DRIVER GROUP 2 – Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari), Pierre GASLY (Alpine), Logan SARGEANT (Williams), Kevin MAGNUSSEN (Haas), Zhou GUANYU (Alfa Romeo)
Q: Kevin, please can we start with you, because the big news this morning is that you and Nico will be at Haas in 2024. Fantastic news for you. Can we just start by getting your thoughts on a seventh season with the team?
Kevin MAGNUSSEN: Yeah, seven seasons. It sounds like a lot, didn’t feel like that many but very happy to continue. Of course, you know, we have a job to do right now and it would be really fulfilling to see the progress into next year that we’re working on right now and yeah, I know this team very well, it’s my home in Formula 1. It’s great to have another year on it.
Q: You know the team very well, you know Gene and Guenther very well. Just how straightforward were the negotiations? Was is very easy? ‘Same again please!’
KM: Yeah, pretty much. It’s always very simple with those guys and yeah, again this time it was not really any long negotiations and stuff. It’s always very simple. So that’s good.
Q: Now, you said a moment ago ‘we have a job to do’. Does Haas have everything it needs to challenge at the front of the midfield in 2024?
KM: I think so. It’s so tight that I think anyone, every team feels like they can do that. We’ve seen some teams make very big progress this year and we haven’t really done that. I think we’ve kind of stalled in our development with the car. We’re in a very good place as a team, in a place that we haven’t really been in before. I think it’s a very healthy team right now. Just, we are underdelivering on the car. I think all the ingredients that we need to make that step forwards, I think we can do that, probably this year hopefully but certainly into next year there should be a good chance.
Q: And can you tell us about your relationship with Nico Hülkenberg? How do you complement each other? How is he different to your previous team-mates?
KM: He’s doing a good job, that’s the most important thing. I think it’s nice to be working with an experienced driver and it’s nice to be fighting someone who’s super-quick and always on it in both qualifying and the race. There’s stuff to learn from him, and that’s also raising my game so I think that’s a good driver pairing. I work well with Nico and I think we respect each other well and can benefit off each other.
Q: And bringing it onto this weekend, you have some upgrades on the car. What can we expect from you, Nico and the team?
KM: It’s a small upgrade. I don’t even think we’re expecting any increase in downforce, as such, it’s more about cleaning up some stuff and working on our tyre issue. We get very hot tyres and part of the upgrade is trying to resolve that and help that issue. Hopefully that can be an advantage and a big step forward but, as ever, there’s some work to do every time you bring upgrades, and we’ll see how it goes.
Q: Zhou, can we come to you now. You went back to Shanghai during the break. How was it?
Zhou Guanyu: Hi, it’s great to see you all here. Yeah, it was a good time to be back. Haven’t been back in summer for such a long time it was nice to get 36°C temperature-wise – getting ready a little bit for Singapore coming ahead. Yeah, good time, decided to fully switch-off, just to reset a little bit, away from Internet, social media, just having a good time and mentally, mainly reset for the coming races.
Q: There hasn’t been a Chinese Grand Prix since 2019. What sort of reception did you have in Shanghai?
ZG: It was actually great to be back there, because I went back, firstly, I had a few days with the sponsor of the team and also my personal people, and it’s just great to see so many people turn-up for some events and the popularity also of motorsport is just growing. Especially, I think, for the younger generation, back in China, people ten years younger than me, five years younger, they know so much about Formula 1 in general so it just shows how much this platform has been improving – not just in the US, also back home in Asia. It’s good to have that, and most importantly, the home race is coming back next year, so I’m really looking forward to what’s coming.
Q: Now, the summer break also provides a chance for some reflection. When you think of those 12 races that started the year, what were you pleased with. Where do you feel the team needs to improve?
ZG: I think the most important part is that I’m trying to raise a little bit my game in terms of improving performance and the weakness last year wasn’t maybe as good as one-lap qualifying pace, and also the start was very inconsistent for our team and this year we’ve definitely been, let’s say, a lot more to the point, compared to where we were last year – but we’re definitely missing a little bit of performance in general. Expected a lot more, of course. So, it’s not been an easy season but let’s say it’s clear for the goal in the second half of the season. Want to achieve that P7 in the Constructors’ Championship and it’s very close between us, AlphaTauri and also Williams and Haas. I still think we can do that, upgrades coming for the next few races but not here, so we’re looking forward to that.
Q: And Zhou, Kevin knows what he’s doing in 2024. When do you expect to hear?
ZG: I mean it’s been going on, us talking together, before the summer shutdown and also we are still discussing together with the team. As I say, happy place to be, right now, and also knowing the team, moving forward in the future, heading off to a works team, so it’s good for us and for myself, I’m just trying to do the maximum I can here on the track and the rest is up to time, up to more further detailed discussion together – but I think, let’s say, this time last year I was a lot more nervous than I am now. So, hopefully I’m able to set everything down and have a good future ahead.
Q: Logan, how was the break. We know, because we found out in session one, that you bumped into a couple of other Formula 1 drivers.
Logan SARGEANT: I did! It was nice just to get a few weeks to step away, really reset, reflect, recharge the batteries. It was nice to be able to fully disconnect from racing for a little bit and just enjoy a bit of time with friends and family, so that was nice. Yeah, did bump into George, was good to see him and yeah, it was a nice break.
Q: You said it gave you time to reflect. What conclusions did you draw about the opening 12 races?
LS: Yeah, just… accepting the challenge of what the first half of the year was. Understanding how I need to improve but, at the same time just trying to enjoy every moment of the season so far. I think I know what I need to do in the second half of the season and I feel like having that chance to reset and attack and just try to maximise my performance.
Q: You said you know what you need to do in the second half of the season. Can you share with us your thoughts on that?
LS: Yeah, I just need to clean things up. I’ve made some costly mistakes this year at the wrong time and I feel like if I can clear those up, be a bit more consistent and yeah, if I can deliver the way I know I can deliver, everything will be good.
Q: If you look back at the races, Silverstone was your best result, 11th. What was the car doing there that enabled you to have such a good result. Annoyingly just outside the points – but how do you replicate that?
LS: I think sometimes you put the car on the ground and it’s in a better place some weekends than others. And I think Hungary and Spa didn’t quite work out for us but yeah, we just need to be hopeful, keep trying to work to put the car into the best place heading into each weekend and hopefully another opportunity arises for me and the team.
Q: And what about this weekend?
LS: I think looking at the characteristics of the track it’s not going to be an easy one for us, to say the least. But, again, mixed conditions look like they’re on the horizon and hopefully we can capitalise on that if it comes. On paper it isn’t great for us but we’ll make the most of it.
Q: Kevin knows what he’s doing Zhou says he’s in a comfortable place. What about you?
LS: I think from my side, I just need to worry about improving, show a good step from the first half of the season going into the second and just work on improving myself and as long as I do that, all should be good.
Q: Pierre coming to you. So, the break, how was it? I saw you playing golf. In fact, you were quite busy weren’t you?
Pierre GASLY: I must say I’ve loved having a couple of weeks off from the craziness and the fact of being busy and, you know, having a bit more downtime with the family, with the friends and being able to recharge and do the stuff that you like: being an uncle for a few days, a brother, a son, and just enjoying a bit of a party with my friends as well. So I feel definitely mentally, physically recharged and very energised for the second part of the year. And yeah, I was just telling Carlos, I was lucky enough to do my first eagle of my life during the summer, which brought a huge happiness and a huge smile, which was followed the next day by my worst golf game ever. So it’s a pretty frustrating sport, but the same time I managed to improve some of my Padel and my golf game. So really happy with that.
Q: Golf is funny, isn’t it? The more you play, the worse you get. That’s how I find it anyway.
PG: Well, he knows more about it. But you know, I kind of built up the confidence. And then I hit 18-hole scores and played my worst game ever. And, yeah, all that confidence I built up, I need to restart all of it again. But no, it’s just good, you know, to have this free time and to be able to do different activities and kind of put motor sport away for a few days.
Q: Can we talk about motor sport, though. Some senior management changes were announced over the Spa weekend, just before the break. What sort of an impact do you think that will have on the team?
PG: Yeah, obviously, it’s a couple of changes, which occurred in the last weekend in Spa, but I think, all in all, it’s looking at making the next step for the team, sort of evolutions. It’s not a complete restructuring of the entire team. So, you have new people in new roles, with some experience, with a lot of experience in motor sport. And I think it’s a good opportunity, a very good opportunity for the team to kind of make that next step.
Q: And how important was your third place in the sprint at Spa just to keep everyone motivated?
PG: Well, I think it’s not a surprise to everyone that we’ve all been quite disappointed with the results in the start of the season. We haven’t matched the expectations which were set. And it’s like everyone, if you don’t get the result, you kind of feel some disappointment, the mood is slightly down a bit. And I think it was mostly important to keep all the guys extremely motivated, still in a positive mindset. And just based on all the smiles that I’ve seen after the after the top three in the Sprint… you could see it just the next day, the energy and the positivity inside the garage was just different. And that’s what we need to build up on for the next few weekends. We don’t have the best package, but we’re still able to get some strong results at times. And we’ll try to do that and achieve that every single time we can until the end of the year.
Q: Pierre, tell us a little bit more about the package you have in that car, because your technical director, Matt Harman, believes you can have the fourth fastest car by the end of this season. Do you agree with him? Do you believe genuinely in that?
PG: I think this was quoted quite a long time before the summer break. So, you know, I don’t want to go into too much details about that. This was the clear target at the start of the year. I think now we just need to take race by race and just try to make the best we can with the package we have. And we’ll see at the end of the year where it puts us, but anything we can learn in the coming weeks and coming months will be useful for next year’s cars as well, which is crucially important if we really want to make the next step, which is the target for all of us in the team. And that’s where the focus will be going.
Q: And what about this weekend here in Holland?
PG: I would be happy with some rain. So last time out in Spa, it worked out pretty well for us. So I think it always gives more opportunities and more chances. I think, in the dry we know we are there for the points. It’s a very tight battle in that midfield and can swing one way or the other very quickly, depending on if you’re able to extract the maximum out of the car. But in mixed conditions I think there’s clearly more chances for so. Yeah, excited to see what’s going happen this weekend..
Q: Good luck. Thank you, Carlos, coming to you. You look very relaxed and happy. How was the break for you?
Carlos SAINZ: It was very good, thank you. Yeah, standard, usual for me: time with family, friends and just relaxing. You’re still obviously in the middle of a Formula 1 season, no, so it’s not like you suddenly stop thinking a bit about how the first half went, what could you do better in the second half. You still need to keep yourself fit and ready to go, because you are still racing in Formula 1. It’s not like the winter break where you have a bit more time. So yeah, relaxed but also switched on to go again.
Q: Well, what is the mood at Ferrari coming into the second half of the season?
CS: I think the mood is basically trying to understand as much as possible about this year’s car. We are FP1s, FP2s every weekend trying something different, you know, to try and understand these regulations and to try to see where we may be lacking compared to, obviously, the reference Red Bull and how we can make the 2024 car quicker. We’re also spending a lot of time in the simulator, trying different things. Spending more time than ever really on getting the season turned around and putting everything that we can into place to get ourselves in a better place for next year mainly.
Q: You say you’re trialling lots of things during practice. What aspects of this car please you and where are the causes for concern?
CS: Starting with the later one, I think it’s no secret that this year we’ve lacked like some consistency from the car. It’s very difficult to predict which circuits we’re going to be quick at and which we’re not going to be quick. I think the best example was the difference between Hungary and Spa. I think when you see our car we expected Hungary to be a good weekend, we expected Spa to be a weaker one, and it was actually the opposite, which just shows that there is maybe something intrinsic that we don’t fully understand and we cannot predict very well. And this unpredictability, this lack of understanding, is exactly what we are focusing on to try and piece together everything and this is where our focus is going to be this weekend and obviously in the second half of the season. On the good side of things, the car always offers some good opportunities in Qualifying to maybe qualify a bit ahead of what the race pace of the car might be, and if you do a good lap in Quali maybe you can hold on to a podium place, if you then have a smooth race without too many troubles. Yeah, the focus will be getting the car again quick on the race mainly and try to hold on to those good Qualifying sessions if we have the opportunity.
Q: Well, talking about good qualifying sessions both you and Charles were in the top three on the grid here last year. So what are the prospects for this weekend?
CS: Again, I don’t know, because if you look at the track, you could say ‘yeah, should be a better one for us’ but then you look at Hungary and it wasn’t, so it is extremely difficult to predict right now for us this year. Also, I think the fact that the field is so tight, you know, with Mercedes and now McLaren joining, there is still obviously Aston Martin and obviously Red Bull ahead of us, we are all within a tenth or to tenths of each other every Quali and every race and if you know you’re going come out on top of, or behind that battle, it means you can qualify P2, P3 or qualify P8, P9. So, the performance swing or let’s say the result for such a small performance swing is huge. So I think it will be tight again this weekend.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Carlos, let’s have a chat about your car. You were just talking about it then. It sounds, from the outside, like Ferrari have no understanding on the car whatsoever. Is that fair to say? And if so, how disappointing, as a driver, do you find that after 12 races of a season?
CS: We’ve done 12, there’s 10 left? Well, then we still have 10 to fully get to understanding everything. It’s not a secret that this year, since we were in Bahrain testing, we saw something in our car that we didn’t fully comprehend and we honestly very quickly identified what the main weakness of the car is and this we know. Then there’s other things like predicting which tracks you’re going to be better at than others. There’s the wind sensitivity, there’s the track temperature sensitivity that we have, which at the moment makes it a very peaky car, but what we want is to understand exactly the reasons for that. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of trying and trying completely different things and having different theories that are we’re putting together for next year’s car, and hopefully next year it pays off. At the moment we can only focus on that and doing everything we can.
Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) A good job of trying is different to a good job of understanding. Is there anything about this car that you now understand?
CS: Yes, the core problem of the car, we do understand what it is and since the first developments of the year we are trying to get it better. And the whole development programme has been focused on improving that main weakness that we have. Then there’s many other factors, you know, that we are also trying to figure out. But, again, the differences are small. I think, especially when you try to beat Mercedes, when you try and beat McLaren now, Aston Martin, it’s all within a tenth. And what we need to focus on in these last 10 races is putting the weekend together and seeing if we can if we can finish on top of that second place in the constructors that I think is not going to be easy.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Logan, a question for you please about James and your relationship with him so far this year. He’s got a strong record working with young drivers. How has he helped you take steps forward through your rookie season? And he’s placed a big emphasis on changing the culture at Williams. So how have you felt that within the team during this time working with him?
LS: Yeah, I feel like since James has come into the team, I feel like he’s impacted the team in such a positive way. I think the mindset of everyone in the team has switched for the better. I think, from my side, he’s been hugely helpful in helping me on the driving side. He understands the cars better than anyone I’ve worked with before. And he also is very good at understanding the human element, the mentality side of the game as well. And he’s helped me on all those things combined. So it’s been really nice to work with him. And I think, even in long-term vision, he understands exactly where he wants to go with the team. And he’s a great leader. And I think he’s going to be really good for the team moving forward.
Q: (Yvo Pakvis – Panorama) This is a question to Carlos and Pierre. You were both teammates of Max Verstappen a couple of years ago. You’ve both seen the hype around this person grow, especially in a place like this. When you were driving next to him could you see that coming that hype?
CS: I think if there was something that Max never lacked, it was hype around him. I think he had the hype even well before his debut in Formula 1, when he was already in F3, he had already a lot of following. I think he’s first year in F1, he came in and stormed F1 and had a lot of following behind him. So yeah, it doesn’t surprise me at all, because I’ve always, since I debuted with him in 2015, which is now nine years ago, it’s a lot of time, eight years ago, I’ve always seen that hype, and I’ve always understood it because obviously he’s a special talent and someone that is performing really, really well since the beginning.
PG: It was clear already from the very young age, when we raced in karting the hype around him was already very different to any other drivers. So yeah, it was clear going up the ranks that there was more attention, more focus, driven by the name, the performances, all the hype around yours and Max relationship. So, it was no surprise and the way that he came to Formula 1 and performed and switched to Red Bull just amplified everything that followed. But I would say it’s no surprise that he’s where he is today and he’s got the following, especially in the Netherlands. From an outside point of view he seems to be pretty much the icon of the country. So it explains why 99.9% of the grandstands are full of orange when we come to Zandvoort.
Q: (Filip Cleeren – Motorsport.com) A question for Pierre please. Just picking up on the management changes at Alpine. It all happened quite suddenly. It was quite drastic at Spa. At the time, did you need much convincing that this was the right thing to do? And now you have had some more time to think about it, how confident are you that this is actually going to shorten Alpine’s journey to the front?
PG: I believe in the changes. I believe in the project. Obviously I believe in Luca De Meo’s management strategy. Obviously you can’t expect very short, huge improvements in terms of performance, but you know, results will speak for themselves in the coming season, ’24, ‘25, I think. It was fair to say we were all disappointed with the performance we’ve showed in the start of the year, and at the same time, I just came in in January, the chance to work with Otmar, Pat and Bat for a very few months, and they’ve got a lot of experience in there. So I don’t think I’m the best placed to be asked on all those changes. But what I can say is I have full trust in Luca and, you know, it’s a sort of evolution. It didn’t have the trajectory that we wanted and I’m confident this is a sort of fresh start and an opportunity for all of us to kind of get back on track and make the best of it.
Q: (Kevin Scheuren – Motorsport-total.com) Logan, the Williams situation is pretty fascinating to me. Although being an American owned company, you still have the Mercedes engine in the back, so there are basically two Mercedes drivers who are in need of a cockpit for next year. One, for sure, Like Mick Schumacher. The other one might be Frederik Vesti, if he wins the Formula 2 championship. How do you cope with the pressure that basically your seat is most likely being the one that is hanging in the balance?
LS: I think it’s F1 and the pressure is always there. It doesn’t matter what position you’re in, what team you’re in. It’s a performance driven sport. I think we all understand that. So it’s all going to ultimately come down to that. It’s going to come down to how I perform, how I improve. And yeah, we’re all aware of that and understand that going into it.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – Diario Marca) Carlos, what are you feeling when you arrive on a Thursday at a circuit and you know that on Sunday Max Verstappen will win again. And do you believe that Formula 1 may have to make something to stop Red Bull and Max, this domination.
CS: I don’t fully believe Max is going to win every weekend. I know you guys see it in a very drastic, dramatic way. Obviously, I know what my chances or my probabilities are, but there’s still a probability that Ferrari can win a race this season and that I can be there to win it. And I think no one’s perfect. Hopefully, at some point during the season, Red Bull makes a mistake and I go into every weekend thinking I need to be there to grab it. That’s my mentality. That’s my focus, trying to be there for any given opportunity. Because even in the most dominant years of Mercedes, of Red Bull, of Ferrari, there was always one race know that you could make a difference or something could happen. And as a driver you live, especially in these kind of years, you live a bit on that motivation or on that thinking. And if not, I have plenty of motivation to fight for podiums, to fight for top fives. I love Formula 1. I love going to race every weekend with Ferrari and I love having the opportunity to also develop this year’s car, give the feedback and see the impact I can have on next year’s car. This is also what a driver lives for and I love that challenge. I think that summarises everything. Second part, I always try to put myself in the position of others when doing this or analysing these questions. And I say if my team had done what Red Bull has done, and I am doing the job that Max is doing, I wouldn’t like Formula 1 to change anything, because I think we deserve to be in the position they’re in and they’ve simply done an incredible job with this year’s car. Max is driving at a very high level. He obviously also has a bit of margin to do a mistake here and there and still win the race. But he’s not doing any big mistakes. Red Bull is not doing any mistakes and unless proven the opposite they deserve to have the success they’re having, because equal opportunity for everyone and they are beating us and they are dominating F1 in a fair and square way. So nothing to say. Congratulations and keep enjoying. We will try to do to get better as soon as possible.