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FIA post-qualifying press conference – 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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1. Lando Norris (McLaren), 2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

Q: Brilliant job, Lando. Very well done to you. Just how sweet was that final lap of Q3?

LN: It was very good, yeah. Quali was a bit of a struggle, honestly. We just expected, probably, to be a little bit better than what we were. The weekend so far has been quite straightforward from our side. It just seems like everyone caught up a lot come qualifying, and we had to start pushing a lot more. It was a good lap. It was not the cleanest, but sometimes when you’re close enough to the edge and it’s just a little bit untidy, sometimes it’s actually quite a nice place to be. So I had a couple snaps, and I had a big snap into 9, the high speed. I just made a mistake. That hurt me a touch, but otherwise it was a nice lap. I put the rest of it together pretty well. Just not an easy circuit to do. We had a bit to gain in quali, because Max was looking a little bit quicker than us through the most part of it. So I knew I had to pull something out.

Q: What about the conditions? Tell us about the wind, how that was affecting the car, even the track conditions themselves.

LN: Yeah, I mean, the track’s been quick all weekend. You know, comparing to last year, we’re quite a bit quicker. The cars are probably part of it, too. But the track’s been good. The wind’s been fairly consistent. Obviously, it rises through the day and dies away a bit through the night time. It has an effect but it’s been quite consistent the whole weekend. So once you understand it, you know where you can push and use the wind and where you have to be a bit more on the cautious side and try and avoid it.

Q: Let’s throw it forward to the Grand Prix itself. Excuse me. You’re carrying a little more downforce than some of your rivals. Do you think that’ll make you a little bit vulnerable along the straights?

LN: I wouldn’t be so sure about that. But if that’s your analysis, then… We’ll see. I think on a day like today with DRS and things, it’s probably not our biggest strength. I think come the race, things even out a little bit more. So potentially, we knew we’d be a little bit on the back foot today with straight-line speed. We’re hoping tomorrow it kind of comes back to us, because comparing to Ferrari, we’re a little bit down. And comparing to Red Bull, we’re quite a chunk down. It’s not necessarily just downforce. We’re at the lowest of what our wing can provide. The next step for us is too big. So maybe other people are just in more of a sweet spot and more in an optimal range this weekend than we are ourselves. The car’s been great all weekend. It’s performing well, and we’ll make sure it does the same tomorrow.

Q: As you say, the car’s been performing all weekend. It’s a McLaren front row, just with one eye on the Constructors’ Championship. Now, how much easier does this front row lockout make the job tomorrow?

LN: I mean, I feel like Zak’s probably more nervous that we’re first and second than if we were not, so… It gives us good knowledge that the car is great, of course. I think we’ve both been driving well this weekend, and we knew the pressure was on, from ourselves. So we’ve both performed well. We’ve both got everything out of the car. But this is a long race, and many things can happen. So we’re definitely not going to get ahead of ourselves. We know we have a little bit of a gap in terms of positions. We’re in a much more fortunate position than what Ferrari are. He’s going to be putting up a good fight for his final race with Ferrari. You know, he’s going to want to prove his point. And I’m excited to battle if that’s the case.

Q: Alright. Very well done today. Thank you for that, Lando. Oscar, let’s come to you now. Your sixth career front row start for McLaren. Let’s start by talking about that final lap in Q3. How pleased are you?

OP: Yeah, it wasn’t the best final lap. There’s a couple of corners that I definitely would like to have again. But, you know, I’ll take the front row. You know, it’s been a bit of a tricky few weekends in qualifying. So, you know, the result at least is nice. But yeah, I knew that there was a couple of places immediately where I left a bit on the table. So, nope, that’s how it is at the top end of the sport. You can’t leave anything there because you’ll get eaten alive. And unfortunately did that today. And, you know, that’s why I’m not on pole. So, yeah, probably wish I had that one again.

Q: And were your preparations for that second lap affected by the uncertainty to do with the track limits on your first run of Q3?

OP: It didn’t help, but I knew starting the lap or even leaving the pits that that lap was at least on the board again, but I knew that I would need more to keep at least that position, or obviously I want to go for pole. So I knew I needed more anyway. And I found a bit more, just not quite enough. So yeah, it was a slightly stressful few minutes. I didn’t really dwell on it too much but I did think I was in. Clearly it was so close that they’ve probably given me the benefit of the doubt, but yeah it wasn’t exactly ideal.

Q: now there’s been a lot of speculation coming into this final week weekend as to who’s going to have the faster car, McLaren or Ferrari. are you surprised with the pace of your car? were you expecting a front-row lockout?

OP: Not necessarily. I think it is extremely tight and not just with the teams we expected it to be tight with. You know, you’ve got a pretty jumbled up grid the whole way through. You know, Haas have looked very quick at points. Obviously, Hülkenberg’s on the second row. Yeah, I think our pace through practice was, we almost felt it was a bit too good to be true and I think when we got to qualifying, that was potentially the case a bit. I think there’s no questioning that we’ve clearly had a strong car and the strongest this weekend. It was all coming a little bit too easily to believe in practice. So, you know, we still had our work cut out for us. Q1 and Q2 weren’t as straightforward as we would have liked as a team, I think. But, yeah, Q3 was a little bit more comfortable again. And, yeah, a 1-2 was nice. But I definitely didn’t think this was guaranteed going into the week.

Q: Oscar, thank you for that. Very well done today. Carlos, if we could come to you now. Your best qualifying result here in Abu Dhabi. It looked like a great session for you. Tell us about the car. Tell us about that last lap.

CS: Yeah, I felt like I did some very good, very clean laps in Q1 and Q2, probably finding the limit of the car very early on in qualifying and then giving myself and giving maybe the team a bit of hope that we could fight for pole position. But I think as soon as these two guys started putting, I think, a good lap together in Q3… I think my lap was pretty good. Obviously, there’s always little things here and there that you would like to change. But when Lando talks about that he didn’t quite nail Turn 9 or he did a small mistake, then you realise that it’s the same for everyone. And, you know, we’ve been a weekend three to four tenths behind. I’ll take being two tenths off in quali and hopefully we can match their race pace and get in the fight tomorrow.

Q: Have you been surprised by McLaren’s pace so far this weekend?

CS: I think realistically, once you look in detail the layout of the track, I think I kind of understand that they are a bit quicker. If all the track was long straights and Turn 6 and 7s, then I think we would be flying around here. But unfortunately, we have Turn 1, we have Turn 9, where the McLaren is a clear step ahead of us, like we saw in Qatar. And yeah, they’re simply a better package for this circuit. It’s unfortunate, you know, that the last two races of the season, it’s come to tracks where maybe the McLaren is just that last tenth, two tenths quicker. But at the same time, that’s how the season goes. And if that’s the case, we should have done our homework earlier.

Q: Charles’ grid penalty. You’re starting P3 behind a McLaren front row lockout. Just how difficult is the job now with regards to the Constructors’ Championship?

CS: Yeah, I think it was already extremely difficult. It was, like I said, a bit of a mission impossible already before the weekend started. Then we arrived to FP1 and Charles’ battery died before running and the grid penalty obviously was a huge shock, a huge blow. On top of that, you get the Q2 situation for Charles. It just makes things obviously a lot more difficult. But at the same time, It is very likely that even in a perfect weekend where we both nail laps in Q3 and we even fight for the win, these two guys are still up there. So it was always going to be difficult. It’s just made our life even more difficult. But until the chequered flag comes down tomorrow, you know, anything can happen. And I’m going to keep fighting for whatever comes. And I’m sure Charles from the back will push flat out to get every single point available and see what happens with the McLarens.

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