – News.ru) To the three speakers. Beyond the track itself, what’s your general impression of Baku as a host city and organisation, the hospitality and the way the event is run?
MB: I can start myself. Obviously, it’s not the first year or the first season we are coming. It has always been very enjoyable. It’s a unique circuit for characteristics because it was the, let me say, the circuit, the city patterns and the very long straight, which is the longest straight in the F1 calendar. If you look as well at the past years, a lot may happen during the race here, so the outcome and the result of the race is never guaranteed. It is always a big unknown before the race weekend, which I think makes it exciting. And then the city is more and more organised. You can see it. There are great facilities, great hotels very close to the circuit. You can even walk into the paddock from the hotels, often for most of the people at least, and I think that’s enjoyable. So at least I can speak for myself. It’s one of the circuits I’m coming and I’m enjoying.
AK: Yes, you know, which other circuit we run next to a UNESCO World Heritage site! It’s such a very unique challenge. And then, like Mattia said, combination of the very, very long straight and the low-speed sections, tight sections, and also, as you saw in FP1, track evolution is huge. So, our team has got a very unique challenge to balance those things, and then lots can happen in the race. So that’s really nice. And then I love the old city, you know, the part of the city inside the castle. That atmosphere is really, really unique. So, I think the whole team really enjoys coming here very much.
LM: Echoing what Mattia and Ayao have said, really, it became a classic in these 10 years. Fantastic track, fantastic racing, great vibes in the city, and some good memories also for Red Bull with the win last year here with Max. So, I think we all love coming here and racing here, and it’s never a boring weekend.

Q: (Thomas Maher – PlanetF1.com) A question for Mattia and for Laurent, please. Just in terms of the upcoming engine regulations on the V8s, where are you at in terms of the general principles that have been agreed? What do you want to see from the upcoming regulations? How important is it that a hybrid element is retained? And in terms of a timeline, when do the manufacturers need to get clarity on what’s happening?
MB: There is no clarity yet. So, we know that FIA is still elaborating what may be the concepts they would like to propose. We know it’s a V8 for certain, 2030 the earliest introduction. On the timing, as you said, if it would be 2030, what does it mean in terms of starting the development? It has to be very soon. It has to be before the end of the year. I think the regulation needs to be agreed and voted before the end of the year to have certain clarities, by 2027, to start really the design and concept phase. What’s the main objective we are looking at? I think we all agree, first will be a significant cost saving required. The current power unit is still very expensive and we believe that having a clear target on cost would be important. When considering the format of the V8 itself, we believe that we still need to retain some advanced technologies. I think that F1 has always been the edge of the platform for innovation, ahead of technology, and we believe whatever will be the overall format, it has to remain a platform for innovation for all the manufacturers. So yes, welcome the V8, welcome a better sound, welcome a cost saving. And when it comes into the details of hybrid, I would say yes, turbo, possibly yes. But all the details, I think, need to be discussed with the FIA. That’s why I think that discussion will start very soon. As Audi, we are very open, very collaborative, and I’m pretty sure that together with the FIA we will find the right compromise.
LM: Very similar here, honestly. Even though it’s a massive topic because, in the end, it will dictate the next generation of regulations. I think we are at the point where all the manufacturers, I don’t think we have very different ideas or very opposite ideas about what we all want from it. I think we want flat-out racing, flat-out qualifying. That will probably dictate the next architecture. And as Mattia said, you want flat-out racing, flat-out qualifying and retaining the technological challenge and the technological laboratories. And of course, we would like to do that also by ticking a few of the boxes. But I think in terms of these high-level objectives, with the FIA, with F1, with the teams, I think we are all pretty aligned. And how do you do it in the details, with the various options we have, it will be the discussion over the next few months. But in terms of what we want to achieve as stakeholders of the sport, I think we are all quite aligned.

Q: (Dzhastina Golopolosova – F1Maximaal.nl) My question to Laurent. Do you expect the ADUO situation will improve if next year they switch to 58/42?
LM: Look, in terms of wanting to evolve the ADUO regulations, I think we can probably agree that the regulations were not exactly perfect and we will certainly welcome a discussion on making them evolve. I’m sure that sooner or later we’ll have these discussions with the FIA and the PU manufacturers. In the meantime, we have tried to make our point quite clear about where we think we can agree and where we think we don’t agree. And at some stage, we need to concentrate on ourselves and do the best job possible with the regulations we have.

Q: Mattia, is there anything you’d like to add with regards to ADUO?
MB: No, I think Laurent mentioned it and I think it has been already past discussion. The current system, first, the regulation has been put in place for a safety net for the manufacturers which were clearly behind and had to catch up, or not to be staying frozen in a difficult situation for five seasons. The second was to support convergence, and this is what the main two concepts of regulations. So, safety net and convergence. If you look at how these things have developed, as I think Laurent mentioned, it’s not ideal yet. Fine-tunings are required. You may be trapped in a situation where maybe a top team got opportunity of development, while that cannot be safety net or convergence at the end. So how to develop a better regulation, I think, is exactly the discussion we need to have with the FIA. The ADUO concept is still valid. The fine-tuning is required.

Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) It’s another power unit question to Mattia and Laurent, please. Fernando Alonso said yesterday he still has hopes for some further tweaks for 2027, and he did one suggestion that Max Verstappen said he supports, which would be maybe to limit the peak power of the battery for longer to get more natural speed traces and not get your top speed halfway through the straight, but more towards the braking zone. Would you guys be open to any further tweaks, or do you feel the roadmap for ’27 and ’28 is fully set in stone?
LM: So, the roadmap is a clear step forward compared to where we are here, with a rather small step next year and a significant step for 2028. As Oracle Red Bull Racing, we will support further tweaks if there is an agreement to further tweaks in the directions of flat-out qualifying, flat-out racing, which I think is what Fernando and Max were probably mentioning. Yes, we will support.
MB: Obviously, what Fernando or Max said, I don’t know, needs to be evaluated. I think the concept certainly is to try always to improve the regulation. For ’27, already a significant change will happen, and I think first we need to go through that change and see what will be the result of the changes we’ve made in terms of flat-out racing, etcetera. So, I would be patient. I would wait to see first how much the changes we have, which are somehow significant, how much those changes will improve the situation, to furthermore, let me say, modify. And again, as Laurent said, we are always open for constructive discussions if further tuning would be required. It can be an idea, certainly open to it.

Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) One for all three of you. At the moment, the last two races are going ahead as originally scheduled. Obviously Imola is on standby. Realistically, how long can you as teams wait for a decision? And if we are going to Imola, what sort of challenges will it present in the next couple of months? Ayao, why don’t we start with you?
AK: Yes, I believe that Stefano was targeting to tell us in mid-October, right? So, we all know what the situation is. I believe that Imola is getting ready in case we have to do it. I think the challenges are, for instance, things like European motorhome structure, etcetera. All those people who look after them, they have a winter job, so we need to find alternative people to do that. But I’m sure we all, as a family, community, will make sure if we have to do that, that will happen. But hopefully, as a baseline, we can go to Qatar and Abu Dhabi. That would be really good.
MB: I don’t think there is much. As we discussed during the F1 Commission last Monday, mid-October is the last call for such a decision. The main challenges are more organisation and logistics. I would think, from a technical point, often we may say wintertime, snow tyres, but at the end, as a matter of fact, the average temperature in Imola in that time of the year is hotter than Las Vegas by the time we’ve got the race in Las Vegas. So I don’t think that’s a true concern. It’s more from the organisation and the logistics, really. And again, mid-October, hopefully we may do the right decision.

Q: (Ben Vinel – Motorsport.com) Question to Laurent. It has been nearly 10 years since anyone consistently matched Max’s performance as a teammate, and obviously he has become even stronger now. So, what do you expect from Isack for his second season at Red Bull? To be a decent second driver or to consistently challenge Max?
LM: What we expect him to do is to continue to progress. So, what we have seen in that first part of the season, him improving his speed, not only the technical feedback, not only the maturity, not only the integration, improving his speed as he has been doing in the first part of the season. That’s what we would like him to continue doing through the second part of the year and through next year. If he does that, yes, of course he’s going to be very close to Max. So, both these things go together.

Q: (Nigel Chiu – Sky Sports) Laurent, there are quite a few upgrades on the Red Bull car this weekend. Is that the last major upgrade package for this season? How much focus is now going into next year’s car?
LM: Yes, you’re right. It’s most probably our last significant package. We have switched a significant part of our resources, a very large majority of our resources, on next year’s car now. It doesn’t mean that we don’t look at this season. At first, we are still chasing our first win. That’s an important target for the team. And second, as you know, the regulations have only very little changes for next year and there are huge opportunities for us to continue to learn in the remaining races and to make sure we arrive as prepared as we can for next year. But in short, yes, it’s the last significant upgrade for this year.

Q: (Josh Suttill – The Race) Question for Mattia and for Laurent. On the topic of the next engine cycle, how important would it be to have some kind of push-to-pass system? Is that something on the agenda and something you’d advocate for?
MB: Yes, it is on the menu. Push-to-pass is important for the racing situation, overtaking, so making sure that at least we are not creating trains and no one can overtake. So, a push-to-pass will be there. What’s the type of push-to-pass? Still to be discussed and agreed. So, there is not a clear, let me say, at the moment, way of doing it. There are multiple ways of doing it. It can be boost pressure, it can be DRS, it can be KERS, so electrical. So, the way to do it will be part of the discussions we will have with FIA.
LM: Nothing to add to what Mattia said. It’s early days, but the intention is certainly to have great racing, to continue to have great racing.