Bahrain: FIA pilots press conference on Thursday

Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat sit down with the press in Bahrain.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Lando, if we could start with you, please: two weeks later, how do you think about your debut at the Grand Prix in Melbourne?
Lando NORRIS: If I look back on the course of the whole weekend, it was better than expected. During all this time, you obviously changed your thinking and after an eighth qualifying qualification, which was great for my first qualification, I finished 12th in the race, which was a little disappointing. But overall, I do not think I have acted badly in a lot of things. Obviously, there was a start and a few strands in the middle of the race, but for my first weekend, I do not think I could have asked for much more.

Q: The car seemed more competitive after a lap in qualifying than it was in race conditions. Do you think this will be played out this weekend? Is this a characteristic of the car?
LN: I do not think so much. I do not think the general pace of the race, other than the end of the race, was a shame. I've lost a few positions in Turn 1, so I was still 10 th and I think my pace at the first stint in the softs was pretty good, at the height of the men ahead. But I just have a little unhappy in the middle; I did not go over Antonio as fast as the others and that brought me back in terms of results. I do not think our pace was a problem. I do not think it's much worse than our qualifying pace, it's just that it was not as clear as in qualifying.

Q: And in Bahrain, 12 months ago: a big win for you in F2, a great weekend. What is the goal this time?
LN: Well, I'd like to do the same thing, but I do not think it's a very realistic goal! Obviously, the season started very well last year. Although I would like to have a result similar to last year, I know it's an unrealistic goal for this weekend. I think we just have to go step by step. For the first time in Formula 1 here, it will be a little different. Hope we can have a weekend like Australia, a good qualifying and it will prepare us a little better for the race and I can work on things that are not so well done.

Q: Good luck for this weekend. Thank you Lando. Daniil, you scored a point on your return from Formula 1 to Australia. How was it satisfying?
Daniil KVYAT: I think it was a good race for us. All weekend we were very competitive. It was nice to know that we are in the know. The midfielder is very tight this year so we were definitely in trouble. The race itself was very … There was a lot of action, so in the end scoring the point at the end of the first race of the season is always a good thing and we look to the future. Here it's a different circuit, so we'll see what we can do here now.

Q: Tell us a little more about the car. What is its competitiveness and what are its greatest badets?
DK: It's hard to say one single strength or weakness. Everyone seems to be very close to the midfield, so always have a great weekend. It seems that if you lose only a few tenths, you can lose a few positions. You must always work to put everything in place. Otherwise, instead of entering Q3, you can find P14, P15. It's a tight midfielder and it's good to know it. It seems that there will be opportunities for everyone.

Q: It's been a long time since we've been to an FIA news conference because you were working with Ferrari last year. Can you tell us a bit more about what you did in 2018 and what you learned?
DK: Obviously, I wanted to run but it was very good to be part of a team such as Ferrari. It was great to see Sebastian and Kimi working very closely. There was a lot of simulator work; they've always kept me busy, that was fine. On learning, I think it was better that I managed to stay close to the F1 world in a certain way and try to do my job as well as possible to help the team get the best result possible. . It was a good experience.

Q: Thanks Pierre, it was a tough weekend for you in Australia, but what encouragement did you get from Max's performance?
Pierre GASLY: I would say that the overall performance of the weekend was good. A good start, looking at the practice, and also the Q1. I think the overall pace seemed promising and yes, of course, what happened in qualifying really set us back for the race and on a track like this, the end result was rather mediocre and clearly not what we wanted. It was a tough weekend to accept because I think we deserved a better Sunday result but things did not go as we would have liked. We just need to make sure we have a clean weekend. I think Max's performance is really positive for everyone on the team and for Honda. I am very happy that Honda gets its first podium. It is rather positive for the races to come.

Q: It seems that you were caught off guard by the evolution of the track in the first quarter in Melbourne. Can we expect a different approach to qualifying this weekend from the team?
PG: I think we have a better idea of ​​the performance of the other teams and the grid. I think we found that all the teams got a little closer to last year. I think we have a little more information and we will probably be paying a little more attention. But let's see how performance goes from one track to another. It can be very different. I think Bahrain is back on a normal track and see how the weekend is going.

Q: This is a normal track on which you did very well last year. How lucky to repeat this weekend or to go better than fourth?
PG: We will do our best. We saw in Australia that we had a competitive car – as a quali and race. Certainly, Mercedes and Ferrari look very strong, but I think the most important thing is that if we can do everything we can, we should have a good chance to have a good result this weekend.

Q: Thanks Charles, we get used to seeing you in red but it was just your first race for Ferrari two weeks ago. How do you think about that and can you just talk about the emotions you felt in Melbourne?
Charles LECLERC: To be quite honest, emotions, I did not really feel them. Obviously, when you participate in a race, you focus on the work you have to do in the car and that's what I try to do as much as possible. It was not an easy weekend. Obviously, after the weekend in Barcelona, ​​we were expecting more, but there were a lot of positives to take. Be that as it may, Melbourne is not such a representative track of automotive performance, although that does not mean we are as strong as we want it to be. But yes, there is a lot of work to be done and I am pretty confident in the team that we have done the good work between Melbourne and here to try to improve ourselves. And for my part, I think I made a lot of mistakes during qualifying and the race and I will try not to repeat them.

Q: These errors were not entirely obvious to us. Can you elaborate?
CL: In Q3, I did not go around like I wanted to, and then in the race, I think you watched television leave. It had no effect on the result because I was obviously fifth and there was nobody behind, but in other situations, it could have been much worse. So I need to work on it.

Q: You have now finished a minute back on the man who is on your left on the podium. Was it a particular problem with the car in Melbourne? How did you feel? Did you feel well balanced or did you think it was a specific track and you expected to be more competitive this weekend?
CL: We expect to be more competitive. I think our package is strong. We have some answers to the lack of performance in Melbourne. I do not think we have them all, but we certainly have some answers to that. Then we'll only see here if it's just a specific track or something else, but I'm pretty confident in the package we have.

Q: Valtteri, you are the championship leader for the first time in your career, how do you feel?
Valtteri BOTTAS: Yes, that's good, but it's good, but it's just a race of the season, and now everything is focused on this weekend.

Q: After the race in Melbourne, you said the car was amazing. How confident are you in Bahrain this weekend?
VB: Honestly, it's pretty hard to say. Sure, we were all pleasantly surprised by the performance we had in Melbourne – but, as Charles said, the circuit is a bit funny, and I would say that this weekend and China we will have a much better performance. image of the actual performance at this point of the year. Obviously, we were very happy to see this kind of pace and the feeling with the car was much better than during the tests in winter. The time spent between the two was therefore very effective. So, yes, see what it gives here.

Q: You said after the race that it was the best race of your career. Why do you think it was? Is it because the Mercedes of this year is better than the two previous ones?
VB: It must be the beard! No, honestly, after the race, I really felt it was one of the best, or my best race. Obviously, the start of the race was essential to take the lead, but after that I did not make any mistakes anymore and everything was under control. And when you feel like you are playing at your best, it's a magnificent feeling. It remains for me to stay on track and feel it soon.

Q: Do you feel more comfortable in this Mercedes than anything you've driven?
VB: Of course, every car is always a little different and in the end, as a driver, you have to be the one who compensates you to make the most of the overall, but yes, I would say, during testing, to Melbourne. everything started off right. I have never felt anything strange with the car. Of course, there are things that we can still improve, but yes, I feel good in the car.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Erik Bielderman – The Team) Question to Pierre and Charles, how did you manage to manage your frustration after the first race? What I mean by frustration is that, for Charles, you could not fight properly with your teammate, and Pierre, we were waiting for you with the Red Bull to earn points and it was not the case.
CL: Yeah. There was no frustration on my side. Obviously, this is the first race, but on the team side, I do not think there is anything to win, that I was fourth and Seb fifth, or me fifth and Seb fourth. It was exactly the same number of points for the team. It is understandable that they did not want to take the risk of fighting and losing even more points. So yes, it was like that and I understand the decision.

Pierre?
PG: Yes, as I said, it was quite difficult to get that result after the promising free practice. We showed a good pace in FP2 and FP3 and yes, at the end of the weekend, it was difficult to score points with the package we had, but we know the reasons and we will do our best to ensure our weekends are clean because the package works well.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question to Valtteri. There has been a lot of talk about how much more determined you are this year and that you are coming back much stronger, much more focused than maybe last year. This question was asked to Lewis and he says that he sees no difference because he has always considered you competitive and powerful – but would you say that there has been a change of mindset on your part this year, and that Melbourne was proof of that – or is it too early to say?
VB: It's certain, if you look at the results, it's very early in the season. It's a race – but I can certainly say that something in my mindset has changed for the year. The preparation during the winter and the way I feel and think things have changed. It's quite difficult to explain in detail but I feel different from previous years.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Valtteri, how would you clbadify this circuit? Is this part of the same group as Russia and Austria?
VB: It's normally a pretty strong race for me, but of course every year it's a new race, and you still have to leave. I think running here, this year, could be a bit better in terms of overtaking with the new DRS zone, so I think that ultimately the pace of the race will be important, but the race has been strong for me personally and yes I can rate it pretty well on my list, but of course, the goal is to approach every weekend knowing and aiming to be at the top of your game and not having bad races anyway.

Q: (Kate Walker – New York Times) To Charles and Valtteri: The next Grand Prix weekend in China will be our 1,000th round of the F1 World Championship. I was wondering if you could tell me, on those 1000 races, if you were running or watching as a fan, what is your favorite memory?
VB: If I have to pick one now, I feel happiness at home, watching TV, the pilot: it was Mika's first win in 1997 and the last race of the year and it's obvious he's went win some titles. would say that it was my favorite.

CL: For my part, I will probably be a little selfish and maybe Monaco is my best memory because it was my very first Formula 1 Grand Prix last year. So it was something special and, to be perfectly honest, I did not watch so many Grand Prix on TV because I was still karting, so yes, Monaco last year was my best memory.

Q: (Oubay Autosportme.com) My question to Charles is: how would you describe the atmosphere at Ferrari after the first race? And also, is there a fundamental problem with the car or just a question of perfect balance?
CL: I think the mentality is the right one and we need to keep it throughout the year. The mentality is very positive. We are obviously aware that there is a lot of work to be done, but I am pretty confident, as I said in the team, to do everything to improve the car. I do not think that the concept of car poses fundamental problems. I'm pretty confident in that too. It's just fine-tuning. Of course, as I said before, what we showed in Australia was not, in my opinion, the actual performance of the car and I think we are all confident enough to be already better in Bahrain, but as I said, the mentality is: very good in the team and we have to keep that spirit. We all work as a team and work together and it's a good thing to see.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Valtteri has already mentioned that overtaking is probably pretty easy this weekend. There are three DRS zones. Will this affect the strategy you are going to have for the race and is that how you want the race to run with more DRS zones?
LN: I think it will affect us slightly. Obviously, you are more likely to double, so you would say that a two-step strategy might be better than trying to do it in Australia, for example. I think and hope that this will encourage teams to choose more different strategies, which can lead to more overruns, more action, which is always a good thing for a driver. It's hard to say. I had not driven last year, so I did not know better or worse that this aerodynamic package is comparable to that of last year. Some people said it was better, others it was worse or the same – not worse, but the same as in previous years. I think we must have overtaking and I think that Bahrain, as a track, is definitely better than Australia to overtake anyway, even without DRS zones. But I think that today, it is so difficult to double in general. The DRS is one of the few ways to take action and overtaking, so I think you're going to have to have it. Three areas DRS is a bit, I'm sure you'll see a lot of overtaking and activities this weekend. It's not the most natural and best way to do it, but that's probably what we need to do, I suppose.

CL: Yeah, well, you can afford to come back to the standings for an extra stop and have a chance to double afterwards even more easily. Already in the past, I think the track was easy enough to double with two DRS zones, so with only one, it can only be easier. So yes, it will change the strategy a bit. That's all.

VB: Nothing to really add. I think that's all. It'll be a little easier.

PG: I think they have summarized the situation well. You can probably opt for a more aggressive strategy with this extra DRS zone if it's easier to override, but I think the more we can do, the better. After all, there are other ways to go beyond; without DRS, it would be nice if we could follow each other and there was more action thanks to that and that it would be the best way, but I think that's the only thing we can change, DRS areas, so if that brings a little more, I think everyone will be happier.

DK: I think there are always good races in Bahrain, so we are waiting for the race.

Q: (Masahiro Owari – Formula Owari) Question to Pierre and Daniil: you had a problem initially in Melbourne, you could not see the starting lights. Could you please explain more details; what signal did you see or did you ask the FIA ​​for?
PG: At first, it was a pretty chaotic start to the game because maybe it was my position, but I also think that Russell behind me had the same problem and Kubica too, but the headlights were right behind Daniil's rear wing. I could not see them. During the training lap, they pulled the car back so I could see them, and when I found myself in the starting position, I was looking for them and the sidelights are really ahead on the grid. Basically, I did not know at all that I was starting to release the clutch when I saw the others move, but in reality it was not ideal and I think they plan to increase the lights a little start because I think it will probably be a problem for other tracks too.

DK: I could see everything so maybe he should try to look up.

PG: Maybe because you're taller. I think it's better (not) to start in this position and it will be the easiest thing.

Q: (Abdulrahman Al-Saud – University College Bahrain) Valtteri, what advice would you give to a future F1 driver?
VB: Never give up. This is obviously not one of the easiest sports to practice, but it is possible. When I was a kid, there were obviously a lot of people who said that when your goal is to get into Formula 1 and succeed in Formula One, they told you that it was impossible but seeing the possibility of things can be their strength. Obviously, there are many factors to be driving but you never know. When you do it, the bottom line is that when you do it, you take advantage of it and the rest is normally adjusted in one way or another.

Q: Can we just ask Lando this as well? You are a recruit. All you can add?
LN: I agree with what Valtteri says, to be honest. It's obviously a long trip, it's not fast. You can not just change … and I'm sure very few people can change from one sport to another, but I think a lot of hard work and dedication are what all the pilots here and all the pilots on the grid have put in a similar comment in terms of never giving up, because sometimes it may seem pretty out of reach and suddenly you can be in Formula One, you can have a contract with a team. Similar comments: determination, hard work and do not give up. Many others have done it, even though it's a very difficult sport. There are only twenty people in the world who can do it. I think never giving up is probably one of the best ways to describe it.

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