1 – Kimi ANTONELLI (Mercedes)
2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
3 – Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Martin Brundle)

Q: Charles, great result for you, I mean, after the first pit stop, you just came alive. You had so much speed.
Charles LECLERC: Yeah, I mean, it was quite a good race. Unfortunately, we came short of the victory, which is eventually our target. But at the end of the day, it was a positive race. We had good pace. The first stint was a little bit more difficult. Kimi went for a one-stop, which was not really on our cards, to be honest, today. But we were in the race with Max and we had good pace. It was a fun race, with quite nice battles at the start and then later on with Lando and Max.

Q: Yeah, it's very close on that opening lap. You were brave around the outside there.
CL: It was quite tricky, but I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. Then I ended up with a little bit less battery, and it was a bit difficult to protect against Max. But then I knew I had quite a good feeling with the car, so I knew we had pace to keep fighting later on, which we did. So, it's a good race overall.

Q: Thank you. Well done. Max, congratulations, another podium. You gave it everything out there today. You just didn't quite have enough grip when it came to the final stages.
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I think our overall pace was not good enough, and then probably also the tyres that we had available were probably not the right ones. So, it's something that we have to understand, because I think the last two races it was always working well for us. For whatever reason, it didn't work out here. But, yeah, we still managed to get on the podium, maybe a little bit lucky with the VSC at the end, but I'll take it.

Q: I loved that overtake on Lando, with Charles right on your tail.
MV: I had to. It was either get overtaken or you have to go for the overtakes, so that's what I did.

Q: Kimi Antonelli, what a victory. Absolutely perfect start, perfect execution. Wonderful.
Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, thank you so much. It was the result we needed, to be fair, and the whole team deserved it so much. And, you know, all this time putting so much work into bringing this new package and finally seeing the result is very pleasant. And, yeah, you know, it was also a perfect execution, from strategy to calling the one-stop, and, yeah, really happy that we made it stick. And today was a great team effort.

Q: You got up this morning with one hand reaching out to the World Championship trophy. You've now got one hand on it and the second hand is almost there. It's within touching distance now.
KA: Yeah, I know we're very close, but, yeah, we try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Kimi, what a race, what a weekend. Was this one of your best race weekends in Formula 1?
Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, I think it was one of the best, because of how we built up during the weekend. And, you know, it was a great team effort as well today, especially with the strategy, believing in the one-stop. And, yeah, it was a really great team effort, and they all deserve this result today.

Q: The pace of the car was exceptional. Were you always committed to the one-stop? Did you think of covering Max when he pitted on lap 13?
KA: I was a bit concerned in the beginning, but, you know, then we were able to extend, and actually the pace came back with the Medium, and we were able to extend without losing too much time. And, yeah, so then, as you know, after doing the first stint on the Medium, we were like, "Oh, right, we're going to go for one-stop." And the hard, to be fair, felt very robust, so I felt pretty confident to go all the way to the end. I just didn't know how much management was required, but, yeah, it was good, and the car felt very good today.

Q: Talk us through the start, and did the Medium feel like a big call at the time, especially when you looked across and saw Max on the Soft?
KA: I mean, we didn't have much choice, to be fair. We didn't have any new Softs, so the new Medium was the only choice we really had, or the Hard. But, you know, the Medium was not amazing. I think today the best tyre was the Hard, just because it was the most resilient tyre, and it was quite surprising because in recent races the Soft has always been probably the best tyre. So, yeah, it was a good surprise, and luckily it worked for us.

Q: Can we finally say now that the upgrades you introduced in Sepang are delivering the pace that you and the team expected all along?
KA: In some places, I would say, still not as much as we expected, but in other places it is delivering very well. You know, I think in the high- and medium-speed the car is very strong. The balance is good. We're still struggling a little bit in low speed with front locking, but overall, I feel like the package is finally starting to deliver, and we're starting to see the results and the improvements from the package.

Q: Finally, another big step closer to that first World Championship title. Today, just how much are you going to enjoy the coming days? And just give us a little preview as to how you're going to approach the Mexico City Grand Prix next week.
KA: I mean, I'm going to approach it with the same mindset, just trying to have as much fun as possible, trying to hopefully fight for another win. But, yeah, it would be best to finish on a high, and that's the goal. But, yeah, I'm just going to try to enjoy the rest of the season from now on.

Q: Charles, let's come to you now. Incredible race, very aggressive throughout. First of all, how enjoyable was it for you to have such a quick race car underneath you?
CL: I enjoyed it, yeah, I enjoyed it. I mean, the start was fun, then later on with Lando and Max again was quite fun. So, it's one of those races where you're not getting too bored inside the cockpit, and there's something to play for. I even thought the victory was possible at one point when I saw Kimi going for the one-stop. Based on our numbers, he would start to struggle a bit more towards the end of the race. He never really struggled towards the end of the race, but, yeah, it's been a fun race. A shame just that we came short of winning.

Q: Was it always a two-stop for you?
CL: Yes, I think Red Bull and I had kind of the same vision. If you look at the tyre allocation as well, for us the two-stops were probably the way to go.

Q: Okay, a couple of standout moments I wanted to ask you about. First of all, lap one, the battle with Max.
CL: Yeah, that was fun. I mean, I had quite a good start. Then I didn't want to brake too late for Turn 1, just to keep an opportunity of trying to cross back at the exit of Turn 1. But Lewis got very, very close, and then I used a little bit more of my battery to get alongside Max in Turns 3, 4 and 5. I didn't really know how it would go, but, yeah, it was quite close, but it was fun.

Q: And that final stint on the Hard, you just seemed to have so much pace.
CL: Yeah, I mean, the Hard, as Kimi said, was just a really good tyre, and I could push on it quite a lot. So, yeah, I was more interested in trying to... I kept asking my engineer what the pace of Kimi was, but I was probably a bit too optimistic. I still wanted to give it a shot, but, yeah, I probably lost a bit too much time with Max and Lando. Even with free air, I don't think I would have got to Kimi. He was just too quick today.

Q: But given the pace of the car, particularly in the latter stages, is there a bit of you that thinks this is a victory that went missing?
CL: I mean, if you look at FP1, FP2 and FP3, we were very strong. If you look at qualifying, at the end of the day in Q3, it was extremely difficult to bring the tyres up to temperature, and we probably lost a shot at the victory there. But today Kimi was very strong, so, yeah, as a whole weekend, I think we're just not robust enough.

Q: Charles, thank you very much for that. Max, let's come to you now. Very well done, podium number 10 of the season for you. Just how do you sum up the run to P3, first of all?
MV: Pretty frustrating, to be honest. Yeah, just not a really good race for us. In hindsight, of course, it's very easy to say, but for whatever reason, the softer compounds today were not really working that well. So, yeah, then also I think the way that we used our tyres in the order was wrong. Plus, I think at one point it was quite clear that the people on the harder compounds were finding a lot of grip, so I guess we also didn't really react to that. Just probably sticking too much to our belief from the last two races, where the softer compounds were the fastest, and clearly here that didn't work. But, yeah, also besides that, too many issues with the power unit, where it was just very inconsistent behaviour around the corners, every lap, every corner, different behaviour. So, you can't build up a rhythm, you can't build any kind of consistency in the car. I had a slow pit stop, so, yeah, too many things today that just didn't go well.

Q: Just in terms of the pace of the car, why do you think it felt so different here compared to the last few races, where you've been just so competitive?
MV: Because I think we are balanced as a car. We are not the fastest in high speed, we're not the fastest in low speed, and I think maybe here you either need to be very fast in high speed or you need to be the quickest in low speed. When you're none of it, you're just a little bit average, and I think we were just a little bit average in the race. Of course, if we chose different tyres, probably we could have maybe been second, but that's always easy to say afterwards. Plus, when you have too many issues with the consistency of your power unit, then that already costs you free lap time. So it's normal that you can't execute everything to the limit or at least be at your best. There are still a lot of things that we need to look at and do better.

Q: And more frustration at the start for you as well?
MV: I didn't lose a position, so it wasn't that bad. It's normal. My start was normal. Just consistently…

Q: We've had Charles' thoughts on that opening-lap battle. Can we just get yours as well, please?
MV: Yeah, I think Charles boosted from Turn 2 to Turn 3, so he got me around the outside, which was a good move. I was like, "All right, let's just settle in. Still a long race ahead." But then we had a good battle from Turns 12 to 15, which was cool. It was good racing. I also had Lewis on my outside, I think, in the first lap in Turn 6, so I had a bit of work to do there. But, yeah, it all worked out, so that's nice, you know, when you can battle a bit like that. Of course, Kimi was a bit further up the road because of it all, but that's okay.
KA: Yeah, it definitely made my life a bit easier!

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Fred Ferret – L’Equipe) Two questions for Kimi. First one about the start: is it not a concern for you anymore, because you seemed to have a good one? And then can you tell us more about the second stint with the Hard tyre? How did you manage that, and have you been working on that with Bono since the beginning of the year?
KA: Yeah, I mean, the start definitely is something we've improved massively. We were nowhere at the beginning of the season, and now we're good, so that's definitely one less thing to worry about. And about the Hard stint, yeah, I mean, there was constant communication with Bono because, obviously, we only used it in FP1 but I didn't even do a long run on the Hard, so I didn't know how much I could push or how much I had to manage. But, you know, after the first few laps, it felt pretty robust, so I was just able to do my pace. And, yeah, to be fair, today the Hard was probably the best tyre in the race. But no, definitely, every race you do, you get more and more experience, and you're able to handle a different situation in a better way.

Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Another one to Kimi. I know you approached it race by race, but did you surprise yourself in any way this weekend? There was so much talk going into the weekend about your first shot at the title, and with that pressure, you probably delivered one of your best weekends in Formula 1. Did you surprise yourself, and what does it tell you about how you deal with that pressure?
KA: Yeah, I mean, to be fair, I'm very lucky because I have a very good group of people around me. In the team, I have my father, who always comes, then my performance coach. I just have a great group of people around me that help me to be more relaxed and not worry about these kinds of things. They help me to block out the noise, and that's also what's been allowing me to enjoy the weekend and perform. I think, obviously, there's been a lot of talk. I'm not going to lie, on Thursday there was a lot of talk about the championship and stuff, and I just tried not to worry about that at all and just tried to deliver the best result I could. Today was a very important result for me and for the team.

Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) Kimi, congratulations on the win. As you sit here so close to clinching the championship, can you talk us through the highs and lows of your season? Has anything surprised you about how successful you've been in this campaign?
KA: Well, for sure, it's been a good surprise, this season so far. Of course, it's still not over. There are still a few races where I just want to do well and still try to fight for wins. It would be good to finish on a high. But, yeah, definitely looking back at the season, there are still things to work on and improve, on the mindset in certain situations or the way I handle a few scenarios. So, for sure, at the end of the season, I will have more time to look back at things: what went well, what could have been better. But definitely, it's been a very consistent season so far, and we'll try to keep it that way until the end.

Q: (Sahil Kapur – NBC) Would you say a bit more about the scenarios that you would be looking back on?
KA: I mean, first of all, Australia FP3, the mistake. Japan, I had a bad execution at the start. Then Miami as well, the Sprint race, just throwing away points as well with track limits. Yeah, track limits has been the bigger thing for me.
MV: You had only one.
KA: Yeah, only one! it was good today. But definitely, these kinds of situations, and then also in some of the qualifying sessions, I just didn't go in with the right mindset. So, yeah, just making sure I improve those.

Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Kimi, Toto Wolff just said that this was the best win of the season for you, and we also remember Monza, the win coming from the last row. Can you please compare the two races? I know it's difficult for a driver to say what is the best win, but how do you compare these two races?
KA: Yeah, I mean, Monza, we clearly had the fastest car. We were just super quick, so of course it was incredibly special coming from the back. But it was also a track where it was relatively easy to overtake, and we were so quick. But definitely, Monza was a super special one, and one that I will remember forever. But, you know, this one probably, in terms of execution, was better, because the way we built up and the way we built the performance throughout the weekend was very good.

Q: (Tim Hartman – AD Sportwereld) Question for Max. There were again some issues with the radio. Can you explain how annoying that was for you, especially because it was the second time?
MV: It's not the second time. It's already, I don't know how many times this year. Maybe we should just start communicating in sign language. It's probably cheaper as well. It's a disaster. Yeah, it's a disaster. It's really frustrating, to be honest.

Q: (Chris Joseph – Business Mirror) Yesterday, it seemed like you were saying you could get more out of the car and compete really for P1, and today, it seems like with the consistency issues and the power unit issues, do you think you could have got anything more out of the car today, or did you guys think that this was the absolute maximum we could get, given the issues?
MV: No, today we didn't maximise much. The issues, of course, don't help, but I think also the strategy that we did with the tyre choices that we made, yeah, they were just not good. So that's a few things to analyse: why these tyres didn't work as we expected, or why the other tyres performed better than expected. So, yeah, something to learn from. And then, like I said before, the slow pit stop doesn't help as well. It's just seconds that you throw away, right? And then when you're fighting a close battle for second, that hurts your performance. So, for sure, today, just normally we're very good at these things, but today we weren't.

Q: (Tyler Strempel – Texas Student Television) The improved pace from the Ferrari car lately, kind of getting better and better. What feels better about the car in these past couple of weeks, and do you think you can convert that into a win within the next couple of races?
CL: Whether I can convert that into a win is a bit difficult to predict, because it's such fine margins, and it also depends on what the upgrade plans of the others are in upcoming races. But the feeling with the car is getting better and better. These cars are very specific and unique, and I feel like, over the last two or three races, I've unlocked something again in terms of driving, and particularly set-up with my driving. Just both together, we've taken a step forward, and I just feel much more comfortable with the car. So I hope that this will result in a win soon. Whether it's in Singapore or here in Austin, we were quite close, so I'm confident that we'll have a shot to win a race before the end of the season.