TEAM REPRESENTATIVES - Alan PERMANE (Racing Bulls), Andrea STELLA (McLaren), Laurent MEKIES (Red Bull Racing)

Q: Andrea, why don’t we start with you. It’s been a busy couple of races for McLaren in terms of upgrades. What feedback did you get from the drivers after FP1?
Andrea STELLA: Yes, it’s good to be busy because you have new parts that you’re bringing trackside to try and make the car faster. The first big round of upgrades, it was already planned to be brought to Miami, and here in Canada we have a few more things, like a front wing, bodywork, and this completes this first round. We are happy with what we saw in Miami in terms of the data that we measured, and also the impact that it had on our competitiveness. We are actually completing our review of what we tested here, especially the front wing. It was a significant upgrade, so there’s some more work to do in terms of review, but so far, we are happy. I have to say that when I looked at the submission document this morning, you can see how much every team is pushing. Long list once again, after a large number of upgrades, pretty much for all teams, even here in Canada. And I think it will take a few races to understand how much this is affecting the pecking order. Like, if I take McLaren, Canada has been a tricky track in the past, so we will see how we do here, but in terms of understanding our competitiveness, I think we will have to look at a few races, not only Canada.

Q: OK, but you’re 86 points behind Mercedes now. How do you view the rest of the season and the World Championship?
AS: First of all, I see the season being very long. We have done just four events. There’s at least 18 to go. It will always be a battle of development. That’s what everyone said heading into this 2026 season. I think so far, and this was also the case in Miami, Mercedes are in a solid leadership. Here they took some more upgrades, so we will see how it works. It looks, based on P1, that it seems to be working well. I think in Miami, even when they were not leading, like in the Sprint Quali or in the Sprint, this was more to do with their under-optimisation rather than the potential not being there. Or if we look at the Sprint or the race, we see the impact of the starts, for instance. But I think there’s no doubt that they have a faster car than all the others. And behind Mercedes, I think it’s quite interesting to see how competitive the field is. I think it’s good for Formula 1 to see McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, everyone close to each other. Obviously, we would like to try and find some performance and see if we can set the challenge to Mercedes.

Q: Now, off track, the silly season has started early this year, and McLaren appears to be front and centre of that. Since you were last in this press conference, you’ve announced GP Lambiase, but there have also been rumours about you going to Ferrari, Oscar Piastri going to Red Bull. What is your reaction to all of these stories?
AS: Well, I think the reaction is in your question. You mentioned the silly season, and I think we are already fully in this silly season. When we think about Oscar, we couldn’t be happier. I think we are seeing the best Oscar in the cockpit and also a happy Oscar, and the best version of himself outside the cockpit. Great dynamics and relationship with Lando, and I think the team is in its strongest shape since I’ve been Team Principal. So definitely it’s very clear, the direction for maximum stability at McLaren. When it comes to myself, I’m definitely fully committed to McLaren. One of the things that makes me more proud of my experience as a Team Principal is that we managed to fill the cabinet at MTC with trophies, and this meant that we needed to create another area of the cabinet, a new one. And for me the mission is very clear: we need to fill that new area of the cabinet for the years to come at McLaren. And GP? It’s very simple. At McLaren, we want to employ the best people in Formula 1, the best expertise, the best leaders. And the fact that GP decided to join McLaren, for me, just speaks to the credibility of our team. So, silly season, what’s important for us is stability and that the best talents in Formula 1 want to join McLaren.

Q: OK, Andrea, thank you for that. Laurent, can I bring you in on the silly season. I mean, Piastri to Red Bull, should we start with that?
Laurent MEKIES: Yeah, we can start with that. Honestly, it’s not so dissimilar to Andrea’s comments, in the way that we have a very, very strong driver line-up, and the driver choice is not a question that we are asking ourselves right now. We have Max, nobody needs to present Max. He is pulling us up through a fairly complicated start of the season. Isack is doing a very, very good job. He has been dealing extremely well with a complicated car in the first three races, being very close to Max. He had a bit of a more difficult weekend in Miami, but we can see here straight away he’s been in a good rhythm this morning. As far as we are concerned, we are super happy with the two guys behind the wheels.

Q: Are you concerned that Max might follow GP Lambiase to McLaren?
LM: Look, no, I’m not concerned with Max following GP. We always have this joke. We are not going to ask Max every week if he’s going to stay. Max is telling us he’s happy at Red Bull. He is involved in every strategic decision we are making. He is at the heart of the project. He is pushing with us and we both want the same thing: getting back to a more competitive package. And he is central to that.

Q: On the topic of Max, how much of his 24-hour race at the Nürburgring last weekend did you watch?
LM: We had a deal whereby when he was taking a bit too much risk, he’d hide [from] me the onboard, just for all of us to be a bit more relaxed. But no, look, it’s been spectacular. He has missed the win by not much there, but certainly his speed was incredible. And he came back with a big smile, full of motivation for this Grand Prix, and that’s what matters.

Q: How nervous do you get watching your prized asset doing an event on the Nordschleife?
LM: We genuinely support Max in what he is trying to do there. When I say he’s coming back with a big smile, he’s coming back with a big smile. He’s also having the big smile the week before because he knows he’s going to do this different kind of racing. It’s great that he’s so in love with the sport, 360 degrees, every aspect of the sport. Of course, we are a little bit relieved when the race is over and we know he’s going to jump on the plane and join us back. But overall, it’s very positive for the sport, for motorsport as a whole, for Max and for the team.

Q: OK, final one for me. On the topic of upgrades and the performance of the car, you made a big step in Miami. How confident are you of maintaining that run here in Montreal?
LM: We don’t think it’s going to be a nice, linear road of recovery with closing the gap every race. There are going to be some bumps. As Andrea explained, people are going to bring updates one race, yes; one race, no; and we are going to see variations. But certainly Miami put us back into the fight. We know we need a lot more, but it confirms that most of the difficulties we have faced at the beginning of the season, we have managed to cure. We know we have a bit more to do and to get on with the development race at full speed now.

Q: OK, Laurent, thank you for that. Alan, if we come to you now, can we start just with a frustrating FP1 for Liam Lawson. What were his issues?
Alan PERMANE: Yeah, very frustrating. And especially in a Sprint weekend, it’s tough to lose the car so early on. Hydraulic leak. As I came up here, we didn’t have the car back yet, so I don’t know how serious it is. It could be something very simple and we’re out comfortably for the next session, or it could be something a bit more terminal. So, yeah, watch this space.

Q: And with it being a Sprint weekend, just how much more complicated is Liam’s weekend looking now?
AP: Yeah, very complicated. If we can get him out for Sprint Quali, I think we would then turn the weekend, as we have done a little bit with both cars. It’s very difficult for us to score points in a Sprint. We managed it in Shanghai with a nice strategy for the Sprint, with a nice tyre strategy. But I think with the way that the top four cars are, that locks out all the points. So what we had said, and I had said it especially to Arvid, we should treat P1, Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint a little bit like P1, P2 and P3, and make sure we’re absolutely nailed on ready for qualifying on Saturday evening. Now, Liam’s going to face a little bit of that. Arvid obviously ignored that advice and was eighth this morning, and has got a smile on his face and looks reasonably happy, although some people haven’t set a lap time on softs, so it’s a little bit difficult, but he’s reasonably happy with the car. But for Liam, I think it will be, well, the first step will be getting the car ready. Next step will be getting through Sprint Quali 1.

Q: On the subject of Arvid, he was in the press conference yesterday and he spoke of being satisfied with how season one was going for him in Formula 1. Can we get your take on his progress? What’s impressed you about him?
AP: It’s been good. He started off at a high level, of course. I think he’s been very smart in the people he has around him off track. He has Ollie Rowland looking after him, or being a mentor, or a sounding board, or whatever you want to call it. Ollie is here this weekend, so he’s a really good asset to have. He’s quite demanding, Arvid, which I think is good as well. He wants everything immediately. If anything, to sort of calm him down and keep him there. You can see he’s aiming high, aiming for the top. He’s self-critical, which is, again, I find a good and refreshing thing in drivers. The first place he looks is himself to find performance. So, no issues with Arvid, he’s doing a very good job.

Q: Alan, final one from me. It’s the first race for Dan Fallows with the team. Just can you clarify how he fits into the structure that you’ve got at the team now?
AP: Yeah, reasonably simply. Tim Goss is Chief Technical Officer and Dan sits under him as Technical Director. Dan looks after all the design, aero, those technical departments report to him and he reports to Tim.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports F1) Just wondering whether Andrea and Laurent can clear up a little bit more the issue with GP. Laurent, in Miami you said he was going to McLaren as Team Principal. Andrea, is he a potential successor to you down the line? Could you move to a different executive role within the team and GP step up? And Laurent, do you stand by the remarks you made in Miami?
LM: Look, it’s certainly my understanding that GP is going to McLaren to become a Team Principal. That’s what I told you at the time. Obviously, we had a number of conversations before he was going to make the decision. Now don’t ask me if it’s going to happen, the timing of it is none of my business. I can just tell you the content of our conversations.
AS: What I said before is that McLaren, for us, it’s important to employ the best talents in Formula 1 because Zak and I want to build the strongest team, not only in the present, but I think we have some good references as to strong teams in the past. I have been part of the Ferrari team in the early 2000s, and I know what level of seniority, expertise, leadership you need to be successful in the present and in the future. And employing GP is part of this vision, which is a vision of creating additive leadership that can integrate with the present leadership and create a stronger and stronger team at McLaren. So, I very strongly wanted GP to join McLaren. I am personally very stretched in my role as Team Principal, and I need a strong group of leaders working with me. So, I think the plan is very clear. Any other speculation leads us back to the silly season.

Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sport Italy) A question to Laurent. Laurent, I think the time is running out. Is there unanimity regarding the 2027 engine and different balance between thermal and electric engine? Is Red Bull Powertrains in favour of change?
LM: We support any step that the sport wants to make to get closer to flat-out qualifying and to flat-out racing. As Red Bull Ford Powertrains, for sure we support this change. You will find nobody comfortable with changing so late for next year, and that’s why we have so many discussions. But certainly, we are happy to step out of that comfort zone for the benefit of the sport and to get something in place for 2027. Is there a sense of unanimity? Of course, because it’s conversations that put us all out of our comfort zone, it needs quite a few discussions. It’s a work in progress, and I have confidence we’ll land in the right place.

Q: (Aldona Maraniak – Eleven Sports) To all three of you, if I may, in light of Mercedes’ potential interest in Alpine. First of all, Andrea, we know Zak’s opinion, especially after his letter to the FIA, but from your perspective, maybe on a more technical side, what’s the benefit of owning two teams? And to Laurent and Alan, do you feel that there is an actual benefit of being two teams, Red Bull family in the paddock, or is it a bit unfair to claim that this is a major advantage?
AS: What Zak has expressed, representing the opinion and the position of McLaren, is part of a process that we wanted to be constructive and healthy, but also very clear. Very clear on a principle that I would really be curious to see if any of the stakeholders in Formula 1 disagrees with, and the fact that this is a championship between independent constructors. We believe very strongly that this principle should be enforced totally. And the reason why we want this principle and this point to be discussed is because we think, from a practical point of view, there’s more that we should do. We are happy with how this is being received. I think, like I said before, there’s some philosophical agreement by basically all the stakeholders. It’s now the time for the F1 community to think about how do we implement it fully, such that the fairness in the game and in the competition is fully achieved, and also, the true extent of the technical, sporting and financial regulations is also brought to life.
AP: Yeah, I would say, do we feel the benefit? I certainly feel the benefit of being part of the Red Bull family and coming under Austria, Red Bull corporate projects group. Our relationship with Red Bull Racing is very much a customer-supplier relationship. We take some suspension from them, we take gearbox from them, and various other components that are allowed under the technical regulations, which we follow very rigorously. And actually, I have to say, having worked at a team where we don’t have that relationship at all and now a team where we do have it, a lot of work goes into ensuring that we are respecting those rules. So, a lot of effort that could be put into other areas, a lot of effort is put into ensuring that we respect those regulations. So, I don’t see any issue with the way we operate currently.
LM: We all want 11 teams racing independently on track, and we have made many steps as a sport in recent weeks, in recent months, in recent years, to try to ensure more and more independence from every team racing on track. If any stakeholders, let it be another team or anyone else, would feel that more steps are needed to ensure 11 teams racing independently, we would support. We don’t think it’s a matter of core ownerships or strategic supply. We think there are very many different ways in which teams are collaborating in the pit lane. As I said, power unit supply, gearbox supply, suspension supply, partial ownerships, full ownerships. We are completely supportive to take any further step to ensure that regardless of our strategic partnership or regardless of our ownership structure, that we race independently on track. We feel that is the case today. We will regardless completely encourage any further steps that we feel is needed as a sport.

Q: (Ted Kravitz – Sky Sports UK) A question for Laurent. Yesterday, Max Verstappen gave the clearest indication that he’s happy with the direction of travel on the rules and that he feels he’s constructively being listened to. Do you feel his continuation in Formula 1 is conditional on some of the rules being tweaked for 2027, on getting a bit more from the engine and turbocharger, and maybe a bit less on the battery, the so-called 60/40?
LM: I mean, you have asked him the question directly, I’m sure, yesterday. But I think, you know, Max cares about the sport, and the reason why he’s so vocal is because he genuinely cares about Formula 1 being the pinnacle of motorsport. And he wants to see, I’m sure as most of you, flat-out qualifying. He wants to see the fastest drivers being able to push as hard as they want in the corners without losing any lap time due to that. And he has been listened to, as you said. There has been a fantastic openness from the stakeholders, from the FIA, from F1, from all the teams to say, “Yeah, we need to do something about it.” And therefore, I’m sure it’s been encouraging for him and for all of us to see that we are all ready to make steps to fix it, and I think it’s important for the sport.

Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) A fine question for all three of you. On the subject of the 60/40 split, there’s been a lot of talk about fuel flow, fuel cell size. Can you talk a bit about the complications around that in terms of the timing of signing off next year’s chassis, the fact that some people want to carry over this year’s? Can it be partially addressed by having shorter races for next year?
AP: I can start with that one. I think that’s a very straightforward one. On the chassis side, we have already spoken and come to an agreement, certainly at Team Principal level, that if anyone wanted to carry their chassis over and that wasn’t quite big enough to do the 310k race, we would look at selective races and, of course, only where absolutely necessary, by shortening them by maybe one or two laps, limiting laps to grid to one. So, of course, maximising any potential race length, but that’s already in place and ready to go.
AS: I agree. From a chassis point of view, it’s absolutely possible. There are enablers that are part of this proposal that make this proposal achievable. It is a proposal, the 60/40, that is for the good of the sport. I think there’s a general interest that prevails over the particular interest, and this is an important opportunity for the F1 community to make sure that the sport is in a strong position. So, we do hope that this process will be successful.
LM: Very similar answer to my colleagues. I think chassis side, there is not really a stress on it. There is some tension on the PU side from a timing perspective, and that’s why we are all trying to converge as quickly as we can now.

Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) It’s one for Laurent. After the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA wants to take a decision on ADUO, but there’s already a lot of gamesmanship going on. Toto saying only one manufacturer needs it and he means Honda, Charles saying, “Well, we are even down compared to Red Bull Ford.” So, is all of that flattering for you as a newcomer? And secondly, where do you think you stack up?
LM: So, you’re asking us to enter into the game? No, seriously, the way we look at it, I can only give you what we think is a pecking order. Do whatever you like with it. We think the guys, Red Bull Ford Powertrains, they did an extraordinary job in getting us on the grid in the position to fight from a project that was effectively a field at the back of Red Bull Racing a few years ago. So that has been nothing short of phenomenal. Now, the next second, you look at your gap to the best competition, and today we think the pecking order is Mercedes in terms of powertrain ahead of the field, and it means eight cars, so it is very significant. We think behind them there is a group where we see us, Ferrari, Audi — don’t ask me to quote the numbers because it will be gaming — but we see certainly a consistent gap compared to the Mercedes-Benz-powered cars. And then it’s probably fair to say that we read Honda further back. And how is that going to fit any of the grid that the FIA calculation is trying to do, we will soon find out.

Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Question for Laurent. Sorry, we’re not tag-teaming you. I was wondering what you made of the pantomime outside the Mercedes motorhome yesterday with Jos Verstappen very ostentatiously having a chinwag with Toto about five minutes before the Kimi Antonelli press conference was due to start. I mean, that could only have been more obvious if one of them was standing up and holding one of those massive golf sale banners. So, do you view this as an attempt to put pressure on you and put stories out there? Do you react when you see that sort of thing going on?
LM: I tell you what, as much as it may sound exciting to see that from the outside, I really don’t think there is an intention particularly behind. If any of these guys wants to have a chat, it’s going to be a story anyway. So, we speak all the time with Max and with Jos. It’s completely natural that they can have a conversation with Toto. Max was racing in a Mercedes last week, a GT3. So, I genuinely don’t think it’s part of a game plan to get a message or another through.

Q: (Adam Cooper – Adam Cooper F1) A question for Andrea. Can you give us your thoughts on Piers Thynne? He’s been a bit of an unsung hero in the team for 18 years. If you could tell us a bit about the contribution he’s made, and will there be a direct replacement for him, or in a way is that role not needed, has he kind of done the job over the past few years?
AS: Well, Piers has been certainly an important contributor to the success that we have achieved at McLaren. He’s a long-course server of the McLaren team. He started in 2008, so he’s been part of various phases. He’s been a close person to me personally, and also in his role as Chief Operating Officer, quite instrumental for the development of the team. So, it’s for me the chance to wish Piers all the best in his new experience, in his new adventure at Williams. I’m sure he will be a very important contributor. When it comes to the organisation at McLaren, in reality the organisation had already moved forward because Piers was in a different role other than Chief Operating Officer for some months now. So, it’s not impactful to the way we have moved forward and evolved as an organisation.