F1: FIA Thursday press conference – Abu Dhabi

PART ONE – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren), Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari)

Q: Carlos, let’s kick things off with you. Your last weekend as a Ferrari driver for now. How are you going to look back on your time with the team?

Carlos SAINZ: Well, definitely, well, first of all, I think this weekend is going to be quite emotional, quite intense, not only because of it being the last weekend, but also for how much is at stake with the Constructors’ title. At the same time, it’s been a tough year in general with a lot going on in the background. I think I have to be quite happy, quite proud of how I handled every situation through the year and how I managed to push myself to get to the end of the year still in good shape, in good form and ready to fight for that.

Q: Let’s talk about the Constructors’ Championship. You and Ferrari are 21 points behind McLaren. How do you see the competitive order this weekend?

CS: I think it’s honestly very tight between us, but not only between Ferrari, McLaren, but also Mercedes and Red Bull. I think we are all within a couple of tenths of each other. And depending on the track, depending on the tyre compound we use, depending on the track characteristics, the wind, the conditions, one car will come out on top that weekend. And last weekend looked like it was going to be the McLaren. In the end, it was Max. the other weekend, George, the other weekend, me in Mexico, or again, Max in the wet in Brazil. It’s almost like it’s so tight across the top four teams that you cannot pick one before a weekend. And I think we’re all waiting to practice to see who suddenly seems the strongest that weekend.

Q: What would it mean to you to leave Ferrari as Constructors’ Champion?

CS: Would mean everything to me, honestly. It’s, I think, the best way to say goodbye to my home these last four years and to the team that I’ve given my absolute best to for the last four years and I’ve enjoyed every single moment with them. And to say goodbye with a Constructors’ title, I think, would be the perfect sign off, the perfect goodbye. I am also honest with you saying that it’s still not a long shot, but it is a difficult one. Being 21 points behind two of the fastest drivers and one of the fastest teams and recovering those 21 points in one weekend requires perfection from our side and probably not optimal weekend or a bad weekend from their side. It’s still going to be difficult, but I’ve seen worse things in racing happen before, and we’re going to give it our best shot.

Q: All right. Carlos, good luck. Thank you for that. Oscar, well, let’s kick off about the Constructors’ Championship. What is the mood in the camp at McLaren?

Oscar PIASTRI: I think still confident. Like Carlos said, we’re still in a good spot in terms of the lead we have. I think it’s going to be a very tightly fought weekend between probably the top four teams, not just us and Ferrari, which means that some of the other teams can potentially play a role in deciding the championship. So let’s see. We’re going to focus on ourselves and try and get the most out of our game our car that we have and I guess see where we end up. But I think we’re in a good spot and still confident.

Q: With so much at stake, does this race weekend feel different to previous ones this year?

CS: Yes and no. I think through some of the races in the second half of the season, especially when we were starting to take some points out of Max, there was kind of the urgency to make sure that was still happening for the Drivers’ Championship. And I think, you know, now it’s obviously a similar scenario for the Constructors. You know, Qatar didn’t end exactly how we wanted as a team but I think the confidence is still there. And yes, of course, there’s a lot riding on this weekend, it’s obvious, but I think the best way of tackling it is just how we have done and trying to get the most out of our car, because I think it’s very early now to start keeping both eyes on what Ferrari do. We need to keep at least one eye, probably both for now, on our own performance.

Q: Irrespective of what happens in the Constructors’ Championship, how will you personally look back on 2024?

OP: I think a good improvement from my rookie season. but still room to go. I think a few races at the start of the season, a few races more recently have not gone as well as I would have liked. And I think also as a team, there’s some races through the year that we would have liked to have executed a bit better. But I think, especially in the middle part of the year, I was very happy with the level I was performing at and I think I showed some pretty clear progress from last season. I think mainly in qualifying, I’ve made life too difficult for myself this year. But I think last year in a lot of the races, I wouldn’t have had the tools to get back through. Whereas this year, I feel like I have. So I think on a personal note, it’s been a good improvement. But yeah, still some room to go.

Q: Alright, Oscar, thank you for that. Best of luck to you this weekend. Lewis, welcome. Your last weekend as a Mercedes driver, how are the emotions?

LH: Pretty calm at the moment. Feeling positive and excited just to give it all this weekend. Every moment, like through the year, it’s been, you know, every single race has been obviously the last time I’ll race and be in that specific place with the team and I think today, already from like the briefings that we’ve had, like, you’re sitting there and you’re realising these are the last moments with the team, which is… It’s hard to describe the feeling. It’s not the greatest, of course, but I think mostly I’m just really proud of what we’ve achieved. And I have so much pride in this team.

Q: Can I ask you more about that? Because when you look back at your 12 years with Mercedes, all 246 races, what’s going to be your abiding memory?

LH: I think it’s the smiles, when we’ve had the success. I think it’s those moments. Like I remember one particular engineer, for example, I remember our first win in Australia in 2014, I think it was Australia, and I just remember him being in tears when we were on the podium. It’s those moments that I take with me. It’s the emotions that we had in Silverstone this year. It’s all the good bits. Naturally, you mostly remember the good bits. And I think it’s just the… I’m just incredibly proud, but also just so grateful to every single individual, both that are here at the track, but also back at the factory that have just worked tirelessly and, you know, been supporting me for all these years from day one.

Q: Lewis, how different does this moment feel to when you left McLaren at the end of 2012?

LH: If I’m honest, I don’t really remember the… Obviously, I remember meeting Niki. And I remember making the decision. But I don’t really remember the final days, if I’m really honest. I don’t really know. I’ve got a really bad memory, as you know. It definitely wasn’t as painful and difficult as this year has been in terms of the emotions. And I think because it was at the end of the year, it was much quicker and there wasn’t enough time for it to really settle in for anyone, I think, within the team. Yeah, this one is much more emotional because I’ve been with the team so long and we’ve been through so much together.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) A question for Lewis. You kind of alluded to it there, Lewis. It’s been a long goodbye. You knew from the start of the year you’d be leaving. So did the team… I think Toto said he anticipated maybe a bumpy road. Did it get awkward at any point, now we’re at the end of that road? And was it the key relationships enduring which enabled it to… It’s looked on the surface as if it’s been OK throughout the year in terms of keeping a kind of balance within the team and not having any kind of fallouts or friction?

LH: I mean, the first meeting with Toto at the beginning of the year was awkward, of course. So it was awkward from the get-go, to the day after when I took some of the team paintballing. And they had just found out. So I mean, there’s been loads of moments through the year… Yeah, I got lots of shots from people, yeah, loads of bruises. Yeah, people went in on me that day! I think ultimately I anticipated it would be difficult, but massively underestimated how difficult it would be. And it was straining on the relationship very early on, took time for people to get past it. And then just for my own self, it’s been a very emotional year for me. And I think I’ve not been at my best in handling and dealing with those emotions. And I think this year, and so many of you have been here my whole career, so some of you, I think, you’ve all seen the worst of me and seen the best of me and I’m not going to apologise for either because I’m only human and I don’t always get it right, and I would definitely would say this year’s been one of the worst in terms of handling that from my side, which I’ll work on trying to be better at. But I hope the good and the highs far outweigh the negatives and how I’ve handled it or behaved. And as I said, I just remember the good times, you know. I’ve built some incredible relationships. We’ve gone through. If you imagine, when you’re going when you’re going through a season together with so many people, you know, not only on those race weekends where you’re riding the highs and lows together, but in their personal lives, through marriages, through divorces, through loss of family members, through cancer, through all sorts. You’re going through these journeys with these people. So it’s a really beautiful journey you go on together. And being that it was so long, the emotions run so deep.

Q: (Nelson Valkenburg – Viaplay) We started this week with the news that we’re going to lose the Dutch Grand Prix after 2026. A lot of you have driven at Zandvoort a lot – I know Lewis, in particular, in 2005, winning the Masters of F3. But a question for all three of you. Should a track like Zandvoort be able to stay on the calendar or given the financial difficulties they have, is it a logical question now that they leave?

CS: I think it’s a very delicate matter. You know, I don’t understand fully the whole picture of why Zandvoort may or may not stay longer than the 2026 season. I think as a whole, the sport has definitely moved towards having more races outside of Europe than in Europe. Probably for economic and obviously political and economic reasons for the sport. In an ideal world, In my opinion, the Formula 1 season should have around 20 races. Out of those 20 races, I strongly believe six to eight of them should be in Europe because that’s where the sport comes from. And all of the others should remain rotational. If Zandvoort cannot keep the budget to run a Formula 1 race when some other races can, it doesn’t mean I think Zandvoort should completely disappear from the calendar, but maybe come back every two or three years back to a calendar to give all the Dutch fans and all the supporter of Max the opportunity to watch Max live, you know, and the same would apply to Spain, the same would apply to the UK if that’s ever the case. So, yeah, find ways to, even if these old school circuits, European circuits that maybe don’t have the big budgets that outside of Europe, they have these budgets, still find a way to give them the opportunity to keep coming back to a calendar now and then. I don’t know if it’s doable or not, but in my ideal F1 calendar scenario, I would try and fit that in.

OP: Yeah, I mean, much of the message is the same. I think we need to be careful as a sport not to get rid of all the tracks that we all grew up racing on and loving. I think if you ask most of the drivers on the grid, their favourite track, maybe apart from Suzuka, is probably guaranteed to be in Europe somewhere. And I think we need to be careful to not get rid of all of these tracks. There’s some that already aren’t on the calendar that I think we all would love to go back racing on. Again, I don’t know the full ins and outs of why Zandvoort is not returning after 2026. It’s a bit of a logistical challenge racing in Zandvoort, with the layout of the track and the kind of split paddock and stuff like that, so it is demanding and obviously we’re getting another team which is going to add to that demand. But yeah I think we need to be wary as a sport that a lot of the tracks that will disappear from the calendar are probably the ones that we all love a lot. So, yeah, I think we just need to be a bit careful with which ones we get rid of.

LH: So much time to think about what to say. I mean, I agree with the comments so far. I mean, I think it’s really sad to be losing Zandvoort, particularly if you look, the crowd is incredible there. There’s such a huge following, obviously, mostly for Max, but in general, the fans are what make the sport what it is. And then there are several races in the calendar – I’m not going to mention which ones, but you know which ones – which don’t have a lot of people that come, yet financially, obviously, they can cover, I guess, whatever the cost is. So I don’t know. I think the business is doing very, very well. And I think we’ve got to make sure we hold on to the heritage races, which Zandvoort, for me, is one of those.

Q: (Mariana Becker – TV Bandeirantes) Sorry, Oscar, but I have to ask for these two guys again. I was, not surprised, but I was very touched when I saw this week again, a reward, a gala night, a reward which was given to Nelson Piquet. And he was thanking everyone, but mainly he was being very emotional when he was talking about the mechanics of his life as a driver. From all this time of you in Ferrari and you in Mercedes, the guys who are not in the spotlight, you know, who are on the background, do you remember any special moment that they saved you or they made you overcome any situation that you could mention them? Too complicated a question?

CS: I think it’s a fair question. And I think you’ll see a lot of the times drivers trying to give credit to the mechanics because for me, they are one of the heroes of the sport. The guys that put in longer hours, traveling in different conditions than some of the high member of the staff travel in. They spend hours and hours away from home. They all have families. They all have people to go back to and they spend even more time at the track than us. And yeah, they are in a condition that they.. It is incredible to see the effort that they put into it and the passion. If there’s one thing, one of the biggest things that I’m going to miss in Ferrari is the mechanics. The passion that you see in Ferrari mechanics, no disrespect to any other team in the grid, but it’s something unbelievable to see. They understand racing. They understand strategy. They follow the race. And you can tell they know exactly what’s going on. They want to know what’s going on. And, yeah, when they go back to Maranello, they are even a bit famous, you know, because they are a Ferrari mechanic. And this only happens in Ferrari. And I’ve enjoyed a lot of that time with them. And, yeah, I feel like it’s a very special trait that Ferrari mechanics have that I’m definitely going to miss. But yeah, as Lewis said also before, you make friends. I’m still going to see them in the paddock a lot of the times. And I feel like sometimes it is worth giving credit to these people because they are truly a great part of the sport and a great part of the success of any Formula 1 team.

LH: I think that’s not really a huge amount more for me to add, but they are the unsung heroes. And all credit goes to should go to the team because they are the soldiers that really are on the front line. They’re the ones there weekend in, weekend out. And yeah, I’m not really sure what else to add. The team is everything. And the bonds between every person in the team, there’s not one person in the team that’s more important than the other. Everyone needs to be rowing in the same direction and pulling their weight, which they do. It’s a real privilege to see people operating at their best, especially when everyone does gel together. There’s certain points you don’t always get it. It’s not always perfect rhythm, but every now and then you get that synergy and you have this amazing performance together. It’s quite special.

Q: (Laurent Dupin – Canal+) A question for you, Lewis. To be honest, we need an answer from you to talk about Ferrari. So, we broadcast during the winter. So may I ask you to explain your challenge in trying to do next year what Michael did, but what other world champions did not achieve, like Alonso, Vettel, and Prost? And we will use it later.

LH: I mean, I’m not looking at comparing myself to Michael. Not looking at that. At the moment, that’s not something that I’m thinking about. Obviously, I’m trying to think about making sure that finish off the right way and the best way possible with Mercedes. These next days are going to be super emotional. It’s all a big unknown for what’s up ahead. Obviously, massive excitement. And yeah, I can’t really add much more at the moment. I don’t have anything else to say about it.

Q: (Samarth Kanal – The Race) Lewis, it seemed four years ago, the world was finally paying attention to the push for equality and justice for black people in particular. And you’ve done a lot of work on that with Mercedes. How do you reflect on your legacy in that regard and the progress that’s been made by this motorsport and the world in general?

LH: I mean, I can’t really say too much about the world. But I mean, it’s because it’s still a bit of a mess, right? But I’m really, really proud of the work, I’m incredibly proud of the work that we’ve done at Mercedes, for example, in terms of the steps we’ve taken, the investment from Mercedes, everyone stepping up and really being a part of and being open to change. The team is far more diverse than it ever has been. It’s far more inclusive, very open-minded. And our hope was that in doing so, the rest of the sport would follow. And I think it has, we’ve just seen Formula 1 and the FIA and all the teams see the importance of it and now be on board. And so I’m really, that’s one of the things I’m probably most proud of is being a part of sparking that. And I’m truly grateful for everyone that’s now on board. And I feel like the sport then is moving in the right direction, so.

Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) A question for Carlos. You said it would be a great way to finish this four years with Ferrari with the Constructors’ Championship. But personally, what do you think you can achieve this weekend and what would you like to achieve here?

CS: I would obviously love to. to contribute to that Constructors’ title with a win. In the end, a win is what we need. I think we’re going to need to have both cars on the podium if we want to clinch the championship, unless something very disastrous happens to McLaren. And yeah, that is my target. A different thing is now when we run the car on Friday, whether we have the capacity to win or not, and the performance this weekend to achieve that, but in the mindset of the whole team, we know we need to have both cars in the podium, ideally in a 1-2 position to have that, and to give ourselves the best possible chance to achieve that. It’s going to be tough. It’s a circuit that I think suits pretty much every car of the top four. And there’s some long straights, with some slow speed that could help the Ferrari. There’s some medium-long speed combined that could help the McLaren and the Red Bull. It’s at night, which could help the Mercedes. So there’s so many things, you know, and so many teams and drivers in contention for the win that it’s impossible for me right now to say who can take that.

Q: (Vincent Sondermeijer – NRC Handelsblad) Question for all three drivers. We’re here at the final race of the longest F1 season in history, and there’s been some criticism about that from some of the drivers, saying 24 races is too much, this is all getting too long. But now that we’re actually here, the season’s almost over, how has it been for you guys? How are you feeling?

OP: I think compared to my first season in F1, it’s been better, I would say, because I know what to expect this year. I think these last couple of triple headers have been tough. I mean, not just for us, but I think everyone in the room probably. Going from Vegas to Qatar with some pretty wacky time zones is very tough. But I think, for us as drivers, it’s difficult, but it’s more the teams and the mechanics that we were speaking about before, especially. Turning up on Tuesday or Wednesday, building the car, you know, making sure it’s at the best level it can be. And reliability these days is so good that any little blip you have costs a lot. So for us, I think we find it difficult, but we have the team or our teams much more in mind with these long seasons and the amount of travelling that they do, the amount of time they spend away from their families. I think we’re seeing more and more people now that, you know, the teams need to employ more people because trying to do 24 races for a lot of people with families just doesn’t make sense anymore. So it has some knock-on effects. And I think, you know, I think giving F1 and the FIA credit, I think where we’re going in terms of the calendar and trying to streamline it is making things better. But I think there’s still some tweaking to go. And yeah, again, a lot of our concerns are about our much wider teams than for us personally.

Q: (Ben Hunt – Autosport) Lewis, I just wondered how important this move to Ferrari is at this stage in your career. You mentioned you struggled a little bit this year, but timing is everything. Does it give you re-motivation and fire to move forward? And Carlos, just a quick one. What can Lewis expect at Ferrari? And have you given him any tips?

LH: Of course it really sparks motivation and it’s a dream scenario for any driver to have an opportunity like this. So, don’t take that for granted. Also, you know, massive respect for Carlos and everything he’s done within the team. And I realise it’s a steep… You know, I remember when I joined Mercedes, and it’s not an easy step to ever enter into a new team. And it takes time to build new relationships and learn the tools and everything. Coming into next year with that same focus, that same might that I had when I joined Mercedes and with ultimately that leap of faith, I think is exciting and exhilarating.

Q: Carlos, any tips?

CS: No, honestly, I don’t think a seven-time world champion that has changed teams multiple times or a few times in the past needs my advice. The only thing I can obviously recommend him or tell him is to enjoy it. It’s an incredible place to be part of and an incredible place to drive and feel like a Formula 1 driver. I believe he will get an incredible treatment by the tifosi and by all the supporters, engineers, mechanics, everyone involved in Ferrari and enjoy it because there’s nothing better than being a Ferrari Formula 1 driver. And yeah, I’m sure he’s going to enjoy that.

Q: (Diletta Colombo – Automoto) A question for Carlos. What is the most unforgettable moment of your four years with Ferrari?

CS: It’s very difficult to pick one of the four wins, because they are all relatively similar in ways that they are… Four very different wins, but four very emotional. Silverstone because it was the first one and the first one you never forget. Singapore because that year was quite special to win in Singapore the way we won it. Australia because I was coming back from the tough winter and the appendicitis and suddenly I won and it was emotional. And then Mexico, because at the time it could be my last win and my mom was there, my whole family, my friends were there to see me win and it felt really special. At the same time one moment that I will never forget was driving out of the pits in Fiorano for my first outing in a Ferrari. I think that’s one thing that for sure will stay with me forever. And it was probably out of the success or the great moments, that one is a pretty special one.