Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

What a day! Winning my first F1 GP and with Scuderia Ferrari in front of this amazing crowd, at one of my favorite tracks, Silverstone, is literally amazing.
Mentally it was one of the toughest races I’ve done: managing the gaps, lots of fights on track, the second start. We struggled a bit with understeer and on the second stint we had to save fuel in order to make it to the end, so the lift-and-coast put me at risk from the cars behind.
However, as soon as the Safety Car came out, we knew it was paramount to change the tyres as mine were pretty old. At the restart, I had fresher tyres but we were fighting for a 1-2 as a team, so I tried to be as clean as possible in overtaking Charles. Thanks to the fuel saved behind the Safety Car we could then push until the end and finally I got my first win. I will enjoy it for today but we’ll immediately start working on preparing for the next one.

It is a good day for us and the Team after such a messy weekend for us. Physically I wasn’t one hundred percent this week and after lap one I was last, so to come away with second place is a great result. I was so unlucky on the first lap making contact with Charles, I broke my front wing and had to drop to the back. So we had to fight for it and it feels good to have a result like this. I am also very happy for Carlos and to share his first win with him is a nice moment for him and his family. I enjoyed the racing today a lot, we were fighting hard and fair and it felt like my karting days. Everyone was pushing really hard and going wheel to wheel, my heartrate was pretty high on those last laps. It was a race where it was important not to give up.

Ich habe heute alles gegeben! Ich jagte die beiden Ferrari und habe alles versucht, um sie mir zu schnappen, aber herzlichen Glückwunsch an Carlos. Sie waren heute einfach zu schnell für uns, und am Ende war ich mitten im Kampf mit Checo. Diese Jungs waren heute auf den Geraden einfach zu schnell für mich, aber ich bin wahnsinnig dankbar für all die harte Arbeit, die das Team geleistet hat, um hier ein Upgrade zu bringen. Damit sind wir ihnen einen Schritt näher gekommen, jetzt müssen wir weiter pushen! Wir haben beim Boxenstopp ein wenig Zeit verloren, und danach habe ich sie gejagt und gejagt und gejagt. Die Pace war auf beiden Reifensätzen großartig, und am Ende war es dann einfach ein bisschen schwierig. Sobald man einen Red Bull hinter sich hat, sind sie auf den Geraden so schnell. Wir müssen noch einige Verbesserungen vornehmen, aber es ist ein großer Bonus für uns, auf dem Podium zu stehen. Ich bin froh, dass alle nach dem heftigen Crash zu Beginn des Rennens okay sind. Vielen Dank an alle, wir werden weiter alles geben.

I didn’t finish where I wanted to, so it was a frustrating race for me. There were times when I really had to be on the limit to keep my position, fighting with others who were on Softs which was not easy at the end. It’s a shame not to bring home more points for our team today, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
No matter how disappointed I am, it should not take away from what is an amazing first win for Carlos. It’s a moment he will never forget, a dream come true for every driver and I hope that he enjoys it!

It was a fun race today and we are happy to finish in fifth position. I was hoping there would be some drama at the end, and we might have sneaked a podium with all of the action, but it was fun to be fighting amongst it inside the top five places. I think our final position should realistically be fourth because I saw Charles [Leclerc] weaving multiple times in front of Lewis [Hamilton] and, compared to what happened to me in Canada, I guess it’s not allowed and should be a penalty. Looking back at the weekend as a whole, I think the car was very good and I felt more competitive than in any other races so far this season. We executed our race very well and showed consistent pace. I’m expecting us to keep this up and hopefully maintain our competitiveness again over the next few races. I must say congratulations to Carlos [Sainz] on his first win and, also, I’m glad Zhou is OK after his incident at the start. It shows how far safety has come in modern Formula 1 racing.

Firstly, it was great to see Zhou, Alex and George get out of their cars safely today, it's never nice to see an accident like that, so I'm glad the safety equipment did its job properly. On our side, a decent race. I felt like we deserved P5, but unfortunately we lost out at the final pit stop under the safety car.  I think we drove a good race. We did a lot of things very well today and we had reasonable pace in the car, it was just maybe a late call with the pitstop and that cost us one position today. I'm not annoyed, I think we still got some good points, but it could have been one more place.
Finally, it's been great to see the British fans this weekend, they've been amazing all weekend come rain or shine. I had a really great run on the second restart and could see the fans cheering for me in the stands, which was awesome to see. I already can't wait to come back next year!

Seventh place is a good result considering the damage I had on the car and with Checo on the podium, we’ve scored some good points for the Team. I of course had hoped for more but today was just unlucky. I had a look at the car during the red flag and the whole of the underneath on the left-hand side was ruptured. I hit a huge piece of debris; I think it was carbon. As I was driving it felt like a puncture as I had no balance and a lot of oversteer. The car was a handful to drive, I tried to find a good aero balance but it was difficult. I understand that Alex is having precautionary checks at the hospital, so I hope that he’s okay. It’s never nice to see these things and today proved once again that the halo is a massive improvement for safety, I think without it Zhou would have been in a different state

We’re really happy. Coming back from P19, I said we have the speed to go forwards and we definitely showed it today. It’s great for the team, a double-finish in the points, so that’s obviously very helpful in the constructors. For me, I’m happy now to focus on what’s really important and that’s the racing and the driving.

It is nice to score points on my birthday and in the team’s home race, especially when you consider where we started [in 18th]. Overall, I think it was a decent race and a good recovery. The first start before the red flag was very chaotic. I made a really good getaway and it launched me into a gap nearly alongside Alex [Albon]. Then I got squeezed and everything backed up as a reaction to the accident ahead. I braked but could not avoid making contact with Alex. The most important thing is that everybody involved is fine.

I don’t think we could’ve hoped for anymore. I think on the first stint we didn’t have great pace, at least compared to the second stint where the pace picked up. I lost a few positions in the first stint, annoyingly, because then we got the safety car towards the end. We were advised to pit both cars and I took the decision to stay out – I don’t know if it was right or wrong – but if it was wrong, it was my decision. Two cars in the points though, you have to be super happy with that, to get a decent amount of points at this stage in the year, it’s very good. We go away from here with a big smile on our faces and with big motivation for the races ahead.

I thought we had a reasonably positive race. The cars showed much better pace than yesterday, so it is a shame I was not able to score some points. We are still learning and understanding the upgrades but, based on the race today, I see potential for the races to come. I am glad Zhou [Guanyu] and Alex are okay after the crash at the start.

??From Lap 1 we were always fighting an uphill battle. At the beginning, I was surprised at how much I could stay with the cars ahead but in reality, there was a little DRS train that was keeping me there because the cars behind were much quicker. It felt really nice to be properly racing in the pack. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the basic pace in the end alongside managing the car towards the end of the race. The car’s lacking downforce compared to the others with us missing pace in the high-speed corners, which wasn’t helped by some floor damage today. We put up a good fight, but it wasn’t meant to be today. Frustrating in the end but overall a positive weekend.

Firstly, I’m glad to hear the drivers are OK after that first lap incident. For our race, the car just didn’t really seem to operate at the same level of grip as the others. I could just feel it through the tyres as well, trying to carry speed. It was just a bit odd, so we have a bit of investigating to do. Then we had an issue with DRS which meant I couldn’t use it after lap 31 which was also a bit of a shame. Obviously, it’s tough to overtake with that as well – but simply we weren’t really quick enough anyway today. It was a bit of a lonely afternoon.

It’s been a difficult day. The collision I had at the start of the race was completely unavoidable, a car came in front of me sideways and there was nothing I could do. Luckily, I only damaged my front wing and was able to get back to the pits with the red flag and continue to race with the restart. Unfortunately, I then had contact with Pierre later on. I need to review it properly but at the moment, I think I could’ve waited for another opportunity to pass him. My speed was good going into the corner so I thought I could make it through, I also didn’t expect Pierre to close the door quite as much as he did, so this is a mistake from my side. Mainly, I just want to say sorry to the team. After that, I had damage to the car, it was very tricky to drive and that made the rest of the race very difficult for me.

I’m very glad that everyone else involved in the first lap incident is okay. Thank you to all the medical staff at the track and Coventry Hospital.
It’s a shame our race ended before it began today, but we are already fully focused on Austria. Bring on the next one.”

The most important thing to take out of this race is that Zhou is OK after that massive crash. It happened right in front of me, and I was lucky to avoid most of it, but then I sustained damage on the right side of the car from contact with Alex [Albon]. I have to say, the guys did an incredible job getting the car repaired and ready for the race restart, so thanks and well done to them. We did well at the restart and the pace in the car was good. A fuel pump issue on lap 38 ended our race unfortunately and we had to retire the car. All in all, it wasn’t a smooth weekend with some of the car issues in Q2 and today during the race, so we’ll need to look into all of this closely. It was a weekend with a lot of learning and I’m happy for the team with the solid points from Fernando today. Onto the next race in just a few days’ time.

Wir sind auf den harten Reifen gestartet, weil ich im Qualifying einen Fehler gemacht hatte, und wir dachten, dass wir mit diesem Risiko später im Rennen die besten Chancen hätten, aber am Start gab es nur sehr wenig Grip. Es ist die härteste Reifenmischung, es ist kalt und ich wurde von etlichen Autos überholt. Das Nächste, was ich weiß, ist, dass ich berührt wurde, ich war in der Seite von Zhou, und das war's. Ich sprang aus dem Auto, um zu sehen, ob Zhou in Ordnung war, und sah, dass sofort die rote Flagge geschwenkt wurde. Als ich zum Auto zurückkam, konnte ich es aus irgendeinem Grund nicht starten, also rannte ich zurück zum Team, um nachzufragen. Ich bat die Streckenposten, das Auto stehen zu lassen, und als ich zurückkam, stand das Auto auf dem Transporter, so dass ich nicht mehr starten konnte. Das war natürlich frustrierend für mein Rennen, denn das Auto hatte nur einen Reifenschaden, und es besteht kein Zweifel daran, dass wir heute die Pace hatten, um uns auf P6 zurück zu kämpfen, aber am heutigen Tag bin ich einfach nur froh, dass Zhou okay ist.

It was a big crash and I’m glad I’m ok. The marshals and the medical team at the track were fantastic with their quick response, and I also owe my thanks to the FIA and Formula One for all the work they have done, and they keep doing, to improve the safety of our cars: the Halo saved me today, and it goes to show that every step we take in improving our cars has real, valuable results. I’m keener than ever to get back on track and do what I love: I’m fit and I’m looking forward to Austria next week.

From a difficult weekend we actually made it quite a bit better with Qualifying, then after the race restart today I was running in seventh, we were in a great position. Following the incident with Yuki I had damage to the rear wing, so we had to retire the car. Every point is valuable, especially in a season like this, so I’m disappointed with the end result today, as it was an unnecessary collision. The accident with Zhou was really scary at the start of the race, it was shocking to see him upside down but I’m glad to hear he’s ok, that’s the most important thing.

First and foremost, the main thing today is that Zhou is fine. It was a big shunt, and I’m glad that nothing serious happened and that he has already been cleared by the FIA. Today, we got additional proof on how the Halo is one of the greatest innovations in F1, and how safety has improved in recent years. For what concerns my race, we had a lot of opportunities after the restart, but we had an issue with the gearbox, so I ultimately had to stop to prevent further damage. It was unfortunate because we had good pace and we could have scored a big amount of points. Even though it’s been a tough weekend, we can still draw some positives: the pace we showed on track was a good sign, and I think we can be competitive in Austria next weekend.