F1 Race Press Conference - Japanese GP 2026

[0:03] a very warm welcome to the top three finishers of the fia formula one japanese grand prix in third [0:10] place charlotte claire in second place oscar piastri and taking his second win in as many races [0:18] our winner kimmy antonelli kimmy race win number two for you and at one of the grace [0:24] one of the great race tracks in the world as well just how sweet was this one for you yeah it was uh [0:31] it's nice to um to be back you know on the on the top step obviously a very special win in a very [0:38] special track but um you know on one side i'm very happy but on the other side i'm a bit disappointed [0:46] with how the star went is an area where i need to work a lot because it's definitely not good enough [0:53] and i'm just making my life a lot harder so definitely a lot of work to do still but [1:01] uh i was very lucky of course with uh with how the safety car uh you know with the timing of the [1:06] safety car um but yeah then pace was uh was very very strong and uh really happy with that what [1:13] were your issues getting away from the line uh just uh when i think i dropped the clutch a bit [1:20] you know too deep uh deeper than what i should have and obviously tires were also a bit colder [1:30] so obviously i went beyond the [1:32] grip that was available and just lost a lot of places you knew you had a quick car so what were [1:38] you thinking at the end of lap one when you were p6 uh i cannot say but i was very mad [1:47] did you think the wind was still on at that point uh probably um i think [1:56] was a bit difficult to get by when was behind charles because we obviously had two completely [2:04] different deployments [2:05] and it was just hard to find um the the right place to overtake um then he went back in the pit [2:14] and then we you know we improve a lot with the pace and then obviously i was i was lucky with [2:19] the safety car but without the safety car i don't know how the outcome would have been [2:23] um definitely would have been it would have been a lot more difficult uh but you never know [2:32] now you're the youngest ever leader of the formula one world championship and the first [2:37] italian to win back-to-back races since alberto ascari how do you imagine this news will go down [2:45] back home in italy i don't know i think we'll find out pretty soon um but uh yeah i'm not i'm [2:53] not thinking too much about the the championship of course it's great but it's still a long way [2:59] to go and uh need to keep raising the the bar because you know george is very it's very quick [3:07] and for sure he's gonna [3:08] be back at his usual level and uh and also you know competitors eventually they will get closer [3:16] so i think we need to keep our head down and keep raising the bar final one from me we've got five [3:24] weeks until the next race mercedes has won every race so far this year is there one area of car [3:30] performance that you'd like to see the team work on between now and miami difficult i think our car [3:38] is a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very [3:39] very good um for sure maybe with the starts um but i think i mean today was completely my fault but [3:49] together me and george we we've been struggling a bit more um than what we would have anticipated [3:57] um since the start of the season and uh today the mclaren got the incredible you know really [4:04] good start so they're clearly doing something better for sure also on driver's input [4:11] in this case oscar did much better than me because i i cannot say but i f up it up pretty badly [4:21] but yeah i just need to keep working on that area very well done to you thank you kimmy oscar let's [4:28] come to you why don't we start with the starts that that kimmy's just been referring to you [4:33] not a bad first grand prix start for you of 2026. was it exceptional uh i i thought it was good but [4:43] I didn't think it was super special. [4:46] I think, you know, I saw Kimi go into wheel spin straight away [4:49] and I didn't really see what George was doing. [4:53] And, you know, I was having to go around. [4:55] Kimi meant that the rest of my start was a little bit compromised. [4:59] But, yeah, clearly it was good enough to get into the lead, which was great. [5:04] So, yeah, clearly that was a good strength of ours today. [5:07] That was a strength. [5:09] This is your third podium in three years here at Suzuka. [5:12] Just what aspect of the car's performance pleased you the most? [5:19] I think, I'm not sure there was one that, you know, I was massively pleased with. [5:26] But I think, you know, clearly we did a good job at the start today. [5:30] I think this weekend we just did a really good job of optimising what we had. [5:34] And I think, you know, from practice we were in a good window with the car in FP2 [5:41] and we managed to get it back in that window for qualifying. [5:43] I think we had... [5:45] We had a really good understanding of what we wanted from the power unit [5:48] and how we had to kind of dial it in for the qualifying grip level. [5:53] And then even today, you know, we did a lot of work on the starts. [5:56] I think our starts through all the practice sessions were really strong. [6:01] And then, yeah, I think the pace was probably a positive surprise. [6:07] You know, I think having clean air probably helped quite a lot at the start. [6:11] But we did a good job and I could pull away from George a little bit right before the start. [6:16] And, yeah, I think the strategy was good as well. [6:21] So I think we just nailed everything. [6:24] Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough for the win. [6:25] But I think at the moment a result like today is as good as a win for us at the moment. [6:32] Do you think the timing of the safety car cost you the win? [6:38] I would have loved to have seen how it would have panned out. [6:41] I think, you know, I need to look back and see how, you know, [6:45] whether Kimi was quicker than George or similar pace. [6:48] I think if it was... [6:49] I think if it was... [6:49] If it was at the same pace as George, then it would have been a pretty stressful afternoon [6:54] because I probably would have had both of them right on my gearbox. [6:58] But, yeah, I mean, I think once Kimi had clean air, clearly he was a lot faster than me. [7:04] So I'm not sure we would have won the race, but I certainly would have loved to have found out. [7:12] That would have been intriguing. [7:13] But have you come away from today thinking Mercedes are beatable? [7:22] Yes, I think. [7:24] I think, you know, we knew from last year or we know from last year that even when you have the best car, [7:31] you still need to operate it at, you know, an incredibly high level. [7:34] And I think today on our side, we did a really good job of that. [7:39] But I think it's, yeah, it's interesting to see, you know, [7:45] when someone else has the fastest car that it's not that straightforward. [7:48] And, yeah, I think, you know, the fact that I could keep George behind for so long, [7:54] it was really encouraging. [7:56] But, you know, we're under no illusion. [7:58] We did everything right this weekend and we still got beaten by 15 seconds. [8:04] So we've got a pretty big gap to fill. [8:07] I'm confident that we can get there. [8:10] But, yeah, we've still got some work to do. [8:12] Oscar, thank you for that. [8:14] Well done to you. [8:14] And well done, Charles, on the P3. [8:16] A lot of pressure from George at the end. [8:19] What was the key to keeping him behind? [8:24] I don't know. [8:26] I mean, it was quite tight at some point. [8:30] And they were also being quite cheeky because I think his engineer was telling him things on the radio. [8:36] My engineer was telling me what his engineer was telling on the radio. [8:39] But he was doing then the opposite. [8:42] And that, yeah, puts me under quite a bit of pressure at one point. [8:47] I think they told me, oh, he's being told to use everything in the back straight or vice versa, [8:53] or maybe in the main straight. [8:55] And then for four laps. [8:56] In a row, he was doing exactly the opposite of that. [8:59] So I understood it pretty quickly and I could defend. [9:01] But at one point, I got surprised in the last corner. [9:08] And, yeah, but it was quite a fun race. [9:12] Unfortunately, a little bit unlucky for us because of the safety car, the wrong moment. [9:16] I don't think it will have changed significantly our race. [9:18] But it made it a little bit more difficult for our second stint, for sure. [9:24] Okay. [9:24] That's the safety car. [9:25] But what were you thinking at the end? [9:27] Opening lap when you were P2? [9:30] I mean, I was happy then. [9:31] I was obviously focusing on Oscar. [9:35] But Oscar was very strong, actually, especially in the first lap. [9:39] In the first lap, I was very surprised on how much he pulled away. [9:43] And, yeah, after that, I was just trying to be as close as possible to him. [9:50] But he had a bit more pace. [9:51] And I thought also the free air was making a bit of a difference. [9:56] But I was just trying to wait. [9:58] So, for later on in the race, but it didn't happen. [10:02] Final one from me. [10:03] Something I asked Kimi earlier was, in the break before Miami, [10:07] is there one aspect of Ferrari's performance you'd like the team to focus on? [10:12] Well, I think doing a step back on those first three races, [10:15] there's a clear thing that we need to improve. [10:19] And this is surely the power unit. [10:22] But we obviously cannot bring anything to Miami. [10:27] But there's not only that. [10:29] In a year like this one, everything is very new. [10:33] I think the rate of improvements of every team is massive. [10:37] So, there's a lot more than just the power unit. [10:39] There's putting the tyres in the right window. [10:41] There's the aero. [10:42] There's the chassis. [10:42] And on that, we'll work flat out in order to try and close the gap as much as possible to the Mercedes. [10:50] And to hopefully keep behind the McLaren. [10:54] And then we'll see. [10:57] But, yeah, I think the power unit is maybe... [10:59] I think that's our main weakness at the moment. [11:01] But there are many other things that can definitely influence [11:03] and help us to close the gap in the meantime. [11:06] Thank you very much for that. [11:08] Let's now open this to the floor. [11:10] Name and publication, as ever, please. [11:12] Laurence Edmondson, ESPN. [11:14] Question to all three drivers. [11:16] We saw a very nasty accident today, Olly Behrmann. [11:18] I don't know if you've seen it on replays. [11:20] But it was basically due to the closing speed between the two cars. [11:24] We know that drivers have raised this concern already. [11:27] How important is it that something does change [11:29] ahead of time? [11:30] We're in the middle of Miami. [11:32] And, you know, does it matter if it's at the cost of this racing that we're seeing? [11:41] I didn't properly see what happened. [11:43] But I don't know also if the guy in front didn't move quite aggressively as well. [11:55] Yeah. [11:57] I mean, yeah, it's a big thing for sure. [12:01] But FIA is already looking into, you know, how to improve for Miami, [12:10] both in qualifying and race. [12:13] So let's see what's going to happen. [12:15] But, yeah, it's very tricky, to be fair. [12:18] Yeah, I mean, I think that with this car, surely we need to race differently. [12:24] And there's no doubts about that. [12:27] And one of the points actually was moving or changing direction whenever you are super clipping. [12:32] And that's what creates some quite dangerous scenarios, [12:37] whether we need to change absolutely everything for the race. [12:41] I don't know. [12:42] I don't know if I'm the only one. [12:45] I don't think I'm the only one. [12:46] I don't think I'm the only one speaking with other drivers. [12:48] But it might be half-half. [12:50] But I actually enjoy those cars for the racing bit. [12:55] I think for qualifying, there are definitely tweaks that we need to make [12:58] in order for us to push those cars to the limit [13:00] and not having to think too much about the energy. [13:04] For the race, I think it also comes from just adjustments on our side. [13:10] In racing, in defending and taking into account that the speed differences [13:16] can be more important. [13:21] And on that, I mean, probably more the defending cars than the attacking car. [13:26] I mean, on my side as well. [13:29] In Australia, there were some pretty tricky moments with George. [13:34] So, yeah, I think it will also get better with time. [13:38] But surely it's tricky. [13:43] I mean, we've spoken about that being a possibility since these cars, [13:48] you know, were... [13:50] were conceptualised. [13:53] Yeah, it's... [13:57] It's what we're stuck with, with the power units. [14:00] There's no easy way of getting around it. [14:04] From what I saw, there was no flashing light from Colo Pinto, [14:08] so I don't even think he was super clipping either, [14:11] which is obviously a bit of a concern. [14:15] I had a pretty close call in free practice with Nico [14:21] because he caught me about three times as quick as I expected on the straight [14:26] and we were both at full throttle. [14:28] So, you know, I think there's clearly an element of learning for us as drivers [14:33] and, you know, where the accident happened, you know, [14:36] it's not a place where you expect someone to come from so far behind [14:40] and have such a big speed difference. [14:43] And whilst we're learning that, unfortunately, things like this [14:46] are probably going to happen, which is a shame. [14:50] But... [14:51] But, you know, I think we understand, as a sport, [14:54] there's a lot of things we need to tweak, [14:56] a lot of things we need to change, [14:58] and especially on safety grounds, yes, [15:01] there's some things that need to be looked into pretty quickly. [15:04] OK, thanks, all. Next one. [15:07] A bit more to a Speed Cafe question for Oscar. [15:11] Charles mentioned a bit about how he was surprised of McLaren [15:15] and how you were able to pull away at that point. [15:17] Were you surprised that you were able to stay ahead of him towards the end there [15:20] and that you were able to stay ahead of Ferrari in the race? [15:22] I think we felt... [15:24] We felt like we could maybe stay ahead of Ferrari. [15:30] I think, you know, looking back at qualifying, [15:33] you know, I think clearly something wrong happened [15:36] with the deployment for both Charles and Lewis, [15:39] so I think the gap I had in qualifying flattered us a bit [15:43] and, yeah, we thought that would be a challenge. [15:48] And to be honest, I think with the... [15:51] You know, I think Charles and I had very similar pace [15:53] through most of the race, so that was about what we expected. [15:56] But I think being able to keep George behind was a big surprise. [16:00] You know, once he got back into second, [16:02] I thought that he was going to come past in about half a lap [16:05] and I was going to settle in for second [16:07] and wait for Kimi to do the same. [16:09] But the fact that we could be so close to Mercedes and beat one of them, [16:13] I think that was a much more pleasant surprise. [16:17] Thank you, Oscar. Next. [16:21] Michael Laminato, Fox Sports. Question to Oscar. [16:24] I think I've chosen the most obstructed seat in this whole room. [16:27] And I think that's the reason about how laps are really important [16:30] to get under your belt with these new rules. [16:32] This was your first Grand Prix distance. [16:34] Andrea talked about how this was the best of you, [16:36] or certainly that you've seen all year. [16:38] How do you feel like you've performed today [16:40] in terms of getting the most from your car package? [16:42] How far away, if at all, do you feel like you were [16:44] from getting the absolute maximum from the McLaren today? [16:47] I think this weekend was probably one of my best weekends in F1. [16:52] You know, I think I felt like I hit the ground running in practice. [16:56] I think we did a really good job of getting the car into the window [17:00] I was happy with on Friday. [17:02] I felt like I drove well in qualifying in the race. [17:05] Yeah, there wasn't anything more we could have done. [17:07] We got a good start. The pace was good. [17:10] I felt like I was strategic or smart with how I used the boost [17:15] and how I managed that side of racing. [17:19] Our strategy was good. [17:21] You know, we didn't blink too early. [17:24] You know, obviously the safety car was a shame, [17:26] but I think as race weekends go, [17:28] we couldn't have done any better than that. [17:31] So, yeah, for me, I'm very happy with the performance that I put in, [17:34] very happy with the performance from the whole team. [17:38] Clearly, we've still got some, firstly, performance to find, [17:42] but also, you know, on Lando's side of the garage, [17:44] it was a pretty interrupted weekend with all the issues, [17:47] and clearly the start of the season's not been easy for us with reliability, [17:51] so we've got a long way to go. [17:53] But, yeah, I think we showed that if we get everything as good as we can get it, [17:59] then we can cause a few headaches. [18:02] Thank you. Next one. [18:09] Phil Duncan, PA. [18:11] Kimi, I know earlier on you were saying that the... [18:13] Over here. [18:15] ..that the Championship is early days, [18:17] but obviously Mercedes have won the first three races [18:19] and you've got two, George has got one, [18:22] so there's a chance, obviously, that the winner of the Championship [18:25] could come from Mercedes. [18:27] Are you ready for that rivalry with George? [18:29] Are you worried at all that it could become a bit tense between the two of you? [18:33] No, I'm not worrying about that, to be fair. [18:37] I'm just going to focus on myself, on what I need to do, [18:41] trying to get everything right in terms of procedures, starts, driving. [18:49] I know how strong George is, and for sure it's going to be very hard. [18:56] Plus... [18:58] I think, you know, Ferrari, McLaren, they will get closer, [19:04] so it's going to be important to stay on top of the game. [19:09] As I said before, keep raising the bar, [19:12] but I'm not focusing or worrying about this at the moment. [19:18] I'm just obviously happy with how things went today [19:22] and, yeah, just going to try to make the best out of the break [19:26] and see... [19:27] ..and trying to... [19:28] ..to see where, you know, how I can improve those areas [19:33] in order to be back stronger. [19:35] Thank you. Next. [19:38] Luke Smith from The Athletic. [19:40] Kimi, just picking up on wanting to raise the bar there, [19:42] through your rookie season, you went through some ups and downs [19:45] and bounced back stronger for it. [19:46] Just how much do you feel you've levelled up [19:48] in terms of your own performances this season? [19:50] Obviously, the car does help, [19:51] but how much have you taken that step in year two? [19:54] Big step. Big step, sorry. [19:58] Experience does a lot. [20:00] Obviously, last year I've gone through a lot [20:05] and it taught me massively more than what I anticipated [20:11] and for sure is helping so far this year. [20:16] Of course, there's still a lot of work to do, [20:20] but I definitely feel much more in control of the situation. [20:26] Of course, as you said, the car helps [20:29] and... [20:30] Yeah, and I'm going to try to, you know, be ready and everything [20:36] because it's one of those opportunities [20:38] that they don't happen every day. [20:41] So, obviously, yeah, really, really grateful [20:46] with the car that the team has provided us so far [20:50] and, yeah, I just need to keep my head down. [20:54] Thank you for that. Kimi, next. [20:57] Laurence Evans from ESPN. [20:59] To follow up on that, Kimi, [21:01] how do you feel like you've closed the gap? [21:03] Is that what you feel? [21:04] Because you said you thought he's going to get back [21:06] to his usual levels soon, [21:07] but do you feel like you have closed in? [21:09] And how much of that is you both starting from scratch [21:11] with this new regulation set rather than getting into a car [21:14] that he had been essentially driving that type of car [21:16] for three or four years? [21:18] Yeah, for sure helps that everyone, you know, started from zero. [21:23] For sure experience still helps, you know, [21:28] but definitely I've been closing the gap with him. [21:32] I think still in qualifying, he has the upper end, [21:37] especially when it comes to Q3. [21:39] He's always able to find that little bit of extra, [21:44] which I'm working on. [21:47] But in terms of race pace, I think we, you know, [21:52] we have a really strong base. [21:54] So, yeah, I feel obviously, you know, [21:58] he's super, super strong, very complete driver. [22:01] I think he showed many times. [22:02] Yeah. [22:03] Many times last year. [22:05] And that's why, you know, it's not going to be easy. [22:09] And that's why I need to do everything as perfect as possible. [22:13] Thank you, Kimi. [22:15] Anymore? [22:17] No more? [22:18] We will leave it there, gentlemen. [22:19] Very well done. [22:20] Thank you very much.