Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

I’m very proud of the whole Team and the incredible turnaround that we had. We never gave up and always believed we could turn things around and never stopped trying. We could have very easily just given up, but we kept pushing, looking for improvements and always believed. This season has been a massive rollercoaster, with lots of tough moments and feelings, but I’m so proud of everyone and we have really come together as a Team. The turnaround in the second half of the season was incredible and pretty crazy that we could do that and we overcame a lot. Today has been a lot of fun, especially winning the race in such a dominant way. We had an incredible weekend and did everything as best as we could, so ultimately I feel good today. Although not winning a Championship by two points looks painful, going back to Zandvoort we were behind by over 100 points, so it is great what we have achieved. Of course, for Lando this is something very special and I hope he enjoys it a lot. The first Championship win is the most emotional one and it is something you dream of since you were a little kid. His family are here and I hope he enjoys tonight with his team. Finally, I wanted to thank the whole Team in the factory and on track: we never gave up and always believed. I am very proud of the people that I work with, they are my second family.

We did it, World Champion! This is for everyone that\'s been there for me on this journey. For my family, for my team, and for everyone at McLaren. It\'s been a tough season, Oscar and Max are incredible competitors and have done an incredible job all year. It\'s been a privilege to get to race them this year, congratulations to them on their amazing seasons. I\'m so proud, not because I\'m World Champion, but because of everything those around me have given up to make this possible. Making them happy and rewarding their sacrifices and hard work is what makes me proud.

I’m satisfied with my lap in Q3 and I don’t think there was much more to extract today. I feel that our team has done a really good job in turning things around this weekend. We made some changes on the set-up between FP2 and FP3, and if paid off. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow, to see if the changes we made will also help us to get ahead in the race. We can’t get our hopes up too high, because the cars ahead are very fast. It’s up to us to maximise our result tomorrow, and I’ll do my best to take action at the start and hope to bring home a last podium for our whole team this season.

That was a very tough race for us this evening. We struggled to find the pace that would threaten those ahead throughout the whole Grand Prix. I had a poor start and dropped down to P6; I got back ahead of Alonso to take P5, but it was a lonely night from there. We knew in normal circumstances that we likely didn’t have the pace to challenge for the podium, but it was still frustrating.

Whilst the season didn’t end in the way we wanted, we can be pleased that we secured P2 in the Constructors’. It has been a challenging four years in this ground effect era for us as a team and getting P2 was definitely our aim from after the summer break. We’ve ticked that box but ultimately, we want more than this and that is what we are fully focused on delivering in 2026 with the seismic rules change.

Finally, I want to wish congratulations to Lando (Norris) as he becomes World Champion. We’ve raced together for so long and he is more than deserving of the title. Hopefully we can do battle on track next year for the 2026 crown!

It is great to finish the season with a strong P6 here in Abu Dhabi. Our race pace hasn\'t always matched our qualifying recently, so a solid Sunday here feels very good. It\'s been a challenging year, and I want to thank the whole team for their hard work all season. We\'ll enjoy a break, then switch our focus to preparing for the big changes next year. And congratulations to Lando on his first World Championship; it is a special moment for any young driver, and he deserves it.

I’m very happy to finish the year this way. I think it was a really strong race from our side, and it was the maximum that we could’ve done. We fought with Fernando Alonso the whole race, it was definitely a big fight as he was matching my middle sector, it was really close, and there was a lot of overtaking all the way to the end. It wasn\'t quite enough to finish ahead of Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s a bittersweet taste, but it’s definitely a good last race that gives us a solid platform to build on next year.

Clearly it wasn’t the result we were aiming for today. The team did a great job after FP3, in getting the car ready in time for qualifying, but a mistake in the last sector cost us. I know this track well and I’ll be aiming to deliver a more positive result for the team tomorrow.

I think it was definitely a good season — a lot of positive things happened. We developed, evolved and grew as a team, and we put in a couple of really good highlights. The podium was nice to finally tick off my shoulder; I was very happy about that. Barcelona, Budapest, Monza, Austin — many really strong weekends, and of course a few where we didn’t maximise everything, but that’s the challenge in a long season. All in all, I think we can be relatively satisfied. We’ll digest the season now, enjoy the break, and then look ahead to the new chapter that is waiting for us

It was a fun race, some great overtakes and good strategy by the team today, and nice to pick up a point at the final race at Yas Marina Circuit. In hindsight, we could\'ve maybe pitted a lap or two earlier and finished even further up in the points. This year has been a tough one for the team, we haven\'t been as competitive as we wanted to be, so finishing this season with a positive result and P7 in the Constructors\' Championship is good.

I\'m not going to lie – it\'s a bit disappointing to have finished just outside of the points today. Unfortunately, we struggled with bouncing from the first lap, and I don’t think we maximised our race as we should have. It’s a shame, because the car felt amazing yesterday and I really felt we could have scored some points today. Looking back at my first Formula One season, it’s been a special year for me with several good results and strong quali sessions, so there\'s definitely lots to be proud of – I couldn\'t have done this without the support of the team. It was a good and valuable year. The season is in the books now and I am looking forward to our future.  I\'m already keen to start working on next year and hopefully fight for bigger things.

Overall, it was a good race. We pitted on the early side, but we managed to hold others off. To get penalized for more than one change of direction with Stroll – I broke the tow once, which is allowed by regulation, and then I defended the inside line for the rest of the straight. I’m looking forward to the winter break now, we built really strong foundations for this year, and that’s positive, and thanks once again to the whole team for everything this year.

We haven’t been strong all weekend and today was a normal race with not much going on. We committed to a one-stop strategy and got stuck in a train of DRS, so there was little to do from there with the pace we had.

More importantly, looking at the season as a whole, it’s one to be proud of! I’ve stuck to my way of doing things, improved progressively throughout the year together with the team and, overall, we finished in good form. Fifth in the Constructors’ Championship was an ambitious target, and we got it, so I’m incredibly happy.

We need to stay hungry and continue to push all together. We have built solid foundations for next year but there is always margin for improvement. Thanks to the entire team for their effort and to every single one of our fans out there, your support means everything to us!

Last but not least, a massive congratulations to Lando on his first Drivers’ Championship! He’s an incredible driver and he has proven that you can achieve your highest goals staying true to yourself! Congrats my muppet friend! Well deserved!

I really tried my absolute best to score points today, and I think there could have been potential to do so, but the penalty made it tricky. We opted for a different strategy, and we were running well until the battle with Lando. I tried to hold him up, but he was pretty fast, and then I ended up with a frustrating penalty. Once I came out for the second stint, it was really challenging to pass. I can look back on this year knowing that I gave it everything until the end. There were lots of times this season where I lacked that bit of luck you sometimes need to make the difference, but that\'s racing. A big congratulations to Lando—he has been superb all year and drove a solid race tonight to win his first title. Also, congratulations to Max for his victory and an amazing season. Between himself and the Team, they put together a brilliant effort to challenge until the very end and just missed out. He is the best driver on the grid, seeing him work and extract everything that he does is, just shows how good he is, and he has the mentality to go with it, it\'s very inspiring to see. I\'d like to say thank you to the engineers, mechanics, and the entire Team for this season, and I\'ll still be around next season, so it\'s not a proper goodbye.

I struggled with the balance of the car this evening and didn’t have the pace to get back into the points sadly. It was a tough night and a difficult race and that is unfortunate. We’d enjoyed a good run of Grands Prix up to that point but that’s racing sometimes. We’ve got some work to do with the test on Tuesday and our full focus is already on 2026.

It’s been quite a journey this season. It’s not the way we wanted to end the year, but the most important thing is that we brought home P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. Happily, we were able to do that. Over the winter, we will look back over the season, see where we could have done better, and come back much stronger.

Congratulations to Lando (Norris) too. He deserves it but also well done to both Max (Verstappen) and Oscar (Piastri) who have also been brilliant this year. It was a great battle all year.

Firstly, I’m very happy for Lando and his Championship win. He’s taken a big step forward this year, risen to the pressure and his title is well-deserved.

For us, it was a tricky race today. We had a great start, but we were never in a place where we had the tyre advantage, which meant we were stuck in a bit of a train.

The last few races have been tough, but overall, it’s been a great season for us. I’m proud of the team and proud to finish top of the midfield. There’s no big secret behind it; just hard work, good leadership from James, and building some strong foundations. We’ve come a long way this season, and we’re heading into 2026 with a lot of optimism and a great mentality. I’m confident we can do great things next year, so I’m already excited to get back on track in 2026!

It was a very tough Sunday. We haven’t had enough pace the whole weekend to fight for our usual positions, and yesterday it was a surprise for me to put the car in P9. We started in the points, but we knew it would have been difficult for us to maintain that place. Looking at the positives and reflecting on my first F1 season, it’s been a great journey and I’m proud of everyone within VCARB for everything we achieved together. It’s not the final race we wanted but getting P6 in the Constructors’ Championship was our target and a great reward for all of us.

Congratulations to the team on P6 in the Constructors\'. While we struggled with our strategy and pace today, we\'ve had a strong season and achieved our target this weekend. I\'m excited to get back to work after the short winter break. Next year will be a big opportunity with the team which I\'m very excited and grateful for.

It was not a great race to end the season and there really is not a lot to say other than we tried our best but our pace was just not enough to really challenge. Looking back at the year as a whole, as a team, we can still take a lot from the season. I have been really impressed with how the team has handled a tough year where we have not been competitive. Despite its challenges, everyone has given their all and shown a really great mentality which we can take forwards to next year, so thank you to everyone trackside, at Enstone and at Viry for all their efforts this year. We have a lot of belief in the 2026 project and I am definitely looking forward to a clean slate and a fresh start for everyone. Finally, congratulations to Lando [Norris] on winning the title. It was a close one with Max [Verstappen] and Oscar [Piastri] and any of them could have taken it. For it to be decided by just two points is great for Formula One, so well done to all three, Lando managed to get it done and it\'s a big moment for him. One day we hope to be in that position and we will continue to work hard to hopefully one day do just that.

It was a long and difficult race and, ultimately, we lacked pace all weekend. It\'s been a tricky stretch of races, and we haven\'t had the results we were expecting. It has been a tough end to the year, but everyone has kept pushing to the very end. It\'s a year we\'d like to put behind us but learn and come back stronger from. Thanks to the entire team for their efforts this year in difficult circumstances. There\'s still a few weeks to push at the factory and wrap things up before the holidays. After that, it will be time to rest and reset for what will be an important year for myself and the team. Finally, congratulations to Lando [Norris]. He\'s had a great year and is a deserving champion.

Congratulations to Lando on the Championship win, it was great to battle with him all the way to the end, and it\'s a lovely moment for the team. It was a really strong race to finish out this year, we took a risk on strategy, and it paid off, but we just didn\'t have an answer to Max. It\'s been an amazing season and one I am very proud of. We\'ll take everything we\'ve learnt and head into 2026 as the strongest driver I\'ve ever been. I am excited to see what we can achieve next year.