F1 Qualifying Press Conference - Barcelona GP — Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell

[0:00] A very warm welcome to the top three qualifiers for the FIA Formula One Barcelona-Catalunya [0:06] Grand Prix. In third place, Kimi Antonelli. In second place, Lewis Hamilton. And taking the [0:13] 10th pole position of his Formula One career and his third of 2026, our pole sitter, George Russell. [0:20] Many congratulations, George. What a session for you. What a statement in Q3. Just how good was [0:26] that final lap? I've got to be honest, just really happy to be back in my groove over the course of [0:32] the whole weekend. You know, it's been a difficult few races for me. Obviously, bad luck. Been some [0:38] poor performances in there, but went back to an approach that I knew works for me this weekend. [0:48] And more important than the pole position for me was just seeing sort of every lap of the whole [0:53] weekend. You know, I was in the top two positions and I felt confident. I felt good. Just felt like [0:59] my old self again. So that was, regardless of what happened in Q3, you know, Lewis did a really amazing [1:05] job and also could have got the pole position as well. But regardless, that was the most important [1:11] thing for me this weekend. You say you went back to an approach that you knew worked. Was that from [1:16] a driving point of view or from a car setup point of view? Car setup, mentality, just going back to [1:24] basics, really. And, you know, these cars are so complicated. The tires are complicated. The power [1:31] units are complicated. And it's challenging to get on top of things. And, you know, especially when [1:39] I've got a guy like this next to me who's been performing so well, you know, you're trying to [1:44] constantly improve. And I think that, you know, doing some copy pasting probably really put me [1:53] on the back foot. So, as I said, this weekend, I've just gone in my own direction. And that's [1:58] what I've done in the past for the last few years. And really glad to see it paying off. [2:02] And is this the best you've felt in the car this year, including Melbourne, for example? [2:07] It just feels back to what I felt at the start of the year during winter testing, you know, [2:12] Barcelona here, Bahrain testing, Melbourne, China. I felt really comfortable in the car, [2:17] really happy. And, you know, Miami was just the first weekend where everything felt pretty [2:23] challenging. And that's where I think I can accept. And with my direct group of engineers, [2:31] we can accept we probably made some wrong decisions in these last three races. As I said, [2:35] more than anything, more than this pole position, I'm just glad to feel myself again, [2:41] feel at one with the car again, as I have done for the last few years. [2:45] What about tomorrow then? Your 100th Grand Prix start for Mercedes. 25 wins here have come [2:52] from pole position. Just how confident are you feeling ahead of the race? [2:56] I think we have a really great race car, to be honest. We showed really great pace on Friday. [3:01] Of course, you know, Kimi's going to be a real threat, no doubt. But Lewis, I think, [3:06] really surprised all of us with his strong pace today. We all thought the fight was going [3:12] to be with the McLarens in qualifying. We made a step to McLaren, but then Lewis, you know, [3:18] from lap one and Q1, it was like, well, you know, where's this come from? So maybe we'll [3:24] have a surprise tomorrow as well. [3:25] All right. Very well done to you, George. Thank you. Lewis, if we could come to you now. [3:30] George says you surprised everyone with your pace. Was it a surprise to you and Ferrari? [3:37] Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's been a very, very tricky weekend for me personally. [3:45] Really, really struggled to get on pace after missing P1. Never been so down before in the sense [3:53] of the gap between Charlotte and I and to everybody else. It was, you know, half second to eight [3:58] tenths. I think it was one second in one session to the front row. So that was, I needed to make [4:05] a huge leap going into qualifying. And I really needed to, I knew where the time was. It was [4:09] just having the confidence in the car, in the rear of the car. And I think we did a really [4:13] good job making adjustments. But this is really down to everyone back at the factory. They've [4:18] been working so hard. We kind of know where our North Star is. And for them to bring this upgrade [4:24] here this weekend, I can't thank them enough for the hard work that they've put in to bring it. [4:28] Because it's, you know, it's a competition between all the teams to who can bring the most. And it [4:37] helped us close the gap. The car felt great in qualifying. Obviously, they're still so quick, [4:44] like the Mercedes. So we still have work to do to fully close the gap or at least get ahead. [4:53] But I'm really hoping that tomorrow we can, it'd be nice for us to want, for once to be able to hold [4:58] on to them. But we'll see. [5:00] Lewis, we saw the problems Charles had in Q3. Just tell us more about what it's like to drive [5:05] this upgraded Ferrari on the limit. Is it tricky? [5:08] Lewis, I think just these cars in general, it is tricky. I think, I mean, for me, the car felt [5:17] really, really good. And we basically had this exact same setup now in quality. And, you know, [5:25] Charles has been quick all weekend. I think on the day two, I think I was breaking very late into [5:32] turn four, which had been visible. And I think Charles probably tried to carry a lot of speed [5:39] into that corner. And unfortunately, it didn't work out for him. But, you know, he's still going to be [5:45] really quick in the race. I think from the car standpoint, I think we're just constantly trying [5:50] to strike that perfect balance, which is inevitably almost impossible to ever find. But you're trying [5:55] to get closer and closer. And these tires are very, very peaky. There's a small, small window [5:59] that the fronts and the rears work. And you overpush in turn one, two, and three. And then you're [6:05] struggling through four and the rest of the lap. So it's the finest line that I can remember ever [6:14] being to get every ounce of the car's performance out on track. But I've been really happy with the [6:22] progress that we've made in terms of the balance. Of course, we can always continue to improve. [6:26] You're going to start the race in a Mercedes sandwich. Just how tricky is it for you tomorrow? [6:32] Or do you think you can genuinely challenge these guys? [6:36] I definitely will be challenging without my teammate within the group. But, you know, [6:45] it's been done before. So I think really it's not, it's a long way down to turn one for one [6:52] on the dirty side, which is not the greatest. But yeah, these guys, I think we're really quick [7:00] on the long runs as they have been all year. So I have no idea of whether I'll be able to keep up. [7:08] We'll find out tomorrow. [7:09] Luis, thank you very much. And Kimi, let's come to you now. Well done to you as well. [7:14] You said a moment ago that it's been a difficult weekend for you so far. So given everything, [7:18] how satisfied are you with this P3? [7:20] Yeah, I mean, we are not really happy. Just struggling with the feeling of the car. Very low [7:32] grip here. And just been attacking a bit too much corners. And yeah, in the last lap, I lost [7:42] basically everything in the last sector. The couple of big slides and the tyre just went away from me. So [7:49] definitely was not the best performance, but long run was good. So looking forward to that [7:56] for tomorrow. And hopefully we will have the same kind of pace. [8:00] Luis said a moment ago that he was on the back foot after missing the first practice session. [8:05] You were out of the car as well during FP1. How much do you think that has cost you? [8:12] Difficult to say, I think maybe a little bit, but I think overall this weekend I was just lacking pace [8:19] to be fair on a single lap. So I don't think if he, how much more of a difference he would have [8:27] made. For sure FP3 was a very messy session for me, a lot of traffic and not being able to try the [8:38] second tyre definitely made things a little bit more complicated. But it's what it is, [8:46] still P3. And now we'll focus on to tomorrow. [8:50] And do you think your main opportunity tomorrow is at the start or will the tyre deg that we're [8:54] seeing this weekend give you opportunities later in the race as well? [8:58] I think both. It's a long run into turn one. Also without the use of the wings, [9:04] the slipstream is going to be much stronger. So important to get a good start and then try to [9:12] get away cleanly into turn one. And then from that point on, it's going to be long, you know, [9:17] trying to play the long game. Tyres are very fragile here and we might see a lot of stops [9:24] during the race because, yeah, they don't last very long. [9:27] OK. Kimmy, thank you for that. Let's now open this to the floor. Please remember to give your name [9:32] and publication. First one. [9:35] A question for all three, if possible. Kimmy, you've kind of already touched on the strategic [9:40] variation and degradation. But just how much variation are we going to see tomorrow? Because [9:44] I think I was looking at some long runs a little bit earlier in the weekend. It seemed like the [9:47] mediums were dropping off after like maybe 12 laps or so. Are we looking at two stop, three stop? [9:52] What can we expect tomorrow? [9:54] I think closer to a three than a one. I don't think a one is going to be possible at all. [10:01] It's not clear what the best tyre is. It's quite interesting on the track surface like this. [10:07] All three tyre compounds look quite similar. That was the case last year. [10:13] Everybody was running the C3s and the C2s last year and obviously with the C4 this year and it [10:20] still looks not a bad race tyre. So there'll be a lot of variation, but I don't think a different [10:27] tyre will make that much of a difference. [10:31] Lewis, anything you can add on strategy tomorrow, tyre wear? [10:34] I think the tyre work, did you say it was double? It was like the deg was like double [10:42] than what we expected. So maybe not for these guys. [10:45] I said it was a one stop. [10:47] Yeah, it's a half stop. Yeah. No, I think it's, yeah, when we did the, we come into the [10:56] weekend with an expectation of where the, what the tyre is going to be. And for us, we had [10:59] twice the amount of deg. So it'll be interesting to see if that's improved going into tomorrow. [11:05] But yeah, it's going to be at least a two. Okay. Next one, please. [11:12] Luke. [11:13] Luke Smith from the FAC. Lewis, just given in light of today's result, your first front [11:18] row with Ferrari, your growing confidence. Does tomorrow feel like your best chance yet [11:21] of getting that first win in red? [11:25] I mean, this is the closest I've been to the front in quality, right? So I'm going to give [11:34] it a go. You know, still what's clear is what we're doing is it's working. We're improving [11:41] as a team. I think clearly, I mean, these guys just seem to have extra in the pocket every [11:49] time we bring an upgrade. They're still ahead. So we've got some work ahead of us to, I don't [11:58] know when they're going to bring something else again, maybe in the next race or whatever. [12:01] So it's going to be swapping and changing. But it's great for us to, this is the closest [12:05] we've been pace-wise, I think, in quality. And as I said, just I'm so, so grateful to [12:13] the guys back at the team. I've seen how focused and how hard everyone's working. And everyone's [12:19] just quiet and goes about their business. And it's just so passionate. But I really want [12:23] them to know how thankful I am because it felt great out there to put a lap together and [12:29] see that we're, you know, that close, that this early, you know, we're still early in [12:35] the season, you know, so the fight is on. [12:38] Thank you, Lewis. Thanks. [12:42] It's true, the race. One for you, Lewis. You mentioned on the radio that you lost a little [12:47] bit in turn one on that last lap. Can you just talk through that? And although it was [12:50] a small loss, could it have been enough to have you sat in the middle rather than in P2? [12:55] I mean, I need to go look at the data. I haven't seen the sectors. But basically, we're in the [13:04] garage because we went out and started the first lap. And then obviously, with the red [13:11] flag, we came in. I think I did more, you know, I did basically the whole first sector. [13:15] I think these guys, maybe you didn't get the whole sector in. So the tires were a bit fresher. [13:20] We had a big debate in the garage. They put on new tires and we're going to wait to do [13:23] one lap. And I was saying to them that I want to go out on this tire and get like a benchmark, [13:32] sort of, not a benchmark, but at least a reference lap in. And they're like, no, no, no, let's [13:37] just go out for one. And I was like, no, take these new tires off, put the reference ones [13:41] on. And then I went out and the tires had dropped off significantly already. I mean, from [13:48] one lap to the next lap, it's usually around half a second or eight tenths or something like [13:52] that. So they had already dropped off half a second. So anyways, I was happy I got that, [13:59] but whether or not they're right or not. So when I went into turn one, I just, I gunned it. I [14:04] probably went in too deep, had massive understeer and went quite wide on the exit of one, which [14:09] meant two was slower than normal. And yeah, these guys are flat through three. You flat through three? [14:18] Yeah. So I, you know, half, half a tenth to a tenth, I would assume, but let's, I'll look [14:26] at the data and maybe I'm wrong. [14:28] Okay. Thanks. Anymore? Yes. [14:33] Five, five, five. Keep question to Lewis. What do you still miss to have a victorious car [14:38] tomorrow compared to the Mercedes? [14:45] Tomorrow's not done yet. So I think for Paul and for us to get ahead, I think obviously we [14:54] miss a little bit of power or deployment. So, and it seems like we're a little bit closer [15:01] this weekend than normal, but there are areas where they just, where we tail off at the end [15:06] of going into turn four, for example, they just pull a little bit more and it's just little [15:10] small bits through the lap. Overall, I think it's the rear end can always get better. And [15:18] that's what I'm always asking for is more real downforce. That's the driver's dream is [15:23] always to have more, more rear. And these, these guys have had a, had it really solid at the [15:29] back for, for some time. So, yeah, so I'll keep asking for that. And, and I think it's just [15:37] also this refining kind of through corner balance. [15:43] Okay. Thanks. Lewis. Next. Yep. Another one. [15:45] Matteo Senatore, Formula Passion. A question for Lewis. You, you made the, Lewis, you made a [15:54] great improvement, uh, from the, from yesterday to today. What kind of adjustment you, you did in, [16:02] in the team for, uh, so a great, uh, qualifying session that the best you had? [16:08] Yeah. Honestly, I, I, I'm, I couldn't believe once I came around and asked P1 in, uh, in Q1, [16:14] I think that the gap was so big and I was thinking all weekend, I'm just, why am I half a second off? [16:21] And I just, uh, was just a bit down everywhere. I struggled through three, struggled through, [16:26] through turn nine and, um, you know, having that confidence in that, in, in that high speed, [16:31] but the, the engineers did a great job with, um, the small adjustments on the setup before, [16:37] before, for the first time actually ever, I, I left the track between P3 and qualifying. [16:42] I was like, I've got to get out of here. And I went, I went back to my motorhome and I was just, [16:47] I was on the engineer call just on my phone, but I kind of went away and had a bit of a reset, [16:53] came back and I was able to somehow get back on it. So, um, yeah, whatever I did, it worked. [17:01] Thank you. Yep. We'll leave it there. Very well done, gentlemen. Good.