F1: FIA Thursday press conference – Saudi Arabia

PART ONE – Alex ALBON (Williams), Oliver BEARMAN (Haas), Gabriel BORTOLETO (Kick Sauber)

Q: Ollie, can we start with you, because this race marks the anniversary of your Formula 1 debut with Ferrari. It’s been a crazy ride for you since then. Just how do you reflect on the last 12 months?

Oliver BEARMAN: Yeah, that was a crazy weekend one year ago. I just hope that physically I’m a bit stronger than I was 12 months ago because it was a really tough race. But of course, to come back one year on is a very special feeling and, you know, I always love driving this track. It’s my third time here and always had decent performances, actually. And then of course, to have my debut as well—it means the track will always be quite special to me, so I’m really happy to be back.

Q: Ollie, what is it about this track that ensures you go well?

OB: Well, I’m not speaking ahead of time, but in F2 it went pretty well for us. I think we had a really good car here. In F1 it wasn’t as good, but still, it was a debut which was amazing. And the track is really cool. It’s really high grip, which is always fun for us as drivers. And the walls are close, which is always interesting. It’s a really high-speed, high-commitment track—just a fun one to drive. I think it’s a highlight for a lot of us during the season.

Q: Now you’ve shown great consistency: three points finishes in the last three races. Just give us an overview of how you feel it’s going this year for you.

OB: Yeah, I’m quite happy with how it’s going. Of course, the race in Bahrain was a mixed bag. Qualifying was very poor, but we got a bit of fortune in the race with the safety car to maximise and score a point, which was great. The other two races, we really deserved to be up there and scored some good points. And we’ve had two races now with both cars in the points, which is pretty good. Australia was really difficult, but we turned it around quickly and brought a small upgrade to the car, which allowed us to run it more in the window we want to. Now we’re able to extract a lot of performance out of it, which is nice.

Q: A lot of performance. So what is possible this weekend?

OB: Who knows? We came to Suzuka not expecting much because of the nature of the track and we were in Q3 and scored points. Bahrain—I wasn’t really sure what we could achieve because we hadn’t done much low fuel there. But without Esteban’s problem, I think he could have been in Q3. I’m still thinking of Australia a little bit in the back of my mind, but I know that we can have a good weekend. So let’s see how it goes—yeah, no predictions.

Q: Thank you, Ollie. Let’s come to Alex. Big picture stuff, first of all. Haas have snuck ahead of Williams in the Constructors’ Championship. Just how do you see the lay of the land in the midfield at the moment?

Alex ALBON: Yeah, it was interesting. I don’t think after Melbourne we would have ever said that Haas were going to be in the mix and then they came back very strongly. So it seems like they’ve obviously designed their car and focused on their race car quite a lot, and it seems to be paying off for them. I think in many ways last week we got a little bit unlucky with the Safety Car. I think we were on for a good points finish. But that’s it—it’s so close now. As a team, we can reflect on the first four races: we’ve been very consistent. The gap to P1 has always been very similar. I think the other midfield teams are a little bit peakier. They can score good points, but not every time. I think for us, realistically, we should have had four points finishes in four races. So let’s see. We’re just going to keep doing our job and hoping that we can just do everything a little bit better than the rest.

Q: Alex, how much personal satisfaction are you taking from this season? As you say, ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’—but four points finishes in a row was possible. It feels very different to any of your previous seasons in Formula 1.

AA: Honestly, yeah, it’s been a really strong start to the season for us. We felt good in the car from the first lap we drove in the shakedown at Silverstone. It’s given us a good feeling. It’s much more enjoyable to drive and honestly I’m just enjoying the racing up there. I feel like that midfield pack has become so tight. In Bahrain, in Q1, we just didn’t get things optimal and that’s it—you’re out straight away. There’s a lot of pressure on every lap that you do in the midfield right now and that’s exciting. It feels like every race you go in not knowing where you’re going to come out. It’s been the most enjoyable season of Formula 1 for me so far.

Q: There’s another variable this year. Pirelli have gone one step softer on the compounds. Do you expect that to cause any issues?

AA: It will be interesting. I think they are soft and we’ve seen in the past that sometimes the very soft tyres are a little bit different in the way that they feel in high-speed corners. This weekend is definitely a high-speed track, so it will be interesting to know how we can get the C5s working. I think, as has been every weekend so far, the tyres are very sensitive. If you can get them in the right window, it’s the difference-maker. All the cars in the midfield are so close together that if you’re in that right window, that’s Q3.

Q: Thank you very much, Alex. Gabriel, let’s come to you now. First of all, what are your predictions as to how it’s going to feel to drive this racetrack? You’re going to be going 14 seconds a lap faster than you were in F2. What does it feel like on the sim at least?

Gabriel BORTOLETO: Well, it feels absolutely crazy fast. So, yeah, definitely very different approaches as well on driving technique compared to F2. Probably one of the tracks where you’re going to have the most difference on the way you drive compared to Formula 2—especially in the first sector with the high speeds. So, very interesting. I’m looking forward to trying it. If there’s something fun about this Formula 1, it’s the high speed that we go. So yeah, looking forward to it.

Q: You come here on the back of a slightly difficult weekend in Bahrain. What were the take-home messages for you from the last race?

GB: Yeah, it was a tough weekend, definitely in the race. I got a bit stuck behind Stroll in the last stint after the Safety Car and couldn’t get past, even if I felt that I had more pace. Just super difficult. But yeah, just another race weekend. It’s just the beginning of my season. There’s a lot of things we took as learning from my side and from the team side as well. Now we try to apply everything here.

Q: Both you and Nico Hülkenberg have spoken about the difficulties of passing cars, even if you feel you have more pace. Just describe what happens when you’re driving in dirty air.

GB: Well, again, I’ve never driven any other Formula 1 car that is not a Sauber in a race. Definitely dirty air is for everyone, but we seem to struggle quite a lot to overtake. When we get too close to people, it just feels like you lose a lot of aerodynamics and downforce. It’s tough. Sometimes we feel we have the pace—maybe not to score points yet—but at least better than the guys we are around. Then as soon as we get close, we just lose quite a lot of grip. It’s been quite tough to overtake, to even get to a position where you can dive on someone. Last weekend, I was not even in that situation. Just a shame, because I want to be fighting for overtakes and positions and so far this year it’s been very tough not being able to do that. Most of the time it’s an undercut during the pit stop or trying to stay out a bit longer to try something different—but not really an overtake on track.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Question for Gabrielle. Last in the championship, average starting position 17.3 I think it is—but you’re a better driver than that, and your previous two seasons have proved it. How are you coping with having a season that is so different to your last couple of seasons? And what experience have you got to help you cope with differing positions on track to what you’ve been used to?

Gabriel BORTOLETO: Well, I hope in FP1 I’m like you in the question—flat out! It’s not easy, if I’m honest. It’s not easy. You come from two championships—you’re used to being in this room but actually after a race, because you win or you are on the podium. Now for us it’s already a mega job if you’re going to Q2 or fighting for Q3. But there’s always going to be someone paying this price at the beginning. If you see George Russell at the beginning of his Formula 1 career, I don’t think he scored a point in his first season, or something like this. And now he’s one of the best drivers on the grid and doing such a great job. I wouldn’t say fighting for the championship right now, but he’s constantly on the podium or fighting for things. So it’s all about having patience. There’s nothing much I can do right now—just learn, try to grow as a driver in these tough moments and do a better job every race weekend. Get better, because I’m not fighting for points right now—that’s the realistic situation. Not me, not Nico. Nico did a very good job in Australia with a messy race and managed to score points, but realistically in the last three or four rounds we have not been able to be there by pure pace. What we need to do now is try to point the team in the right direction with the development of the car. We saw last year with Sauber as well—they were last through the whole year basically, and I think with one or two upgrades they brought, they were back to fighting for Q3. So in this world I’ve learned something: everything can happen. So we cannot give up.

Q: (Mariana Becker – TV Bandeirantes) Gabriel, you just explained how tough it is for you mentally to keep on wanting and fighting even with the limitations of your car. Is there someone who gives you those tips, because you haven’t been in a situation like that before, and several more experienced drivers have. Is there someone who talks to you, or even if it’s not a driver, someone who tells you that you have to be patient? And the second question is: do you have any differences on the car here that would give you hope to have a better position or understanding of the car?

GB: Well, answering your first question, I don’t speak with anyone outside of motorsport—just my family. And with some drivers I do speak, and some of them have been through what I’m going through right now—tough seasons, not scoring points or struggling to do that. You just need to have patience. But it’s not news for me. It’s not that I came to this season expecting to be fighting for podiums or points every race. I knew what I was going to go through, and I just needed to be strong and keep it up. The team has been very clear with me since the beginning that that was our situation and we just fight for it. I know it’s not nice to be in the situation we are, but it is what it is. That’s life, I think. Answering your second one—no, not that I know of. No differences. Just normal. Still, we need to try to bring some good upgrades on the car, but not for this race.

Q: (Rawan Alkhamisi– Asharq Alawsat) Hello guys, welcome back to Saudi Arabia. It’s the fifth time that Saudi Arabia hosts Formula 1 . Would you like this track to be permanent on the F1 calendar? It’s set to end in 2027 maybe, but would you like the fastest track in the world to stay in Formula 1 forever?

AA: It will be interesting. I’ve also seen the layout for the new circuit and that looks also equally impressive. It’s a very unique track and I enjoy the circuit. I think it’s one of the more thrilling ones for us. Over a qualifying lap, it’s the one that gets our adrenaline going, and I think every driver would probably say the same thing. Likewise, the new circuit is also pretty extreme. So yeah, I’ll be sad if it goes, but let’s see.

OB: Yeah, personally I really enjoy driving on this circuit. And of course, it’s a special track for me as well, having debuted in Formula 1 here. But yeah, driving on this track—this asphalt is great, and the layout is great as well. It produces really good qualifying sessions—always high intensity. I remember the 2021 quali—it had a lot of people on the edge of their seats. And yeah, us as drivers, I think everyone is of the same opinion that it’s a really fun track to drive. But I also saw that the other one is going up 20 stories or something—there’s always some crazy stuff, crazy circuits and concepts here. I hope it doesn’t go, but I’m sure if it’s replaced, it will be a worthy replacement.

GB: I think they sell a lot of it! It’s just a very fun track to drive. I’m excited to be with Formula 1 here—as I’ve never been. But with Formula 2, it was very enjoyable and definitely one that I would like to keep driving on.

Q: (Scott Mitchell-Malm ­– The Race) Question to Alex. Carlos has been talking about the limitations of the car, particularly in the slow-speed areas and how it’s in kind of the DNA of the Williams. I think it’s something you’ve been talking about pretty much since 2022. How much does that problem manifest itself in this year’s car? And how useful is it to have Carlos come in as someone who’s experienced race-winning machinery and supports the point you’ve been making—to make the team aware of how important it is to improve?

AA: Yeah, I mean, we don’t talk too much about weaknesses in the car for our rivals, but for the most part, yes. It’s very corner specific and it’s wind specific. It can depend. There are some low-speed corners where we’re actually very competitive—China stands out to me; we were one of the quickest teams in the low speed. So it’s kind of a little bit at the mercy of the corners on the track. That being said, with Carlos joining—yes. Firstly, to answer your first question, yes it’s still there in the car, but less so. I think we made some good steps and we’ve improved other areas of the car in different corners. The car is now being brought together in a much better place and we don’t need to sacrifice too much of other parts of the track to benefit the low-speed corner. With Carlos joining, it’s clear that he has a driving style he wants to use with the car. And being totally honest, there’s nothing new to what I feel. I think what’s really good though is his ideas and a fresh approach—a fresh mind, a different voice saying similar things. We’re both very aligned on where the car needs to improve. And it’s true that maybe over time I’ve just become a bit more exceptional on how to drive the car, and he’s brought that fresh energy to get it to where he wants it to be.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Ollie, a question for you. This midfield fight this year is really close and in the last race you were able to make quite good progress up the order. How much are you enjoying these close-knit battles? Because stepping up from F2, where everyone’s in the same car, it’s naturally quite tightly knit. F1’s not really known for that, but have you enjoyed that characteristic carrying over this season?

OB: Yeah, it’s really cool. You know, being this far into a set of regulations means that everyone is getting closer to the ceiling of performance. Well—except maybe McLaren, who seem to have found a different ceiling! But no, it’s cool to see how close everything is in the midfield and it’s crazy how you need to be on it with every lap. Coming from F2 to F1, I was really excited and looking forward to having time to build up through FP1, 2 and 3. But then you realise all of those laps count towards your qualifying lap. So every lap you need to be absolutely on it, and if you miss one lap—mess it up or the balance isn’t there—it hurts you down the line. Maybe it hurts rookies a little bit more—not having driven at a lot of these tracks before in F1 and stuff like that. But it’s really cool—and annoying, depending on what side you’re on. But it’s really nice to be in such a tight battle. I think the margin from Q1 to Q2, and even Q2 to Q3 all year, has been less than one-tenth. So you need to be on top of your game, and that’s what we’re here for.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Racing News 365) Another question for you, Ollie. Going back to this time a year ago, I think it’s fair to say many F1 fans might not have even been aware of your name. Just how much—and in what ways—has your life changed since last year?

OB: Yeah, since my debut, a lot of things have changed. Of course, stepping into F1 by definition, you have more fans and more people knowing you—which comes with good things and bad things. But it’s definitely changed a lot, and it’s just part of life stepping into Formula 1. It’s what I’ve been dreaming of since I was young, so I’m very happy to be here. One of the big things that stands out to me is the travel and the schedule. I’ve gone from 14 races in F2—which seemed like a lot—and now I’m not even five races into my F1 career and you quickly realise that with all the extra sponsor commitments, testing, simulator and all of that, it’s pretty much full-time. I’m looking forward to having a week off next week and enjoying that, because it’s also important to have a balance. But when things are going well, it’s really nice to be in the swing of things and I’m really enjoying it.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for all three drivers. There’s been a lot of talk about possibly changing the engine to normally aspirated V10 or V12. None of you have ever driven a Formula 1 car with a naturally aspirated engine. Would you look forward to it? Is it something you’d support?

AA: Yeah. Obviously it would be—I think for most drivers—a nice thing to have the noise. I grew up in Formula One during that period—2003, 2004—and the sound was iconic. Clearly. And the weight—much lower. But it’s going to take time. There’s been a lot of investment from a lot of manufacturers into these new regulations for the next few years, so hopefully down the road we can make our way back. But for now, let’s see.

Q: Alex, have you driven a V8 or V10 from Williams Heritage?

AA: No, I drove a turbo V6 thing—which was not that fun to drive. It wasn’t that good and I almost crashed it straight away! But yeah, I wouldn’t mind the V10 stuff. I think it would be interesting to know, in the future with renewable fuels and whatnot, where we can get to.

Q: Ollie, your thoughts?

OB: Yeah, I think the sticking point for drivers is the weight. The weight seems to be increasing every year. Even next year, with the relatively smaller car, the weight decrease is not really a lot. And if you look at the cars from 10 or 11 years ago—prior to the V6 regulations—they were so much lighter. That’s what makes it enjoyable to drive. Of course, if we can have V8s and V10s or whatever, and do that sustainably, then that’s perfect. F1 is all about bringing new technology to the road and showing what machine and man are capable of. The efficiency of F1 engines nowadays is really impressive. But if you could just have this car but 100 kilos lighter—that would be great.

Q: Gabriel?

GB: I think the world is just moving forward. You need to look forward. Going back to the V10—I don’t think it’s the best thing for sustainability and everything. Audi is very committed to the current regulation. They discussed that. I just think we cannot look backwards. Maybe the sound was cool, but we need to think about other things.

Q: (Adam Cooper – Adamcooperf1.com) One for all three of you—and Ollie kind of addressed this. We’ve had five races in six weekends with one proper gap. Is it too much? Would you prefer to have more time to catch your breath and spend time in the factory, especially when the cars are new at this end of the season?

Gabriel, let’s start with you.

GB: I mean, I think—come on—I really think, yeah, it’s definitely a lot of races. But you know, it’s just the beginning of my career, so I just want to keep racing and keep driving. I don’t know about Alex and others who’ve been in Formula 1 for quite a lot already, so maybe for him it’s a bit different. But I want to keep racing. I’m learning new things every single weekend, so for me, if I could have another race next weekend, I would be very happy as well. But yeah, I mean, I don’t mind now—but maybe in the future I’ll change my mind.

Q: How are energy levels? I believe you went back to the factory after Japan.

GB: Jet lag, jet lag! No, I’m OK. I’m young, you know—like one day and I’m fully back on it. I don’t have this thing.

Q: Ollie, how are energy levels?

OB: Fine—quite OK. But I think it’s just the travel that’s long. Like, if all the tracks could just be in Europe—but still have the same tracks! No, it’s just the start of the season, you know. We go to Australia, we go to China, we go to Japan—we get the furthest three possible races on the calendar. So it feels a bit heavier. And the weekend is not just the weekend. You leave on Monday and you’re out there for three weeks almost. So it feels tough now to do all of that travel. You’re loving it, but then you have a 15-hour flight back home and you’re like, «Ugh.» I guess I’m a bit impatient, but the more races I do, the more I’m enjoying it. And when the results are coming, I’m happy to keep going, so that’s great. Then we get into European season, which obviously is a bit less heavy for everyone—not only us, but the mechanics and team personnel. Especially with a small team like Haas, it’s difficult for us to have everyone ready all the time at full energy, especially on these long-haul events. So it’s something that needs to be managed. But at the moment, we’re doing well.

Q: Alex?

AA: Yeah, I think it’s on the upper end of the limit. It feels like race 10 already. For me, you know—I enjoy my racing. But I think for us, it’s hard to comment personally. I think as drivers, we travel better than everyone else in the paddock. We stay in better hotels than everyone else in the paddock—it’s just a function of being in a privileged position. With mechanics—and yourselves and whoever it may be—these are people with families. These are the people that really struggle. At the minute, personally, or as Williams, we do the best job we can with the rotation of mechanics and engineers and whatnot. But it is tight, that’s for sure.

Q: (Diletta Colombo – Automoto.it) Question for Alex. Do you think that you and Carlos share the same approach to work?

AA: Same approach to work? Trying to think now what our timetables are like… No, I think so—yes. I think, honestly, we’re very similar in the way we approach the weekends. I think we’re both quite data-driven. Sometimes you have drivers who are a bit more feel and kind of don’t want to get into the who’s and what’s and why’s of everything. I think for us, we want a different trajectory—we’ll focus on different things. I think as a team, we’re very open—much more open than what normally two drivers are. We have open discussions about where we think the car needs to go. That being said, even our meetings are pretty much together. We’re discussing everything as one big piece. So yeah, we’re very, very aligned.