F1: FIA Thursday press conference – Miami

PART ONE – Yuki TSUNODA (Red Bull Racing), Pierre GASLY (Alpine), Lando NORRIS (McLaren)

Q: Lando, great to see you again. Back to the scene of your first win in Formula 1. Does it give you a little spring in your step returning to the Hard Rock Stadium again?

Lando NORRIS: No, but it’s good memories, right? It’s stuff I dreamed of as a kid – winning and standing on the top step – and I managed to do it here, which was a cool place to do it. So just good memories, good times. Thinking back to the race, chequered flag, seeing the team celebrations – a lot of things that always bring a smile to my face. So hopefully the plan is to try and do it again.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing you and McLaren this weekend?

LN: Same as normal, I guess – other competition. We feel good and confident we’re the best, but the others are certainly not far behind and are consistently putting pressure on us. One little mistake and we’re behind and not where we want to be. Otherwise, it’s just another weekend where we’re trying to improve. I’m sure others are trying to improve and try and get ahead of us, but yeah, just making sure I have a good, clean weekend.

Q: We haven’t seen the best of you in qualifying at the last couple of events. Are we going to see a change in approach from you?

LN: I’m working on my things, what to improve, and trying to figure out all the things behind the scenes on what I need to do better on. It’s certainly not because of a lack of speed or ability to do so. I’ve often led the way in Q1 and Q2, but always when I’ve got to Q3, then it’s not gone to plan. So yeah, there’s stuff from the driving side and from the car side, where things haven’t clicked. But I’m working on it and hopefully this weekend I can put it into practice.

Q: Pierre, how’s your throwing arm? You’re likely to see Alpine investor Patrick Mahomes this weekend.

Pierre GASLY: Yeah, we’ve got some big names coming. We have a lot of American support and investors in the team, so coming here is always a special moment. Patrick is going to be around this weekend. I must say I admire his work, his success in his sport, and it’s always a special time to be able to chat with him.

Q: It’s been an up and down season for Alpine – just that seventh place in Bahrain so far. What trends are you seeing from the car in terms of performance?

PG: I think it’s extremely tight in the field, especially from the sort of position we’re fighting in. Within three tenths you could be in Q3 or knocked out in Q1. So it’s just difficult. I think we’ve been able to really put things together the last two events. We’ve not been very fortunate in the first three races. But I do feel we’ve got the speed to fight the Williams, AlphaTauri (sic) are very competitive at time, also Haas. So we’ve just got to be on top of our game and extract every hundredth and millisecond of our package, and I’m sure we’ll be able to fight for those.

Q: Yuki, let’s start with the Silverstone test last week. You did a day in a two-year-old car. How did it go?

Yuki TSUNODA: Yeah, I experienced the classic British weather – started damp and we didn’t bring any wet tyres, just because we didn’t want to waste any mileage for the driver TPC test. So we waited quite a long time for it to dry up. Unfortunately, we got a bit of an issue at the end of the day as well. So in the end, we didn’t drive much, but still a cool experience. To be honest, it’s hard to feel the difference, right? It was completely different conditions and completely different corner characteristics compared to previous races that I’ve raced. Also, I didn’t want to give stupid feedback to make confusion, so I told them what I felt clearly, but otherwise, still a good test for me to get some mileage.

Q: You’ve now done three races in the RB21. How confident are you feeling in this year’s car?

YT: It just needs more time, I guess, to get used to it fully. I’m happy with the progress so far. The confidence is quite there, but just when you push 100% on the limit in qualifying, that’s where you kind of face it for the first time, right? Because you don’t push 100% until then. The starting point is always slightly below where I want to be or where I used to start with in FP1, so it takes a bit more time to build up on new tracks. In qualifying, most of the time so far I experience new behaviour from the car and I’m not always able to cope with it. I wouldn’t say the car is super difficult – it just needs more time to define where the limit is.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) Question for Lando – Andrea Stella talked about an upgrade targeted to make the car easier for you to drive. How far down the road is that in terms of being deployed and do you really need that to get on top of this year’s car?

LN: I certainly think it will help. I honestly don’t know the exact timeline of things. There’s also a mixture of things that will slowly come and be implemented over time. But I also don’t want to rely on that myself. There are things I’m working on separately, and hopefully that’s a better fix than waiting for other bits to come. But it’s good we’re working as a team and trying to understand these things. It’s been clear that there have been differences from last year in how the car works, how it acts, and how I’m able to get lap time out of it and perform. So, a mixture of things. I have to be a little patient with some things – some are bigger than others – but it takes time. So I just keep my head down and keep pushing myself.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports UK) Question for Yuki – if it’s not a super complicated car to drive, where are the bits that you need to work on to feel way more at home in the Red Bull versus your previous car?

YT: I’ll say it’s not complicated in the sense of trying to drive around, but it’s still not easy, for sure. In VCARB the car was a bit more lenient and forgiving with any directions. The Red Bull has a sharper, narrower window where it performs. It’s not easier than VCARB, but better than I thought initially when I jump into Red Bull. This is the first time after joining Formula 1 [that I’m in a different car]. For four years I drove the same car and knew how to set it up and where the limit was. Now, I just naturally didn’t have to think about it before, but now, in terms of set-ups… The set-up I tried a couple of time in Suzuka that I thought would be good, just didn’t work out – even when in the car, the balance felt good, the lap time didn’t reflect it. So that needs to come from experience, and sometimes you just have to accept the difficulties of the car. Like, if it feels like a lot of understeer or oversteer, but lap time is good, probably stick to that direction. It’s a different approach. I’m learning as much as possible. The team is helping a lot with those direction. I just have to get used to it. But the limit, I just still don’t know yet exactly. Like in Q3 in Saudi, I pushed a bit more and had a massive snap, which I didn’t expect. It will get there. I just try to keep my head down and slowly build up. Even with the general environment [within the team], me and my engineer – he’s Scottish, so a mix of Scottish English and my Japanese English – it’s a bit interesting. Those things just need more time to blend in.

Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports Italy) Lando, I now we are just in Miami, but speaking with your opponents they are all convinced that a lot will change from Barcelona. Are you too as a team?

LN: No, no. This is the nice thing. You see a lot of what people say and what they speculate, but no, I’m confident not much at all has to change for us and we can keep doing what we’re doing. So like Oscar said before, I think we’ll be strong through the whole season. I’m confident of that. We have plenty of things we want to improve and do even better on, but others can say what they want and think what they want. I don’t mind.

Q: (Diego Mejia – Fox Sports Mexico) Maybe for Pierre. And if anyone wants to come in as well, once again, we have a softer step in the tyres. We didn’t see two stops in Jeddah. Do you expect that to be more of an effect here?

PG: Well, I think, yeah, for sure it brings a bit more unknown coming this year also with a Sprint weekend. It doesn’t make things very easy in terms of tyre allocation and what way you want to go, so there are probably going to be compromises to be taken at some stage throughout the weekend. But yeah, I think we might see slightly more differences across strategy, definitely for Sunday. But I’m sure we’ll learn more about it also Saturday, once we’ve done the sprint race.

Q: Lando, you agree?

LN: Yep.

Q: (Albert Fabrega – ESPN Latam) Question for Lando. Do you think this year’s DNA of the car is better suited to Oscar driving style rather than yours?

LN: It’s a difficult one to answer. Yeah, it’s very difficult to answer. I think there are just certain things which don’t allow me to feel what I need to feel and those things are what allow me to drive to the level that I can drive at—to get pole positions and to drive at the highest level in racing. We’re talking about small things. It’s not like it’s impossible to drive all of a sudden. It’s just when we’re talking about qualifying split by hundredths of a second, thousandths of a second, that’s what I’m complaining of and nothing more than that. Yeah, it’s not one I can probably just give you a yes or no answer to. I think he’s maybe more naturally able to adapt. And I also think it’s a driver’s job to adapt to whatever car they get given, but there are compromises, and the team are also there to try and help you get the most out of the car. But it’s clear there have been some changes and whether it’s just suited Oscar or Oscar’s way, or him doing a better job at adapting, that’s not for me to kind of know or try and figure out or waste my time on. But yeah, for me, it’s also hurt me a little bit more and I’ve not been able to perform at the level that I was at the end of last season, which I think is the best level that I’ve been.

Q: (Mervi Kallio – Viaplay) This is for Lando. Did you expect at the beginning of the season that the car was going to be trickier for you than last year’s car, as you said?

LN: No, I don’t think so. I mean, it’s very hard to know. Of course we have the simulator and things, and there was nothing that really spoke out that much about it. So the answer is no. We knew it would be a step forward, we knew it would be quicker, but until you really put it on the track and you drive at different circuits… You know, it’s not just that one. There are some circuits I felt better and some circuits I’ve liked the feeling a lot. But not enough of an indication for me to kind of prepare—probably what I needed to prepare for.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Racing News 365) Question for Lando. After the burst of five Grands Prix in six weekends, how much of a reset were you able to take during the recent gap? And assuming you visited the factory, were you able to discover any answers at all as to the discrepancies you’re experiencing with this year’s car compared to last year?

LN: Yeah, I mean the break was very well needed for everyone, but definitely myself. It was nice to get away from things and have a bit of a reset. But it was a productive, I would say, couple of weeks. That doesn’t mean a lot of stuff has changed for this weekend. It’s not like things are going to magically work as I would love, but I think there’s been a lot more understanding over the last couple of weeks of certain things, certain feelings, what could have affected things and what maybe didn’t. So, you know, the majority of my sim work was based upon that and trying to understand some of these things, which is good. But then it’s about understanding them further, knowing what measures you can take to stop changing things on the car and what you want to put resource into. So it’s a bigger thing than just saying this or that. But yeah, there’s been a lot more understanding and I think that’s the main thing. So as a team then we need to work on how we can bring that to the car.

Q: (Jenna Fryer – Associated Press) My question is for all three of you about this race. What do you like about it, what does it do well, and if anything, what would you like to see changed or improved?

YT: Well, is it the track or just… The food is good! I’m happy in general, I guess. There’s not much. I mean, traffic is a bit of a topic..

PG: You get a police escort, what are you complaining about!

YT: Luckily this year—until last year it was a bit different! So far no complaints, I guess. Yeah, it’s good.

PG: On my side, I must say I love everything about it. Miami is a cool city. It’s always got great energy in town and I love the fact that it’s one of those races with the time difference, you kind of get to come slightly earlier. So you get to spend some time—Tuesday, Wednesday gets quite busy—but I still find myself having a night out and going to some nice restaurants. You kind of feel the vibe of Miami, which is quite different to what we’re used to back in Europe. So yeah, it’s one of these very, very cool places. And you know, I kind of envy Lando for getting his first race win here, because I’m sure Sunday night was definitely a cool one and one he’s going to remember. So yeah, it’s one of those races—you want the Sunday to go well so you get a good reason to party on Sunday night.

LN: I don’t remember. I mean, Miami is a great place. Of course, it’s a lot of fun. I think for me personally, I just have a lot of friends who are here. So I came out on Sunday and spent a few days here. But it’s not only a good event, it’s busy. Like we’ve said, with Patrick and those guys coming, we have a lot of stars and other athletes and celebrities, which is always cool. I always like that kind of thing. The one thing is just the traffic. The traffic’s terrible. Is it worse than Mexico? It might be, because in Mexico there’s kind of no roads. Here I’ve never seen so many roads, yet there’s still so much traffic. So that’s the only thing I would probably change. But otherwise, it’s a nice place. There’s a lot of lovely people and I enjoy it a lot.

Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) Yuki, obviously the TPC test day didn’t sound like the best day of testing you’ve had and you said you don’t want to confuse the team with feedback, but did it help you at all understand the Red Bull car concept and characteristics, and help bring on your understanding? In Saudi, you said you didn’t even understand half of the current car. Has it changed that percentage a little bit?

YT: Maybe like just naturally. Maybe in terms of limits – those things just naturally come into my brain and muscle memory. So once I hit the track in Miami, probably it will feels maybe different. But so far in terms of understanding about the set-up – because it was just really, really limited time – we wanted to do lots of changes to the set-up but just couldn’t manage to finish those. It finished more towards the engineering side – what they wanted to try. So to be honest, maybe in terms of car set-up, not really. But hopefully I have a lot of movements going on with the car and I’m not always there – I’m just there. Hopefully that gives us slightly better confidence into this Miami Grand Prix.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Lando, question for you – obviously in sport, momentum is a big thing. Oscar’s won three times since you won in Melbourne. Are you worried at all that championship momentum is starting to gather pace with him? Does that increase the importance for you to win here this weekend?

LN: No, not worried at all. He’s doing a good job and he deserves it. Nothing more than that. I don’t believe so much in the momentum stuff – that’s just my opinion. I’m doing what I can. I’ve clearly made some mistakes and not at the level I need to be, but I believe I can be at that level soon enough. So no reason to be worried. It’s round six of 24. I’m not going to say that forever, but I know I need to get a move on and get into gear a little bit. I’m doing the best I can every weekend at the minute, trying to improve. But the speed is there, the pace is there, the race pace is definitely there. It’s just one thing I need to tidy up. It’s a difficult thing, but I’m confident I’ll get it.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lando, another one for you – when you won here 12 months ago, it felt like a bit of an underdog victory. McLaren was in a very different position then. Now you guys have gone from being the hunters to the hunted. Have you felt any shift in terms of the way the team’s going about its business or the scrutiny you face, or has it been a natural evolution going from that to being the pacesetters?

LN: I think for the majority it’s been a natural evolution. The team has still improved a lot, even since last year, in terms of how we work – the car has improved, the obvious things have improved – but the way the team performs has improved quite a good amount and that has to continue. That’s the main thing – when you get to the top, there’s no time to relax. And that’s all because of the scrutiny of other people talking and claiming things and coming up with bizarre stuff at times. So it’s more about dealing with the scrutiny. The team has to be even more precise with things, not make mistakes or do any silly little things. For the majority, it’s the same guys and girls all doing their job and trying to get the most out of the car. It’s more the external stuff that changes, but that’s out of your control. They’re doing a very good job of dealing with that and carrying on with what they’ve got.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday). Question for Yuki – your previous boss Franz Tost moved you to Faenza because he felt you’d settle down better with the team. Have you moved back to Milton Keynes now, and how are you enjoying British food and weather?

YT: No, I haven’t, and so far I’m not planning to. I think I’ve been enough in the UK. I don’t think there’s much benefit. I have more benefits living in Italy rather than… yeah. I mean, healthy, living next to him. Yeah. I just feel, you know, like… unfortunately, when I was living in Milton Keynes, it was during quarantine, so I didn’t have the best time in the UK. That didn’t help for sure. But with this kind of Formula 1 schedule, when you have downtime, it’s very important that you have a house where you can be comfortable with in order to reset your mind. So far, Italy is allowing me to reset and I feel very comfortable. I’m happy with Italy. I’m happy to go to Milton Keynes for simulator sessions or whatever.

Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Another one for Yuki – after the race in Jeddah, Dr Marko said he’s happy with how you’ve settled into the team so far, but he mentioned making another step once you get into Q3 as a potential improvement. Is that something you agree with and are working on, or is it just linked to feeling more comfortable in the car?

YT: Yeah, definitely. To be completely honest, the last few races, I wasn’t able to put it all together in Q3. I built up more through Q1 and Q2, and Q3 is certainly more of a push. But if you push slightly more than the car can handle – even 2% more than what the car wants – it just reacts super differently to what I used to be used to. So far, I can’t really predict it yet. That will come with experience in the Red Bull. Hopefully it’ll naturally come. I definitely haven’t been able to extract the performance in Q3. It’s something I need to work on. If I can qualify higher, there’s a better chance to score points. You can be more flexible with the team on strategy. So yeah, definitely a priority area to work on.

Q: (Holly Cain – Palm Beach Post) Lando, can you talk about the vibe in the team? You guys are first and second in points, have won four of five races. What’s the relationship with Oscar like, and how do you feel about the strong start?

LN: It’s great. Obviously, there’s a good atmosphere because it’s the best start to a season McLaren have had for many, many years. For a lot of people back at MTC, it’s a dream start – we’re winning races. That’s what we’re here to do and to achieve. To lead both championships is our goal. It’s a great atmosphere, but the main thing is everyone’s still working together very well. There’s determination for this year but also a lot of focus on next year and making sure we don’t relax or get complacent. But also that we know why we are doing well. Which I think is very important. It’s not like we’ve lucked into the position we are in now. We understand our strengths, weaknesses, where our threats come from – all of those things. The team is very competent at the minute and that’s a very good position to be in. With some leaders, like Zak and Andrea, who keep the team on their toes, with working hard, looking ahead to the future, and reminding us of our competition and how close they can be. And the fact that we didn’t win all the races so far – we’re not happy about that. It’s a very good spirit in the team. Same with Oscar – we’re both getting along, enjoy working together. I push him, he pushes me, and that’s good for the team. So yeah, all positive things.