Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

I’m very happy that we’ve won here again, 11 wins in a row for the Team is pretty incredible, the whole Team can be proud of that. It definitely wasn’t straightforward today though, we had a bad start which made it more exciting for the fans, but we definitely need to look into that improve on it. Lando and Oscar were super quick at the start so it took a few laps to pass them and to start to pull a gap. The competitors behind us were pushing hard and closing the gap so we need to try and find a little bit more. Overall though, a very nice Team win and hopefully we can carry the form to Budapest!

First of all, I just want to say a big thanks to the whole team: they’ve done an amazing job and none of this would be possible without the hard work that they’ve been putting in. It was an amazing fight with Lewis, to hold him off, and I brought the fight to Max for as long as possible. It’s a long, lonely race when you’re just in the middle but it’s amazing to be on the podium at my home race. The whole in-lap I was just trying to wave to everyone. A big thanks to all the British fans out here supporting all of me and the whole team. We should have had P2 and P3. Oscar did an amazing job all weekend, and he should have been P3 today without the Safety Car, so a shame, he deserved it. Great result at Silverstone, we’ll keep pushing forward from here as a team.

The Safety Car came at a beneficial moment for us but ultimately, that was the plan starting on the Medium tyre. We wanted to go long, and we did; it came at the right time, and we made some gains. For us to get on the podium is huge. It’s been an up-and-down season and we’ve still got a lot of work to do with our car. We’ve got strengths with it, particularly our long run. George had a great stint on the Soft tyre and mine on the Medium was really good too. As soon as we can improve the rear end we will be on our way. We just need to hold on to the good bits and add a few others.

Finally, the support from the fans has been incredible and it gets better each and every year. I don’t know how that is possible as it’s the pinnacle! The energy that everyone brings is phenomenal. Once again, Silverstone put on an amazing show.

P4, what a result! Of course it was slightly frustrating with the Safety Car, I thought we were on for a podium for a very, very long time in that race, so it hurts a little bit – but I’m very, very happy that the hurt is for a podium. Given where we started this year, I’m very, very happy. Awesome result for the whole team.  It was amazing to be running back at the front again and I can’t wait for more.

We wanted to be aggressive today and we had the chance to split the strategies. The Soft tyre felt really strong in that first stint but unfortunately, it was very difficult to overtake Leclerc. There was some questionable defending at points but in the end, I managed to get past. Having stopped for the Medium tyre, it was unfortunate timing with the Safety Car. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against you. Ultimately though, we only lost one position and without it, I still wouldn’t have ended up on the podium. It didn’t change a huge amount for my race, and we can take the positives that for the Team, it is good points in the Constructors’ Championship.

I gave it my all today but I was expecting a bit more. We had a bad start and then I got stuck with Esteban Ocon, had to go wide and ended up losing a few positions at the start. From there on I made progress slowly and recovered a few places, but it took me longer to come through the field than I would have liked. We also pitted a few laps before the safety car which was unfortunate. Tomorrow, I am going to be working with the Team in the simulator. We have some ideas on what we can improve on and I am confident that this will help us work through it. I have full support from the team, I’m mentally very strong and I know that I will overcome these issues and turn around my season. The pace is there and I can still get back to where I should be. I am looking forward to Hungary and getting back on good form.

We maximised the race today and took seventh place in a difficult weekend for the team. I think we managed our strategy well and made the right calls during the race. We need to analyse the weekend as a whole, but we aren’t worried about this result. We’ve been performing better than expected so far in 2023 and it’s a long season. Only two races ago we were fighting for the win and there will be more ups and downs during this season. It was great to be racing here at Silverstone and seeing the level of support there is for Aston Martin. Let’s see if we can return to a better level of performance in Hungary.

It was a great weekend. When you think about the speed of the car, P8 this week is the worst position from all of our sessions this weekend. We expected the race to be a bit more difficult with Fernando [Alonso] and Checo [Perez] behind us. I struggled a little at the start as I didn’t have much grip. Once I was in the rhythm of the race, we were ok, we actually felt quite good with the car. The Safety Car came out at a perfect time. The Ferraris were on the hard compounds and I was able to get past Carlos [Sainz]. It was a tricky race. I had better pace than Fernando which was a bit of a surprise but then Charles [Leclerc] was coming quite quickly at the end. It was a race of one eye forward and one eye back which became a bit of a dog fight. I wouldn’t have wanted that race to last one more lap.
It’s quite clear that tracks where there’s a bit lower downforce and a lot of full throttle time, that’s all us. It’s also important that the track remains quite cool which today the track temp was dropping at the end of the race which made us a bit more competitive. We’re now P7 in the Constructors’ Championship tied with Haas, so we’re in a very good place. The points aren’t always available so we need to make sure that in the few races where we can score points, we capitalise on them.

We lacked pace today and it was a tough race. We stopped early and lost some positions as I struggled to get a good rhythm on the Hards. Then we stopped again, for a new set of Mediums, and I made up a couple of positions at the restart, but then got stuck in a DRS train behind Alex (Albon).
We have some things to review, but our main focus will be to work on our race trim.

It was a difficult race. We were not as quick as expected and as a consequence we were unable to fight with the cars ahead. I managed to extend the stint with the Medium tyres and with the Hard I was fast. Unfortunately, the Safety Car came out at the worst possible time.
I did my best at the restart, but battling on old Hards against other cars with fresher tyres is very difficult here. I feel that better results have been slipping away from us lately, but we’ll keep working and pushing relentlessly, starting from the next race in Hungary.

I’m pleased with the last two weekends. The progression has been good, and I feel like I’m getting more comfortable. I’m starting to drive the car the way it actually needs to be driven. It’s all coming to me. The team has been great in supporting me, pushing me and trying to help me out as much as they can. We had a great car today. It was the best race I’ve felt all season in terms of car performance as well as pace. A bit unlucky when the Safety Car came out one lap after I pitted, that hurt a little bit. It’s still a good day and to have Alex score points for the team is amazing and shows we have a car that can fight.

I think, taking into consideration where we were starting from, we maximised everything we had today. The Virtual Safety Car and the Safety Car both came out in a favourable moment for us, allowing us to pit and save some time. Of course, it is never easy when starting P20, but we gave it all and got the best out of our package. The upgrades we brought here this weekend allowed us to make a slight step forward, but of course, there is still some work to do: other teams brought new parts as well, and their improvement has been evident. Over the few weeks before Budapest, all of our focus will go into unlocking their full potential, in order to come back in competitive form for the final two races before the summer break.

The race was badly impacted early on when Checo (Perez) came through on the exit of Turn 4 and we made contact. A big piece of the front wing fell off one lap later and that forced us to pit early, we had to change the front wing and that cost a lot of time, and we were just behind. The safety car got us back onto the train of cars but then in traffic, we didn’t have enough pace to come through.

It just wasn’t our day today. As we expected, the characteristics of this circuit didn’t quite suit the AMR23, and we struggled for pace out there. On a couple of occasions I was forced wide by Pierre [Gasly] and we made contact the second time; we’ll check this evening whether that caused any damage to the car. It’s been a tough weekend but our focus now shifts to Hungary – a circuit that should suit our car – where we’ll be pushing hard for a better result.

Overall, I think this weekend just hasn’t been our lucky one. The Safety Car came out when I had already pitted, and that forced me to change again to avoid having to stay at the back on hard tyres. On top of that, unfortunately, I got a tear-off stuck in my brake duct, once again, and that pretty much compromised my race as we had to pass through the pits for the third time and get it removed. As per the upgrades we brought this weekend, I reckon there’s more work to be done: other teams brought important packages through, and that allowed them to make a good leap forward. I think the potential for us is there, but we definitely will need to work on the new aero package to properly obtain that extra performance we need to get back in the mix for points.

It was a difficult race today. The strategy was ok, but I didn’t have the pace throughout. We did improve in the high-speed, but today the struggle was more towards the low-speed. There are still a number of things we need to improve on and fix for the future, but as for myself, I’m happy with my performance; I did all I could do. The team and I are working in the same direction, so I'm looking forward to the future and we’ll push together to develop our package. We’ll keep fighting strong.

It was a decent race. We did a very competitive first stint on the soft compound, being able to extend it longer than we anticipated while remaining competitive. It’s unfortunate that we missed out on the Virtual Safety Car opportunity after that. The first laps on the hard compound were good too, but the last stint was very difficult. The tyres this week have been sensitive temperature wise because of the track, so we need to look into our data. As a whole, we're not where we want to be, and we're not competitive enough, but I’m taking the positives and I think the majority of the race was good.

It really seems we’re on the wrong side of some things at the moment, especially luck. I was having a strong race, closely behind Fernando [Alonso], and we really should have been in the fight with him at the end of the race. Unfortunately, the timing of the Safety Car, just after my pit-stop, meant we fell back outside of the points. And then, while fighting to climb back into the top ten, our race was over through an incident beyond my control when Lance [Stroll] hit me and damaged my suspension. As a team we have a lot of things to work on to keep taking the fight to our rivals. We will stick together as a team, regroup, and go to Budapest with some confidence for a better result.

It’s not been our weekend and that is summed up by our race today. We had a decent start to the race, but it was over early for us with a hydraulic leak on the car. In the end, as a team, we did not score any points which is extremely disappointing. We need to regroup and react, especially given the leap some of our competitors have made over the last couple of races. Overall, we probably did not maximise the potential of the car this weekend so there are definitely many things to review to see how we can come back stronger. Budapest is next, one of my favourite tracks with some great memories, so we hope to bounce back and have a strong result.

There was an issue yesterday in qualifying and then today I didn’t finish with another engine issue – so not the best weekend for us. It’s a shame of course, but it’s not like we were in a point scoring position. I think tire degradation-wise it was better than we expected. We have some work to do to find some more pace, but we just need to get our heads down, work hard, and keep pushing.