Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

It was incredible to win here again and to get 15 wins in total this season is unbelievable. It was a good race, the one stop really worked for me and it was all about tyre management today. As a Team, we did everything we could to get Checo up there ahead of Charles, we had split strategies, but it didn’t work out today. Overall, we’ve achieved a lot this year as a Team and we can all be proud of that, its great motivation heading into next year. We’ve had an incredible season and I want to thank everyone in the Team out here in Abu Dhabi and back at the factory, this sport requires dedication, and everyone at Oracle Red Bull Racing has that, it’s clear to see. I’m really looking forward to a break now and I hope everyone has a good Winter and much needed time with family and friends.

It was a good race. We executed it perfectly and, as we didn’t have the pure pace to beat our competitors, put pressure on them in the key moments, which paid off.
It was a season full of ups and downs, but considering where we came from, we made a good step and can be satisfied with our progress.
I want to thank the whole team, both back home at the factory at and at the track, for all their hard work and dedication. P2 in the Constructors’ means a lot and we don’t want to stop here. We have to keep our heads down and push as hard as we can this winter, with the target of winning the title next year.

I am pleased because I gave it my all today. In the end we just didn’t have enough, this is how the sport works, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. It hurts to lose second place in the Championship by one second, there are things we could have done better but at the end of the day what matters is that you never give up in this sport and that is what I have done this season, on and off track, so I can go home happy. What really meant the most this season is that we gave everything, always, and we ended the final race doing just that. The Team has had a tremendous year so it is nice to finish the season well, we will regroup and look to another strong year in 2023.

It was a solid race today. The start wasn’t clean but I managed to pull a nice overtake on the Mercedes at turn 6. Unfortunately, I lost time and tyre life behind Lewis and from then onwards we committed to the two stop strategy.
Overall, it was a strong performance, with good teamwork to finish P2 with Charles in the drivers’ championship and P2 in the constructors’ championship, which was our target this weekend.
It hasn’t been an easy season, especially the first half, but I’ve managed to recover the pace, and my feeling with the car has been much better in the second half. Even though we’ve only just finished the season, we are fully focused and motivated to push this winter and I am already looking forward to next year.
Thank you to every single member of the team for your tremendous effort and determination and to every tifosi out there for your incredible support! Bring on 2023! Forza Ferrari!

Das hätte fast ein denkwürdiges Rennen werden können, aber wir haben heute wahrscheinlich mehr falsch als richtig gemacht. Wir hatten an diesem Wochenende nicht die nötige Pace und haben unser Bestes gegeben, aber es war eines der härtesten Rennen der Saison für uns. Es ist schade, wie sich das Rennen für mich entwickelt hat - ich hatte einen starken Start und konnte gegen Carlos kämpfen, aber der lange erste Boxenstopp und die Fünf-Sekunden-Strafe bedeuteten, dass das Rennen für mich gelaufen war. Dieses Rennen hat uns auf den Boden der Tatsachen zurückgeholt, nach unserem Hoch in Brasilien auf einer Strecke, die unserem Auto viel besser gelegen hat. Heute hat sich gezeigt, was wir bereits wussten: dass wir über den Winter noch viel verbessern müssen. Alle Teammitglieder in Brackley und Brixworth arbeiten so hart, wie sie können, und wir sind auf dem richtigen Weg. Und wir sind zuversichtlich, dass wir nächstes Jahr ein stärkeres Auto haben werden.

P6 and a fastest lap, the perfect way to end a season. It was a tough race, I wasn’t far away from getting overtaken at the end, but we timed it well. We’ve always struggled a bit more with degradation, especially on a circuit which is front-limited, comparing to other teams, so we knew this was going to be a tough one. I tried to build a good gap, knowing this was going to be the case and we ended with a P6 and a P9 for Daniel. A good double-points finish and a perfect way to end the season, motivate the team and end with some good points. I’m very happy, the team did a great job.

I would like to say a massive congratulations to the whole team, here trackside and at the factories in Enstone and Viry, for claiming fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s been a long and intense season and it feels good to have reached the goal we set at the beginning of the year. On my side, it is the best points finish of my career, so that is very satisfying. In terms of today’s race, seventh place is a great result and, with one more lap, it could have been sixth as I was catching Lando [Norris] at the end. I have enjoyed the last couple of years with Fernando and I wish him all the best for next year. He will always be a legend of this team and, of the sport, and I look forward to racing him on-track next season. Now it’s time for a break before getting back to work to prepare for next year.

We had a competitive race with a good strategy today to round out the year. I am happy with the performance and the result: it was a great team effort. It was a shame not to pass Alfa Romeo in the Constructors’ World Championship at the end. We gave it everything we could as the races ticked by and we were so close to jumping them today. The team here at the track and back at Silverstone did a really good job throughout the year to help us get much more out of the car in the second half of the season. We were able to fight for points on a much more regular basis recently and that progress is a good preparation for next year.

I'm really pleased to get some points in my last race for McLaren. I felt like I did the best I could with the pace I had. I was struggling to keep the front tyres alive. That was the biggest limitation, that’s where it got a bit tricky. I felt in terms of moves, I defended when I could and overtook when I could, so from that point of view, I'm pretty pleased. Vettel caught me quite quick in the end and trying to hold him off I think I killed the tyres a bit but I am happy to have held on and got the points. It was a good end to the season.
Big thanks to the whole team – they also put a nice message on the dash after the race, so that was cool. Appreciate that. We’ve had some high highs and some low lows but throughout it all I’ve enjoyed my time here racing alongside Lando and hopefully doing McLaren proud. Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, the papaya army and everyone both trackside and back in Woking - I can't thank you enough. It may have been my last race for McLaren but I'm looking forward to what comes next. I wish the team the very best for next season.

I enjoyed the race this evening, but it was a shame that we could not quite get past Daniel [Ricciardo] at the end. The lead-up to the race was a bit different with so many tributes and activities on the grid, but once the lights went out it was full-on race mode. It was not an easy race because it was a close call between a one-stop and two-stop strategy. On my car, we tried to make the one-stop work, but as the tyres were getting older it was quite challenging to hold on. It was nice to fight the last couple of laps with Daniel and to have us both finishing in the points, but we just missed out on moving up a place in the Constructors’ World Championship. Overall, it has been a big and emotional weekend, so thank you to everybody for all the support. Seeing so many flags and so many smiling faces has been very, very special. I am sure I am going to miss it more than I understand right now. The past two years have been great for me personally so thank you for all the support – all the messages, the letters and all the love in general. I will miss that but it has been an absolute joy throughout my career so thank you all again.

I did the best I could out there today, so I have to be pleased with that. Unfortunately, the tyre just dropped off at the end and I couldn’t keep up the pace and make it into the points. It’s been a tough year for the team, but on a positive side I’ve learnt a lot, especially from Pierre. It’s been a pleasure to work with him over the last two years and I want to say thanks to him for everything he’s done for both me and the team.

I am so proud of this team, not just for tonight but for the whole season. We gave everything in the race and, despite not scoring points, we achieved our target, which was finishing P6 in the Championship. We had to sacrifice my strategy to hold on through the last laps, and I think we did a good job with that. We truly gave it all out there, it was an amazing fight on track and I think also the best overtake I’ve done all season. We got what we deserved after such a long year. It’s been an amazing rookie season, we started high and it’s good to see we finished on a high as well. Of course, it hasn’t always gone as we hoped for, we had quite a few reliability issues, but I’m positive we’ll get it all fixed over the winter and have a much better season next year. Overall, I really enjoyed my first Formula One season, with all the support from my team, my teammate Valtteri, and all the fans. I am grateful for all this and I can’t wait for the next one.

I’m really happy with my race today and I think with such a strong start, getting passed four or five cars in those first laps, it was great. There were moments in the race where we kept hitting a degradation point and would get to 15 laps and then suffer a loss of performance, so we were forced to pit quite early. We did fall short at the end finishing on warn tyres, but I think starting P19 and finishing P13 is a good job, so I’m really happy. This year has been a massive team effort and we’ve done our best in maximising the car. We haven’t had the easiest car to drive which is no secret but I’m really proud of everyone. We know our weaknesses and we’ve maximised our opportunities when we were struggling, and when the car was in a decent window, that’s when we scored points. This puts us in a good place for when we have a better car next year. All in all, thanks to everyone at the team for all their efforts this year.

I don’t have many things to say about the race, we tried something different today, but it didn’t seem to work. It was my last with Scuderia AlphaTauri, and sadly tonight didn’t reflect our time together. I will remember everything I have experienced over the years with the team, my first race in Formula 1, first podium and first win. I know that I am a better driver today because of them and I am so grateful for all these achievements. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone I’ve worked with, they’ve all done a tremendous job. We’ve had three amazing podiums and now it’s time to celebrate these unforgettable memories together.

I am really pleased for the team, it’s an important result and you can see what it means for everyone of us. It was close, very close in our battle for sixth in the championship, but we did it and I am proud of everyone tonight. The only thing that mattered to us today was the standings results and the strategy we chose was quite defensive, trying to hold position and slow down our rivals when we found ourselves in front of them. It worked, but it was a tense few moments in the final lap: waiting to hear if we had made it gave me a bit of a sense of déjà vu – although tonight we had a much more positive ending than last time around. I am proud of how the team came a long way since winter testing: we scored a lot of points at the beginning of the year and those results made all the difference at the end of the season. The spirit in the team is excellent, we can be proud of our work and this will help us continue our progression next year. There’s plenty to look forward to.

We didn’t quite have the pace today, one lap pace was there yesterday, but we knew it would be tough to stay in position. We were hoping for a bit more but at the end we kept eighth in the Constructors’ Championship and that was the focus. I’m happy for the team as it means a totally different budget and I’m sure they’ll be able to use it

P8 was the most important thing of course, we didn’t really have a great chance to do much today but at least eighth stuck and that’s a good thing for developing over the winter and just a nice step to take forward from the last two years that Haas has had. It’s a nice place to build from and I’m looking forward to next year.

Dieses letzte Rennen war eine gute Erinnerung an das ganze Jahr, und ich bin froh, dass es vorbei ist und wir uns jetzt auf das nächste Jahr freuen können. Ich hatte einen starken Start, aber der Unterboden des Autos hat bei der Berührung mit Carlos einen starken Schlag abbekommen, und von da an hat sich alles entfaltet. Wenn so etwas passiert, verliert man ein wenig an Performance, aber die Balance verschiebt sich im Grunde nach vorne. Es ist fast so, als hätte man eine Menge Frontflügel, und ich musste auf den Stopp warten, um den Frontflügel verstellen zu lassen - was die Balance verbesserte. Wir hatten das ganze Wochenende über ein schwieriges Auto, und leider musste ich kurz vor Rennende aufgeben, weil wir Hydraulikdruck verloren. Wir werden in den nächsten Wochen im Werk hart arbeiten, um sicherzustellen, dass wir im nächsten Jahr stärker zurückkommen können, und darauf werden wir uns konzentrieren. Ich hoffe, dass der Kampf in diesem Jahr uns die Kraft und das Rüstzeug gibt, um in Zukunft wieder um Siege zu kämpfen - das Team in Brackley und Brixworth hat es verdient, wenn man bedenkt, wie hart sie das ganze Jahr gearbeitet haben. Wir werden also weiterhin aufstehen und alles geben - wir müssen unsere Stärke über den Winter und in der nächsten Saison unter Beweis stellen.

The incident with Mick [Schumacher] really put us out and then we suffered an electrical issue that forced us to retire. It’s not how I wanted to end my last one, but it is what it is. I’m very grateful for the three years I’ve had with Williams in Formula 1. I’m leaving the sport feeling like I wanted to achieve and accomplish more however it doesn’t always work out like that in motorsports. Along the way there’s been highs and lows with many strong bonds and friendships that I’ll cherish.

Unfortunately, it’s another retirement for us today after we were fighting for the points and looking quite comfortable. Importantly the team finished fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, which was the goal coming into this weekend, so well done to everyone at the team on achieving this target. Even though it’s a goodbye to the team after this weekend, I will always think of Alpine with good memories. I spent nine years of my life with this team and won two championships in the past with Renault, so I wish them well for the future.