Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Das war das beste Podium meines Lebens! Nach dem Sieg auf einer großartigen Strecke sangen abertausende von Menschen meinen Namen... das ist absolut unglaublich! In solch einem Moment fühlst du dich wie ein Rockstar auf der Bühne und ich habe jede Sekunde davon genossen. Vielen Dank an alle mexikanischen Fans, die diesen Sieg für mich zu etwas ganz Besonderem gemacht haben. Auch möchte ich mich bei Bernie und den Veranstaltern bedanken, die ein fantastisches Event auf die Beine gestellt haben. Es war ein perfektes Wochenende für mich. Ich hatte ein gutes Qualifying und konnte das Rennen von der Spitze weg kontrollieren. Ich konnte jedes Mal reagieren, wenn Lewis näher gekommen ist. Es war aber knifflig, weil es keinen Grip an der Hinterachse gab. Ganz besonders nach der Safety Car-Phase, als die Reifen kalt waren. Am Ende fühlte ich mich aber wohl. Die Grundlage für die Performance an diesem Wochenende war das großartige Teamwork mit meinen Ingenieuren. Wir haben ein super Setup für die speziellen Bedingungen hier gefunden. Vielen Dank an sie alle. Jetzt freue ich mich auf das Rennen in Brasilien. Es ist immer klasse, mit einem Sieg im Gepäck zum nächsten Rennen zu kommen. Hoffentlich kann ich diese Form nach Interlagos mitnehmen.

Das war heute ein ziemlich gutes Rennen. Ich hatte wirklich viel Spaß. Ich pushte sehr hart, gab absolut alles und ich glaube, dass ich eine bessere Pace als Nico hatte. Aber leider kann man hier einem anderen Auto nicht folgen. Je näher man rankommt, desto mehr verhält es sich wie mit zwei negativen Polen eines Magneten - man stößt sich gegenseitig ab. Dagegen konnte ich überhaupt nichts unternehmen. Ich wusste, dass ich einen guten Start brauchen würde, um Nico auf dem Weg bis zur ersten Kurve zu bekommen. Aber ich hatte kaum Windschatten und er machte danach keine Fehler. Bei den Boxenstopps gab es keinen großen Stress. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt habe ich einfach nicht der Entscheidung zugestimmt, einen zweiten Stopp einzulegen. Das war alles. Das Team trifft diese Entscheidungen und ich halte mich daran. Diesmal war ich mir im ersten Moment nur eben nicht ganz sicher. Wie sich herausgestellt hat, gab es dann auch eine Safety Car-Phase. Ich vertraue den Jungs komplett und wir haben als Team immer noch einen Doppelsieg geholt. Das ist positiv. Ich muss schon sagen, das war die beste Woche und die besten Zuschauer hier in Mexiko, die ich je gesehen habe. Hier gibt es so viele Menschen mit so viel Energie und Begeisterung für den Sport. Alle anderen Länder, in die wir reisen, müssen sich anstrengen, um mit diesen Jungs mitzuhalten. Jetzt geht es nach Brasilien, wo ich noch nie gewonnen habe. Das ist also in zwei Wochen mein Ziel.

I’m very pleased with the result today. Every decision from the team on strategy was right, so I’m really delighted with what we achieved as a team. It feels so good, after so much bad luck recently and so much hard work, to get the reward. It was a great feeling on the podium, that was very special. Regarding the incident with one of the Ferraris, it was unlucky that it was me and him again but of course I didn’t want it to end up like that.

As a team I think today we did a perfect job, scoring solid points from a solid race. The podium was very close and we were fighting until the end, but on the restart after the safety car we didn’t have enough pace on the straight and Williams went full bananas, so Bottas passed me quite easily. It was a shame about not getting on the podium, I thought we had it and we deserved it today, and maybe without the safety car we would have, but that’s racing and we have to accept it. The race was still fantastic though; good racing, good controlled laps and I’m happy with how all 71 laps went. We’ve been very strong this weekend and the track has suited us quite well. I think this weekend showed we can be champions if we get back on the path. I believe in this team, I believe in us and I believe in our future.

It was a bit of a frustrating race. During the first stint with the options we weren’t really quick enough. With the prime I thought I had really good pace, but once I caught the Williams I couldn’t pass them. We lost a lot of time there and in hindsight, when the Safety Car came out, I would have liked to put the primes on as I felt I was a lot more competitive with them than with the options. Maybe it would have given us a better chance of getting to the podium. I wouldn’t say we were all that quick today, but to get both cars in the top 5 is okay. Sure we both want more but we’ll see what happens in Brazil. The whole weekend has been awesome and this Grand Prix has set the bar even higher. The stadium is great and the fans are awesome. It’s nice to come to a new place, especially when it puts on a show like this. The Drivers’ Parade was awesome too. I had goose bumps. It was very exciting to see so many fans cheering for us. As for the incident with Sebastian, I was on the inside and he took the apex, so I had nowhere else to go.

It was a very positive race for the team, to have a good fight with Red Bull and come out with a podium is encouraging on a track that suits them better than it does us. From my perspective it wasn’t the best race, I struggled with the rear tyres in the second stint and lost one position because of it. After the safety car I didn’t have the best run, and as a result didn’t get the chance to pass the cars ahead. I am a little disappointed, but as a team we can be really proud of the performance.

It was a good race, although I was quite lonely for most of it. We couldn't have gotten any more from it so I feel very happy with the result. The Safety Car ended up playing into my hands, which is the little bit of luck you always need to get a good result, but our pace was strong and we were able to hold our own. I am really happy about this performance and finally getting back in the points after a bit of a difficult period for me. It was a very clean race from my part, with no mistakes and no problems. It took a lot of management as the temperatures were high and we had to look after the brakes as well, so from that perspective it was a very demanding race. The atmosphere today was one of the best I have ever experienced and the drivers’ parade was something very special. The event was great and the fans have been so welcoming - I feel I have been adopted as a Mexican now! Today's result is important for our championship battle so it’s a great day for everyone in the team.

What a week this has been here in Mexico! The atmosphere has been amazing and there were so many special moments. The race today was probably one of the most difficult of my career because I was very unlucky with the timing of the safety car, which really didn’t help my one-stop strategy. We chose not to pit when it came out because we thought there was a chance to jump Nico [Hulkenberg] and Felipe [Massa], but in reality that didn’t happen. Then the team told me that the cars behind had all pitted and fitted new tyres, so I was a bit worried because I knew the final fifteen laps would be very difficult. To stay ahead of them and finish in eighth place is probably one of my best performances in Formula One and I’m very happy I could score points in front of my home crowd. I am very lucky to have this huge support from my country and I will remember this weekend forever. I think everybody has enjoyed the energy of the crowd and this must surely be one of the most popular races on the calendar now.

I had a good start and to be running in P6 during my first stint was great, but we had some heating issues, which definitely cost us a lot of lap time unfortunately. But we need to focus on the positives, I think P9 is the best we could do today and I’m happy to have scored some more points, closing the gap to Lotus a bit more. The atmosphere here has been amazing during all of the weekend - the fans here are really into racing and are so enthusiastic, it’s just amazing to see!

It was great to see so many people here today; they are huge F1 fans and so knowledgeable. It was a pleasure to race in front of them, especially in the awesome stadium area where everyone was so passionate. It’s good to score, even if it was only one point! It was a long race and not easy as there was a lot to manage. The car was good on medium tyres, less so on softs. The safety car meant it was too risky not to come in and that meant finishing the race on the soft compound. This weekend was all about finding the grip and the track was definitely improving massively throughout the race. I think next year will be even more fun to drive once the grip has improved.

Our race was pretty good and it was great to cross the finish line to so many cheers and still pushing hard to pass Romain, though I would have preferred to be in front! I expected to struggle more with the brakes today, but everything was under control, so I’m disappointed not to be in the points after what was a strong race from us. I made a good start, but we lost time at the first pit stop. It was pretty tough at the end trying to overtake; I was a few tenths faster than Romain but it is tough to pass here. I missed a braking point at turn 12 late on, but my battle to beat him was lost in through traffic in the pits.

Alles in allem war es ein ordentliches Rennen nach einem schwierigen Wochenende. Natürlich wollten wir auch hier punkten, doch mit Platz zwölf gelang das leider nicht. Mit meiner Performance und der Strategie, die wir wählten, kann ich zufrieden sein. Während des ganzen Rennens hatte ich Schwierigkeiten, weil die Bremsen überhitzten. Es war eine Herausforderung, klarerweise beeinträchtigte das auch unsere Leistung. Wir werden daraus unsere Lehren ziehen – nicht nur bezüglich des nächsten Rennens in Brasilien.

We were quite fast today in the first two stints of the race. We committed to a two-stop strategy and it was going well, even though we were having to manage the brakes and engine quite a bit during the whole race. When the Safety Car came out, we pitted for another set of Soft tyres for my last stint but, all of a sudden and I don’t know why, we lost a lot of time per lap and started to go backwards. It’s a shame, because we were actually quite quick before that, overtaking our rivals like the two Force India’s, but the characteristics of this circuit made the race very tricky today. I have to say that I’m amazed with the Mexican fans and the big crowds here at the track throughout the whole weekend. They definitely give you an extra push, it’s really great and it’s just what Formula 1 needs!

“The Mexican fans should feel very proud of themselves – they've been amazing out there all weekend. By contrast, I don’t have many positive things to say about my race. “The other cars were significantly quicker than us in a straight line. On the plus side, though, compared with the middle-of-the-pack cars, we were quicker in the final sector of the lap. They came past us on the straight, but then we caught them back up in the final corners. “To be fair, however, I think we lost more power compared with the other teams on this high-altitude circuit.”

I got a great start and a good run down to the first corner. I was pleased to keep three world champions behind me for a time, however brief. Things started out well, but a few laps in I was really struggling with the car on those tyres, so I was losing a very worrying amount of time. Thankfully, the next two stints – on the Prime, then back on the Option – were much better and I was really happy to be back in the fight. I was substantially quicker than the other car, so I closed the gap pretty quickly and was able to retake the place ahead. So 25% of the race was difficult, but the other 75% was fantastic and more than made up for it. A couple of boxes ticked – finishing ahead and getting both cars to the finish here after a good race-long battle. The Mexico Grand Prix will definitely go down as one of my favourite races now. The crowd have been sensational and the race result is the icing on the cake. Off to Brazil now; I can’t wait.

I’m pretty disappointed with how the race ended for me, after running ahead of Alex for 46 laps of the race. I had a really good car at the start but we switched strategy from a two-stopper to a single stop, which wasn’t good for me as I have been really happy with the car on the Option tyre all weekend but I’ve really struggled with the Prime. A long second stint on the Medium just didn’t work out. Alex and I had a great scrap today and although the end result wasn’t what I’d hoped for, I’ve had a much improved weekend after a couple of more disappointing races prior to this. I love Mexico and it was a great weekend; I can’t wait to come back. For now though, my thoughts are focused on the final two races.

Es war ein hartes Rennen, das ich wegen Bremsschwierigkeiten nicht beenden konnte. Ich gab mein Bestes punkto Bremsen-Management, konnte aber den Ausfall nicht verhindern. Ich musste das Auto in Kurve 13 abstellen. Das war wirklich schade, nicht nur für mich, sondern auch für das Team – denn es betrifft uns alle. Wir müssen eine Lösung für dieses Problem finden.

“We had an MGU-H rotation speed problem – it was something we spotted last night, and unfortunately confirmed it this morning. We didn’t have enough time to replace it, so we were left with two options: to race or not to race. “We went for the first option, and tried to do as much as we could, out of respect for the amazing fans here in Mexico. I really wanted to go to the grid, take the start, and then just see what happened. “It was only one lap, but, even so, I enjoyed it. At least we tried; it’s always best to try than to give up. “It’s been a two long weeks away from home, with zero points scored. It’s been hugely rewarding to witness the crowds here in Mexico City though – they’ve been one of the best crowds of the season, brilliant all weekend. “Now, we need to put this experience behind us and look ahead to the final two races of the season.”

About the accident with Bottas, there are always two different ways to look at things, everybody can have their own view, but to be honest I did not expect a much different end result. It’s racing in the end, but I think I was expecting that it probably might happen after Russia. Has he done it on purpose? I don’t know, you can decide yourselves, it doesn’t change the final outcome right now and it’s not going to change anything for me for the future. Obviously we had a pretty poor weekend, we were a bit unlucky on many things, and it’s not the nicest feeling for all of us, but we are still a strong team. It was an unlucky situation for both me and Sebastian, but that’s how it goes sometimes. As a team, we haven’t lost anything, we just had a pretty difficult weekend and I’m sure we can be back in the next two races, trying to finish the season strongly.

Today I had a bad start, and obviously after the contact with Daniel I was very angry, but in the end I think no one is to blame. He clearly could not avoid hitting me being too fast for the line he had chosen, but these things happen. That’s racing, even if of course it’s painful if it happens in the first corner and you have to drive all the way back. So the race was pretty much lost at that time. I was hoping for a safety car earlier on, but it didn’t happen. I tried to catch up, but the two mistakes didn’t help. The last one obviously ended my race and I am not proud of it. The car in general was good, we were quick, the pace was promising and we were very close to Mercedes, probably we hadn’t been that close for a while. I tried everything to force it and come back. And trying too hard is probably the right explanation for my mistake.