PART TWO: Lewis HAMILTON (Ferrari), George RUSSELL (Mercedes), Nico HÜLKENBERG (Kick Sauber)
Q: Let’s start with the man closest to me, Nico. Good to see you. Now, since the high of Melbourne, the P7, it’s been a little tougher going for you and Sauber. Just tell us about the performance of the car. Have you found the limit of it yet?
Nico HÜLKENBERG: Well, I hope not and I hope that we can shift the limit up as the season goes on. Yes, it’s true, the last couple of races, it’s been difficult. On some tracks we were a bit more competitive than others. I think Jeddah in particular, I feel in quali we didn’t maximise the potential and in the race we simply weren’t competitive enough. So like I said, I feel it’s a little track dependent and anyway, in the midfield it’s so tight that you have to be perfect on the execution every time to get something meaningful. So yeah, that’s where we are. I think we are aware that we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re not that far away either.
Q: Track dependent – what kind of track suits the C45? Faster tracks?
NH: Not necessarily. I wouldn’t say that. Maybe from what we’ve seen so far, actually a bit more the low and medium speed, which obviously here has a little bit more content of that. But yeah, we’ll find out, and you know, temperatures and conditions always play a role.
Q: The team is building up to the arrival of Audi next year. What do you want to see Sauber do over the remainder of this year? Would you like to see them switch everything and focus on 2026, or do you think you need to build some momentum this year as well?
NH: I think it’s very important still to build momentum this year. Everything we do now somewhat matters next year. Of course, different set of regulations, but we have to push on parallel. I’m sure that’s what everyone is doing, especially the big teams. But I still want to see some progress this year and we want to score more points. Long year, we’re still pretty early in the season, so still a lot to play for.
Q: George, let’s bring you in now. Three podiums from the opening five races. Is that a tally that matches with your pre-season expectation?
George RUSSELL: No, I think it’s probably better than our pre-season expectations, to be honest. The pace has fallen out where we thought – that step behind McLaren and then a close fight with Red Bull and Ferrari. We’ve been doing really well to get those podiums, but I don’t think it necessarily means we are the second fastest team. I think sort of on average we’re the third fastest team. We saw Charles had a great race last week and obviously Max the last couple of races, but we’ve just been nicely consistent and picking up points.
Q: Consistent, yes, but it looked like Saudi was the most difficult of the races so far. Having had a chance to debrief with the team, what conclusions have you reached?
GR: Tyres were too hot, really. That was a big problem. I think just pushing a bit too hard to try and keep up with the front two. Charles put in a really strong race. I was probably driving too quick for what the tyres and the car were capable of, and then we dropped off a cliff. Not too sure how this weekend’s going to pan out because in terms of temperatures and tyres, it’ll be relatively similar to Jeddah. We’ll have to wait and see and see if any of the learnings we’ve taken from last week translate into a bit of performance. I’m confident the quali pace will be there or thereabouts, but the race pace – there’s a bit more of a question mark.
Q: Lewis, good to see you. It feels like this is a big weekend – your first race for Ferrari in the USA, you’ve got the Met Gala on Monday. We know what you’re wearing in the car, can you tell us what you’re wearing on Monday?
Lewis HAMILTON: I don’t even know. I’ve not really put much thought into it.
Q: Look, you’re co-chair of the Met this year. Just how much have you enjoyed that experience?
LH: Yeah, it’s amazing working with Anna (Wintour) and her team. It’s been a privilege. To be able to continue to do stuff in fashion is fun. Anna’s been really understanding – I haven’t had a lot of time to do a huge amount with it, but the work has been in drips over the past two years already with Anna. So yeah, excited for people to see it.
Q: Well, Lewis, let’s bring it on track now. It’s been a little bit frustrating these last few races for you, but we’ve seen stints in races where the car – and you – have been really competitive. What is stopping you repeating that performance – those quick stints?
LH: Many things. Lots of different things. There’s not one particular.
Q: Is there anything we can talk about here having been back to the factory?
LH: Not particularly – I mean, when I joined Mercedes, the first six months were tough getting attuned to working with new people. Obviously, the engineers I’m working with now are used to setting up a car for a different driver and a different driving style, and I’m used to driving a car with a different driving style. So it’s a combination of a bunch of different things.
Q: Are you able to drive this car instinctively, or are you having to think consciously while you’re in it?
LH: You’re generally always a mixture of the two, but I’m definitely working hard to adjust to this one for sure.
Q: Alright. What about this weekend in Miami? What can we expect from you and Ferrari?
LH: No clue. We’ll do the best we can. We’ve not got upgrades or anything this weekend, but we continue to try and optimise the car. Obviously, Charles in the last race did a fantastic job and showed what the car can do in a race. So the goal is to try to replicate that.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) Question for George. With your GPDA hat on, President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has said that after constructive feedback from drivers, he’s looking at making improvements to the rules that govern driver conduct. Do you think that’s a very positive step?
GR: Yeah. Conceptually, yes. But obviously we want to see these things put into action rather than saying “we’re considering things” – you know, we all consider a lot of things. We’re clear we want changes and once they are implemented then we’ll comment. But for the time being, it’s being considered. So those words don’t mean anything until the change has been made.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports) Question to Lewis. Carlos Sainz has said today that you can’t just show up at a team and be two or three tenths quicker – it’s just not possible – than your teammate who is already established in the team. Is that true? Or did we see in China, with the Sprint, that you can do that? Is your car more suited to the Sprint at the moment than the Grand Prix? And is this weekend a plus for you, given it’s a Sprint weekend?
LH: I can’t really explain it too much. In the Sprint race there’s not a huge amount of changes you make. I think the one thing to take from it is that we didn’t make a lot of changes – if any – going from P1 to quali, whereas on all the other weekends we’ve been tinkering with the car and making it worse.
Q: And on the subject of not turning up and being two or three tenths quicker than your teammate – is that true, or do you think that is possible?
LH: I mean, there are elements of that that are true. But it’s different for everyone.
Q: (Albert Fabrega – ESPN Latam) A question for all three. I’m sure you’ve reviewed the last Grand Prix – corner one, lap one, the incident between Oscar and Max. Do you feel the five-second penalty was correct? Should it have been ten seconds, or no further action? What’s your opinion?
NH: Well, I think these guys are fighting for the championship, you know, that’s what it looks like right now, and probably that will continue like this. So there are no gifts when you fight for a championship, and in racing in general. It’s lap one action, Turn 1 – you come in with quite high speed even though it’s not the longest of runs. So for me personally, I think it’s part of racing and these kind of things just happen.
Q: George, Lewis? Same, same?
GR: Yep.
Q: (Mervi Kallio – Viaplay) Nico, you are no more the only racing father in the paddock. Do you have some advice for Max? Maybe some diaper advice?
NH: You know that for a fact?
Q: (Mervi Kallio – Viaplay) At least in the near future – in coming days. He’s not here for this weekend, today.
NH: I don’t know. Yeah, it’s true – it was a fun fact that I was the only one since Checo and K-Mag left at the end of last year, I was the only dad. So yeah, he’s joining that club. I hope it’s a good sleeper. We’ve been quite fortunate and lucky. But yeah, I think there’s lots to discover – many beautiful, nice things that come with that. So yeah, I’m sure he’ll enjoy it.
Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Question for Lewis. Off-track, how are you settling into Italy? Enjoying life around the factory? Maranello treating you well?
LH: Yeah, I love it. Trying to stay off the pizzas and the pasta, which I’m not doing very well with if I’m honest. I was there last week and had like three pizzas in two days. I have my hookup – he keeps bringing me a pizza. I text him late after the day and I’m like, “Hey, can I get a pizza?” He keeps bringing me one. But yeah, I really am enjoying it. Not living in Italy currently, but or spending more time is still something I really want to try and figure out how to do through the year. My Italian is not really progressing, so I’ve probably got to throw myself more into the thick of it. But the team’s been well. Lots of changes, a huge amount of work has been going on from my first days there to adjust certain things, for example in the sim, and everyone’s been really responsive and massively supportive. So I’ve really appreciated it.
Q: (Marijn Abbenhuis – AD Sportwereld) Question to Nico, following up on the father subject. There’s a myth that Formula 1 drivers become a couple of tenths slower after they become a father. Is that true? Is that the case with you? And are you scared for Max that he is having that problem as well?
NH: I mean, judge for yourself – look at the stats and what happens. Everyone is obviously different, but personally, I don’t feel that’s the case. I feel once we step in the car – visor down, go out – even for me, I tend to forget what goes on outside because we’re just so focused and so driven to perform and maximise. I just personally feel it’s added benefit because it’s giving me so much outside of work and outside of being in Formula 1. So I would even say it’s kind of been helpful for me, if anything.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) A question for Lewis – it’s non-F1. David Beckham’s 50th birthday is tomorrow and the two of you probably stand as two of the biggest British sporting icons in the last 20 or 30 years. I know you guys have spoken in the past – what kind of chats have you had, and what sort of inspiration has he made on a sporting level for you?
LH: That’s a curveball! Yeah, well, I mean David’s a friend – someone I have a huge amount of respect for. Obviously growing up watching him – particularly as I was massively into soccer, football – so seeing his story, watching his career, watching his documentary that came out – which I thought was amazing. And just what he’s been able to do, particularly after his active career, is something I’ve always kept an eye on. I joined his old management team many, many years ago with the goal of trying to do something similar – inspired by what he was able to do. So yeah.
Q: (Tom Cary – The Telegraph) One for Lewis and George. Just to put to you the question about fatherhood – I know you’re not dads, but do you feel it could change Max as a person and as a driver? Do you have any hope that it might distract him?
LH: I just wish him all the best. It’s such an amazing, special thing. I spoke to him briefly in Saudi and saw how excited he was. Big congrats to him.
GR: Yeah, I think we’re all professionals, but this is a personal part of your life. I guess for anyone who’s had a kid, it’s a pretty special moment. So yeah, all the best to him. As Nico says, I think for many people it probably brings things to your life. I know what it’s like when I see my nieces and nephews – they’re not my kids, but they bring me so much joy when I spend time with them. And you’ve seen drivers in the past win championships and races who’ve got kids, so I don’t see it changing anything on his professional level.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Racing News 365) Lewis, given the break we’ve just had between the last race and here, how much of a deep dive were you able to conduct back at Maranello with Ferrari? And what, if any, answers were you able to come up with that will stand you in good stead going forward?
LH: Yep, spent some good time in Italy. We went through a lot, did some good sim running. There are things that we’ve made adjustments to. We’ll see how they work this weekend.
Q: (Molly Hudson – The Times) A question for George. Just following up on Craig’s question from earlier. The President’s Instagram post mentioned constructive dialogue. Have you actually had any dialogue with the President? Because I think after the open letter you said there hadn’t been a response. So did it come as new news to you reading it on Instagram?
GR: I mean, in short, yes. I mean, collectively we’ve not spoken any further since the open letter that was sent out. So whether that is the response – I’m not too sure. As I said, it’ll be great if changes were made and the drivers were at least heard. I think it’s just in the best interest for the sport and ensuring that some common sense is applied to these situations. As I said, I think all of us, we can comment on it when we see the action being taken rather than just the consideration.
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) George, another one. You’re one of the few drivers who’ve raced with the cooling vest this year. But some drivers want to race with it but can’t because it adds too much weight onto their car. If it’s not declared from the GPDA’s perspective, does something need to be done to ensure everyone’s operating on the same playing field on this? Because obviously not all cars weigh the same without ballast.
GR: Yeah. I mean, I feel fortunate that I’ve had the chance to run with the cooling vest. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s definitely an improvement, I feel. Every car is also different – I think every cockpit runs at different temperatures. I know we’ve seen our cockpit getting up to 60 degrees before, and I think the heat hazard is at 31 degrees, I believe, or 30. But when you compound that with the sunlight and the temperature of the cockpit, it is like a sauna in the race car. So yeah, I don’t know. We’ve not collectively spoken about it, and not everybody’s in favour to run it – which is also fine. Somebody made the point recently – like football players on a cold day, some people are wearing gloves, some people have got short sleeve shirts on – and that should be the driver’s choice. Maybe the heat hazard should be reduced slightly because we’ve not yet gone over it. Saudi was hot, Bahrain was hot, here – maybe it could be adjusted by a few degrees.
Q: (Jenna Fryer – Associated Press) For all three of you – year four of Miami. I’m curious, what do you think this race does well and are there any things that could be improved upon? The previous three drivers said the traffic, so you can’t say the traffic.
LH: Things to improve on… can’t really think.
Q: (Jenna Fryer – Associated Press) Some of the drivers have talked about some of the turns.
LH: Oh, they mean the track? Track-wise – I can’t really think of anything off the top of my mind that needs to improve here. I think each year we come back, there’s adjustments being made. I really haven’t got – no, sorry.
GR: Yeah. I mean, I enjoy coming to Miami. It’s a crazy race. The circuit is quirky. That tight section – we don’t love it, but it’s different. You know, the same like in Baku – we don’t love the castle section, it’s so tight and very challenging, but you don’t want every circuit to be the same either. It’s an amazing race. It’s improving every year. Things are looking better as well – driving to the paddock, it looks pretty cool. And where all of the team garages are set up inside the stadium – they’re the experts, we just drive the cars. It should stay like that.
NH: Yeah, I like it here personally too. Like George said, it’s a bit different. And you personally raised that time – 4 PM – I think it’s more an FIA a subject but it’s a little late for me personally. And traffic is definitely a topic here. And unfortunately this year, apparently the Grand Prix cut the police escort budget. So that’s going to be a bit of a – it would be nice to have that back for next year, please.
Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Question for Lewis. Earlier when you spoke about joining Mercedes, you said the first six months were tough to get in tune with the people and the engineers and the environment. Are you expecting that sort of timeline at Ferrari? Or do you hope to be on top of it earlier? Or do you think it could be longer? What’s your read on that, really?
LH: I really don’t know. I generally don’t. We’re working as hard as we can to shorten that, but it could be longer. Who knows?
Q: (Adam Cooper – AdamcooperF1) Question for Lewis. You’ve talked a lot about adjusting to the car and the team adjusting the car to you. Has that process been made more difficult by the fact that you had three years of a sort of unpredictable ‘diva’ at Mercedes and you don’t have the best reference perhaps for the ground effect era?
LH: I don’t think it’s anything to do with the past. No, I don’t think it’s anything to do with my past experiences.
Q: (Mark Mann-Bryans – Autosport) Another one, Lewis. When you have people maybe questioning you or what’s happening at the moment, do you use that as motivation, or is it something you just forget about straight away?
LH: I just don’t really think about it. I try not to really focus on opinions of people that have no insight into actually what is going on – insights from individuals that have never been in my position. So yeah, I just keep my head down and try to continue to enjoy the work that I do with the people I work with.
Q: (Graham Harris (Motorsport Monday) Question for all three of you – but George mainly. The GPDA is a formal body of the drivers, but you don’t seem to have a formal relationship with the FIA, with structured meetings where you can actually sit down and come out and say, “we talked about this face to face.” You’re resorting to open letters and that type of thing. Do you think that position should change?
GR: I mean, it’s… I feel it’s like unprecedented times we’ve been in over the last 18 months with what’s been changed and what’s happening. I think when the GPDA was founded years ago, it wasn’t really to talk about politics – it was to talk about safety, improvements of the sport, improvements of the racing. Especially myself – I find myself talking about topics that I didn’t really have any intention of talking about. But we find ourselves in a time where we’re not focused on the things why we’re all here. We’re here to go racing, we’re here to create the best show for the fans, to have the fastest cars, the safest cars, the best technology, the best engineering – and yet we talk about fines and punishments and swearing. So yeah, maybe something should change. We’re open to it, but we just ultimately want the best for the sport.
LH: I think ultimately the GPDA is very unified. I think we are working to… ultimately we want to be able to work closely with the FIA. I think everyone – all of us – want to work together and make the sport better. Of course, we’ve faced a bit of an uphill challenge in that communication over time. Ultimately, we don’t hold a power seat at the table, and that needs to change, in my opinion. If you look at other sports that have unions, that may be something that comes into play at some stage. As I said, we don’t want to control things – we just want to collaborate more and have our voices heard. Ultimately, if people are making decisions for others who have never been in that position, it’s good to have the point of view from the driver’s perspective, and that’s all we try to give.