DRIVER GROUP 2 – Zhou GUANYU (Alfa Romeo), Nico HÜLKENBERG (Haas), Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin), George RUSSELL (Mercedes), Logan SARGEANT (Williams)
Q: Zhou, let’s start with you, you’re closest. What have you been up to since we last saw you? And I’m thinking specifically of Wimbledon.
Zhou GUANYU: Yeah, exactly. Obviously, I got invited to watch. There was a choice between the women’s final and the men’s. So I watched the men’s on Sunday before heading over this weekend. So that was really fun. Actually, you know, it was my first ever time. I don’t really play tennis myself, but actually, it was the first match I watched and it was quite impressive to be honest. Just how silent it is before every serve. You know, that’s quite impressive to see, where in Formula 1 you have, like, massive DJ music before on the starting grid – a bit different. But yeah, it was really enjoyable actually, and both players put on an incredible show on that day.
Q: Fernando, were you tempted to come over to Wimbledon and watch that final?
Fernando ALONSO: No. It was enough, one week in Silverstone already.
Q: Now, Zhou, let’s talk about the performance of your car. The last couple of races have been hard for you and Alfa Romeo. What have been the issues?
Zhou GUANYU: Well, Silverstone, to be honest, I think in terms of the preparation and throughout the weekend, we didn’t do exactly the perfect job. Especially, obviously from my side, there was an issue before FP3, where we made a massive change during the night with the set-up before heading over for Qualifying. So I have no, let’s say, practice into it. And then Quali was damp, it was OK, and then the last lap was the only dry lap I got, so I didn’t really maximise everything, which sacrificed quite a bit the weekend. But yeah, it’s clear like, as a team, we made maybe a more visible step forward compared to the upgrade we bought into Silverstone. So it’s been not an easy one so far, and clearly lacking a little bit of pace compared to where we want it to be.
Q: Do you think that pace will translate here at the Hungaroring?
ZG: I think, you know, we shouldn’t be as far back as we were in Silverstone, because Silverstone is a track… Obviously, you have high speed, but also you have a lot of long straights and a lot of corners are flat now, you know, Copse, all these corners, almost flat. So I think here we’ll be a little bit stronger. And obviously, we have no upgrade for this weekend, but we just need to figure out, you know, get a bit more on top of what we have actually got before the summer break.
Q: The team were overtaken by Williams at Silverstone. Is there a little bit of pressure building inside?
ZG: Yeah, of course. You know, we’re aiming obviously to…. At the beginning of the year we aim a little bit higher, to at least maintain trying to be P6, if not higher up, we clearly don’t achieve that. But on the other hand, we were very close together with Williams, and also Haas, for the whole season and unfortunately got overtaken for that last weekend, so not ideal. The pressure is high, but I think the main focus is really to get more out of the package, you know, to be quicker in terms of developing more upgrades coming through the second half of the season. And it’s clear, you know, if we have the performance of the car, and we can develop or deliver what Alex or both Williams was doing the whole weekend, they was extremely quick, top three all sessions.
Q: Alright, best of luck this weekend. Fernando, let’s come to you now. Twenty years since that first win. How vividly do you remember 2003?
FA: I do remember. It was obviously a magical moment of my life and my career as well. It changed a little bit everything after that. And yeah, it was a Qualifying that we had to put the fuel for the race, for the first stint. So we thought on Saturday night that we were very light on fuel and maybe, you know, the race would unfold differently. And maybe top five was possible or a podium, I think, was the realistic target. We ended up winning the race. And it was a little bit of a surprise and we were very happy.
Q: You say change something. What did it change?
FA: I think it changed a little bit, especially off track, many things in my life, and in Spain as well. No more privacy in my life since 20 years.
Q: And the hashtags started then – #2, #3 and #33 now.
FA: Yeah, I mean, the first win is probably a big thing and it happened to all the drivers. And as I said, for me, it was a big change. Now into this weekend we do have, you know, some hopes into this weekend after some struggles in Austria and Silverstone, so hopefully a better one.
Q: Well, tell us a little bit more about that. Why are you more confident coming into Hungaroring?
FA: I think because the layout of the track and the characteristics are a little bit more similar to the circuits that we did perform well at so far this year, and I think high-speed corners, long straights are not maybe the strength of our package. And I think Austria and Silverstone were a clear example of those. So yeah, hopefully here, we can come back to a stronger performance, even though our main competitors, they improved their packages, and they will be very strong as well here. So it’s going to be difficult, but hopefully good fun.
Q: And can we get your thoughts on the alternative tyre allocation that we’re running for the first time this weekend at the Hungaroring? Do you like being told what tyres to run in each segment of qualifying?
FA: Yeah, why not? I think it will not change too many things. As you said, we have to use a certain type of tyre in each of the Qualifyings, but it’s the same for everybody. So it should not be a thing that should change too many things. And we save couple of sets, I think, for Pirelli. Instead of 13, we have 11 per driver. So two sets for 20 drivers, obviously, there are a lot of sets that maybe Formula 1 can save. So there is a reason behind that, you know, we should support and least try. And let’s see after this weekend if there are any tweaks that maybe are needed for the future.
Q: Fernando, thank you. Best of luck to you. Logan, let’s come to you now. Best result of the season so far at Silverstone with that P11. Do you feel that you made a step forward there?
Logan SARGEANT: Yeah, I think I’m making steps in the right direction, but I’m still not where I want to be. There’s plenty of work to still be done. But I see the progress. I see it’s moving in the right direction and that’s what matters. But yeah, I’m still striving to be better. And I think this weekend in particular isn’t going to be, you know, perfect for what we have in our car, but we’ll make the most of it. And, yeah, hopefully I’ll optimise on what we were just speaking about with a different qualifying format.
Q: And what about the upgraded Williams? The performance was so strong at Silverstone, what can you hope for here?
LS: I think, you know, for sure, Budapest isn’t a track that’s going to be great for us. So we have to manage expectations coming off the back of two decent weekends for the team. But yeah, I think there’s always opportunity. You never know until you put the car on the ground. So we’ll stay optimistic and see what we can do.
Q: Alright. Best of luck to you. Thank you very much. Nico, let’s come to you. Can you explain the new look? First of all, was it a bet?
Nico HÜLKENBERG: Fascinating what a bit of dyed hair can do. No, not a bet. It’s just a bit of… You know, that Barbie movie came out and I thought a bit of extra PR for me would be pretty handy this time of the season. Actually, no, I wasn’t aware about it. I didn’t really play with Barbie and Ken when I was a child. So I just ran into this one and bad timing I guess.
Q: Before we talk about Haas, can we just get your thoughts on the return of your former team-mate, Daniel Ricardo this weekend? What did you make of that?
NH: Yeah, I mean, a lot more smiles, a lot more teeth. You know, you can see there. It’s going to be interesting to see. I think there’s actually quite a strong race car (there and it) will be interesting to see what Danny can do with it. Obviously, he’s had now a good like eight or nine months out, a bit of a reset and, you know, to be out of the hot seat for a while I think is quite nice. I speak from experience. So he’s probably quite fresh and reset and ready to go. So I’m going to be exciting to see what he can do.
Q: Now the Hungaroring is often referred to as Monaco without the walls. Given that your car wasn’t particularly competitive at Monaco…
NH:… Where are you going?
Q: …how confident can you be coming into this one?
NH: Yeah, as confident as we can be. I mean, it’s been a bit tough lately, bit of a dry spell also in terms of points scoring – apart from obviously Austria in the Sprint race. Here, it’s very hot, it’s very demanding on tyres so you know, it’s going to be definitely a tough weekend for us. We have a few little upgrades to the car, on the floor. So hopefully, they can push us along a little bit but I expect the very, tight field again, so every session matters, every lap matters. I think Quali, for us, with the new rules of how we have to run the tyres, with the Hard in Q1, is probably not favourable for us. So, extra challenge there, but we’ll just take it on.
Q: Final one for me, there’s quite a lot of speculation about your future. Gene Haas is going to be here this weekend. Are you hoping to sit down with him and maybe get a deal done before the summer break?
NH: I’ll sit down with him regardless. Maybe there is no deal to be done? Maybe deal is in place? Who knows? I’m pretty happy and relaxed. I think it works both ways at the moment, and I’m enjoying myself. I think the team is also in a good place. So, there’s no reason not to think why that relationship shouldn’t continue like this.
Q: George, we’re back at the scene of your first ever pole position in Formula 1. That happened 12 months ago. What chances of a repeat this weekend?
George RUSSELL: Yeah, I’ll be pushing for it, for sure. I’m looking forward to seeing what the weekend is going to hold. It’s been an interesting few races, with our performance in Austria, then really quite strong in Silverstone. We’re still battling forward, still really focused to keep on progressing. We’re in a good position, but we need to try and stay ahead of our competitors.
Q: Have you been surprised by the fluctuations in form that you’ve been going through?
GR:I think that’s the same for all the teams up and down the grid. You see Aston, at the start of the year, were really, really strong. They’ve maybe taken a small step backwards. Same with Ferrari at certain races. And I’m sure even Red Bull to a small degree. At some races, they were 30 seconds ahead, last week, they were three seconds ahead, albeit with the safety car, but they weren’t running away with things. So, we are closing that gap. It seems like the whole field is slightly more compact, which makes it exciting. And the small details make a big difference. As I said, we’re focused, we’ve got P2 in the Constructors’ Championship in our sights, and what we’re aiming for, but we’re still pushing for more, and try and get some race wins along the way.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Zac – Sky F1 Juniors) This is a question for all the drivers. This weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, we’re hosting our first ever F1 Junior Show and kids are going to be taking over the broadcast. What do you think about this in the potential future, that kids will be taking over the broadcast?
GR: I think it’s very exciting and Crofty’s got something to be worried about. So no, I think is great, what were you guys doing, Formula 1 bringing the kid show to the sport, and I know with my niece and nephew who follow the sport a lot, for them to have the chance to see it in a slightly younger format, it’s going to be exciting. So, looking forward to seeing what you guys are up to.
NH: Yeah, same. Are you a good negotiator? You got a good deal on this? Because, you know, he loves F1, but he doesn’t do it for free, so… ?
Q: Fernando, your thoughts?
FA: Same.
Q: (Ruby – Sky F1 Juniors) This question is for George and Alonso. Max is always on the podium. Are you jealous about his car? And did you ever think about ganging up on Max?
GR: Should we? Should we gang up on him somehow?
FA: We are jealous. For sure.
GR: Yep, we are jealous. Yeah, for sure. For sure we were jealous. But we all get our opportunity to stand on that podium. He’s getting the opportunity a few more times than we are, but things have a way of working themselves out. So, I’m sure, hopefully the tables will turn in the near future.
FA: Yeah. Don’t want to add anything.
Q: (Géza Suránya – Heves Megyei Hírlap) Question to George. You’re biography was released earlier this month. What were your first thoughts when you heard about it? Have read it or have you seen it?
GR: I’m not aware of this at all! That’s a triple no. Are you aware of this? I have no idea. I’m intrigued now and I will check it out. Is it on Amazon? All right. I’ll Google it.
Q: (Dániel Majer – Rally Café) Question to all the drivers – except Fernando. Fernando was speaking about his first race win here in Hungary, 20 years ago. You were all in your mid-teens except Logan, who was only 12. Were you watching Formula 1 back then? And do you remember anything about that particular race or in general about the time Fernando started to make his name in Formula 1?
GR: I was still sucking on dummies, I think. (To Logan) 2003. Were you alive?
LS: 2003? I was alive. I wouldn’t have watched that.
GR: OK, Zhou?
ZG: I was alive.
GR: I’ve seen the replays. I’ve seen the infamous wave around the last corner. Was that this one?
FA: yep.
Q: Hülk, it was only seven years before you made your Formula 1 debut. You must remember that?
NH: Yeah. I was 16, so I must have seen it but the memories are a bit blurry. Yeah, I don’t know.
Q: (Bence Boa – Racingline.hu) Question to all the drivers. You may have heard that Nicholas Latifi will start learning at university this year. If you won’t be able to race from tomorrow on, what would you do?
ZG: I guess the answer is going to be fashion designer. I always think that maybe in the future to have our own brand. Doesn’t matter how popular is it. Just something that I can do on time off or not racing. Obviously, it’s great to see what Nicholas is doing, taking away a little bit from the racing, doing what he loves, because I think he can have all the opportunity to do other stuff besides motorsport.
Q: Not tempted by University?
ZG: Unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of… obviously education is important, but I wasn’t a favourite of that. Maybe other people will go back that.
Q: Fernando, what would you do?
FA: No idea. Work as the assistant of Zhou, probably. Journalist!
Q: Do you think you’d be good? Can you write?
FA: I guess so. Yeah. Are you good?
Q: No, I won’t be the judge of that. No, don’t say! Logan?
LS: Honestly, I’ve never thought of it. I don’t really want to think about it! So I’m not sure.
NH: Probably, accountant, lawyers, something steady solid income and that has a long future.
Q: What would you do George?
GR: Oh, what Fernando said: journalist in Formula 1. Stay with you guys. No idea, no idea.
Q: Fernando just said: ‘seems the easiest’. David’s right: ‘couldn’t handle the hours’.
Q: (Barna Zsoldos – Nemzeti Sport) Question to Fernando. Is there a special bond between you and Hungary? Because of that famous win 20 years ago? Is there a special bond between you and maybe the fans? You know, you celebrated your birthday many times here. So maybe, are you a bit more fond of Hungary than the other countries?
FA: Sure, 100 per cent. Always, you remember your first win and you know every time I come here… it’s like Brazil, when I won the Championships there, you still have a special relationship with that race and that city and Budapest is one of my favourite cities and grands prix, and apart from that first win, we had good races here: in 2006, I remember, starting at the back; 2009, pole, Yeah, has always a special track with special races.
Q: You say you’ve had special races here, but does it surprise you that you’ve only won once?
FA: Yeah. Well, we had a couple of issues, especially the wheel nut in 2006 when we were leading the race, and yeah, and some other… 2007 a penalty with Lewis in the pit-lane, that I was on pole and I started tenth. that I was on Paul and I started 10th. That championship we lost in Brazil for one point. So, that was incredible. So yeah, you know, I’ve been always enjoying here. Some ups and downs in terms of results and incredible only one win, but always enjoying.
Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) Question for Logan and George please. Alex Albon has been doing some pretty tremendous bits in the Williams this season. So Logan, first of all, in your rookie season, how much have you been able to learn from him and absorb and George how gratifying is it to see your old mate doing so well in the Williams and picking up from where you left off at the team? Thank you.
LS: I mean, from my side he’s been driving amazing and for me being a rookie, it’s been really good to be able to learn from that. And yeah, he’s really set the benchmark. He gets everything out of the car every weekend and that’s what I’m trying to get to. So, perfect person for me to try and reach and yeah, it’s also good for the team and it’s good to see.
Q: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from Alex?
LS: He’s just fast everywhere, that’s for sure. I feel like just you can really see the experience, you can see that he’s gone through ups and downs in Formula 1 and he really knows how to get the most out of the car, get the most out of the team and how to put himself in the best position coming Sunday.
GR: Yeah, really happy to see… Alex is a very talented driver and just happy to see in the right environment what he’s capable of doing. And equally for Williams, they’re a team who work really hard. They had a few years of difficulties and now also with James there, I think they’re definitely on the right tracks to try and push themselves to the front of the midfield. So I couldn’t be happier for James, Alex and Williams as a whole.
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) A question to Fernando. How realistic are the chances for a second place in the Championship? The margin’s narrow but you also have a long calendar to go. Is it something that can be achieved before summer break, or do you think it’s going to be a long run?
FA: It’s going to be a tight battle until the end. So yeah, let’s see what is the final position. We also forget that behind us there are some strong competitors and very fast teams and drivers. Ferrari and McLaren now, so we’re still P3 in the Championship and we aim to finish P2 but with the feet in the ground, and knowing that it’s going to be a tight battle until the end.
Q: (Pedro Fermín Flores – TheGodFlores) Two short questions for Fernando. First one, talking about biographies. I booked yours one year ago in Amazon. It never arrives. Can we talk later about the return of the money or something like this? And the second one is, you told five minutes ago or ten minutes ago that, since your first victory there is no privacy for you. You will change all you have achieved these years for your privacy?
FA: For the book, yes, I know that it was out there for a couple of months, but it was you know, again, not my book, or not under my permission. So yeah, probably a similar thing to George, if he doesn’t know anything from that book yet. And on the privacy thing, it is a tough question. I don’t know. Obviously, we try to live our dream which is racing in the fastest cars in the world and in Formula 1 and we, from a very young age in go-karts, we dream to be here, and seated here. But obviously you never put in the balance some of the sacrifices that you have to make and some of the changes in your life and your family’s life that will happen eventually if you get to Formula 1. So, I guess I will not change anything, because still your own choice and you try to succeed and to follow your dreams, but probably things are a little bit more difficult than what you see on TV on Sundays, you know? There are 20, 30 years, 40 years of your life that will change forever.
Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agence EFE) I have a question for Fernando. 20 years ago, some of us who are in this room, which was quite different, it was a table, and we were all really impressed by something that, in Spain no-one had probably imagined before, especially in Asturias. You said before, you lost your privacy from that day on, but we know Fernando’s life has changed, but from Alonso, the driver, which thing are still the same than 20 years ago, which things have changed since then?
FA: Probably the same thing is that when you close the visor on Sunday, still the same motivation and the same joy of racing. So that formation lap, that race start, everything. The adrenaline of driving these cars and compete against the best drivers and teams in the world and try to succeed, this is exactly the same as 20 years ago. I do have more experience of tracks, so the way you prepare the race with your engineers, the strategies, the knowledge on the tyres, and how to prepare the race, it is different now. The level of stress is different now as well. Knowing what you will come probably in the race, all the different scenarios that may come in the race, there are not too many surprises, let’s say, in my head or in my race. So yeah, that’s a little bit different. But the good thing is that the DNA of competition is still the same. And that’s the most fun part of our job.
Q: (Carlos Miguel – Marca) Question for Fernando, after the analysis of Silverstone, had the new construction of the tyres some influence in your car? Bad influence?
FA: We don’t know. Obviously it is still one factor that we still need to analyse a little bit more in detail in the next few races. I’m not a fan of changing the rules in the middle of a championship. In sport, you know, you change the balls in the middle of the tennis tournament or something like that, and it’s what happens when we change tyres here, we change the rules in the middle of a Formula One World Championship. But you know, at the end of the day, is the same for everybody again, so we just need to understand the tyre the best we can, and hopefully extract the maximum. If there is any change. As I said, we’re still not 100 per cent sure. We need couple of races to confirm anything. So far, they look very similar but we need to wait and see.
Q: (Don Kennedy – HB Today / New Zealand Herald) Question for Fernando – sorry Fernando, you’re getting all the questions. 20 years since your first win, you said you wouldn’t change anything. But in that time, would you include the teams that you’ve decided to drive for? And would you change your decision to leave F1 for two years?
FA: I would not change anything. I don’t regret anything. No one has a crystal ball to know what is the performance of the teams in the following year. When I left Renault, which was the first decision, I joined McLaren, and that season, we fought for the World Championships. So, in terms of how competitive we were, it was a good thing and a good move. Then I joined Ferrari, I don’t think any of the drivers will reject an offer from Ferrari and join that team. And we fought for three Championships of the five years that I was there. Then I joined McLaren-Honda, which was a project that we all thought that it could be interesting and powerful. It didn’t work – OK, that thing can happen in this sport. And then I stopped Formula 1 because I had too many things in my head and too many challenges that I wanted to try. And it was a wonderful time in my career to try the endurance racing and that car, and Indy, with quite good success as well. So happy for that. And then I came back to Formula One with what I always considered my family in Alpine, in Renault. And now the last decision which for everyone’s opinion was the worst one, to go for Aston Martin. It was the best one, arguably of my career. So that just shows the difficulty of choosing teams, and lack of knowledge that everyone has at home.