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00:00Welcome everybody to the drivers press conference ahead of the FIA Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand
00:09Prix. We've got the two groups coming your way as per usual. Group one on your left Alex Albon,
00:15Oli Behrman and Gabriel Bortoletto. Now Oli can we start with you because this race marks the
00:22anniversary of your Formula One debut with Ferrari. It's been a crazy ride for you since then just
00:29how do you reflect on the last 12 months? Yeah that was a crazy weekend one year ago and
00:37I just hope that physically I'm a bit stronger than I was 12 months ago because it was a really
00:44tough race but of course to come back one year on is a very special feeling and you know I always
00:53love driving this track it's it's my third time here and always had decent performances actually
00:59and then of course to have my debut as well it means I think this track will always be quite
01:04special to me so I really have to be back. Oli what is it about this track that ensures you do
01:09go as well as you do? Well I'm not speaking ahead of time but in F2 it went pretty well for us I think
01:15we had a really good car here and okay F1 wasn't as good but still it was a debut which was amazing
01:24and the track is really cool it's really high grip which is always fun for us as drivers
01:30and the walls are close which is which is always interesting it's really high speed high commitment
01:37track and just a fun one to drive I think it's a highlight for a lot of us during the season.
01:42A lot of risk and reward. Exactly. Yeah now you've shown great consistency three points finishes
01:49in the last three races just give us an overview of how you feel it's going this year for you.
01:56Yeah I'm quite happy with how it's going of course the race in Bahrain was a mixed bag qualifying was
02:03very poor but we got a bit of fortune in the race with the safety car to maximize and score a point
02:09which was great. The other two races you know we really deserve to be up there and scored some
02:15good points and we've had two races now with both cars in the points which is really really good
02:21and yeah of course Australia was really difficult but we turned it around pretty quickly and bought
02:28a small upgrade to the car which allowed us to run it more in the window that we want to and now we're
02:34able to extract a lot of performance out of it which is nice. A lot of performance so what is
02:38possible this weekend? Who knows? We came to Suzuka not expecting much because of the nature of the
02:47track and we were in Q3 and scored points. Bahrain I was not really sure what we could achieve
02:54because we hadn't done much low fuel there but you know without Esteban's problem I think he could
03:01have been in Q3 and then again it's the same. I'm still thinking of Australia a little bit in the
03:08back of my mind but I know that we can have a good weekend so let's see how it goes. Yeah no predictions.
03:14All right well very good luck with that thank you Oli. Let's come to Alex now. Big picture stuff first of all
03:22Haas have snuck ahead of Williams in the Constructors Championship just how do you see the lay of the
03:28land in the midfield at the moment? Yeah it was interesting I don't think after Melbourne would
03:32have ever said that Haas were going to be in the mix and then they came back very strongly so
03:36it seems like they've obviously designed their car and focused on their race car quite a lot and it seems
03:43to be paying off for them. I think in many ways last week we got a little bit unlucky with the safety
03:51car. I think we're on for a good points finish but that's it. It's so close now and I think that as a team
03:59we can reflect on the first four races that we've been very consistent. I think the gap to P1 has always
04:04been very similar. I think the other midfield teams are a little bit peakier and they have
04:08they can score good points but not every time. I think for us we realistically should have had
04:15four points finishes in four races so let's see. I think we're just going to keep doing our job and
04:22hoping that we can just do everything a little bit better than everyone else. Alex how much personal
04:29satisfaction are you taking from this season? As you say coulda woulda shoulda but four
04:34points finishes in a row was possible. It feels very different to any of your previous seasons in
04:40Formula One. How much satisfaction does that give you? Yeah honestly yes it's been a really strong
04:46start to the season for us and we felt good in the car. From the first lap we drove in the
04:51shakedown at Silverstone. It's given us a good feeling. It's much more enjoyable to drive and
04:59and honestly I'm just enjoying the racing out there. I feel like that midfield pack has become
05:03so tight. In Bahrain in Q1 we just didn't get things optimal and that's it you're out straight away so
05:11there's a lot of pressure on every lap that you do in the midfield right now and that's
05:18uh that's exciting and it feels like um every race you go in not knowing where you're going to come out
05:24and uh yeah it's uh it's been the most enjoyable so far season of Formula One for me.
05:30There's another variable this year. Pirelli have gone one step softer on the on the compounds the tyre compounds.
05:37Do you expect that to cause any issues? It will be interesting I think that um they are soft and um we've
05:45seen in the past that sometimes the the very soft tyres are a little bit different the way that they
05:50feel in in high speed corners and uh this weekend is definitely a high speed track so it will be
05:57interesting to know how how how we can get the the C5s working this weekend. I think as it has been
06:04every year every weekend so far the tyres are very sensitive and if you can get them in the right
06:11window you're it's the it's it's the difference maker. I think all the cars now in the midfield are
06:15so close together that if you can if you're in that right window and that's Q3. All right well best of
06:22luck. Thank you very much Alex and Gabriel let's let's come to you now. First of all what are your
06:28predictions as to how it's going to feel to drive this racetrack? You're going to be going 14 seconds
06:34a lot faster than you were in F2 I think. What does it what does it feel like on the sim at least?
06:39Well it feels absolutely crazy fast so yeah very different um definitely very different approaches
06:46as well on driving technique compared to F2 probably one of the tracks that you're going to have the most
06:52difference on techniques on the way you drive compared to Formula 2 you know especially in the
06:56first sector with the high speeds so very interesting I'm looking forward to trying it and uh if there's
07:02something fun about this Formula One cars is the high speed uh that we we go so yeah looking forward
07:08to it. You come here on the back of a a slightly difficult weekend in in Bahrain what were the
07:15take-home messages for you from the last race? Um well I think yeah it was it was a tough weekend uh
07:23definitely in the race you know I got a bit stuck behind straw there at the last tint after the safety car and
07:28couldn't get past even if I felt that I had more pace you know just super difficult um
07:35but yeah I mean just another race weekend it's just the beginning of my my season uh there's a lot of
07:41things that we took as a learning from my side from the team side as well um and yeah now we try to apply
07:49everything in in here. Both you and Nico Hulkenberg have spoken about the difficulties of passing cars even
07:57if you feel you have more pace why or just describe what happens when you're driving in dirty air
08:07how does the car feel? Well again I've never driven any other Formula One car that is not a
08:13sober you know in a race or anything uh definitely dirty air is for everyone uh but we seem to
08:21struggle you know quite a lot to overtake and when we get too close to people you know it just feels
08:27that you lose a lot of fire dynamics and everything downforce so it's just tough you know because
08:32sometimes we feel that we have the pace uh the pace is there you know it's probably not to score points
08:37yet but we are working on that but sometimes you know better at least than the guys we're around and
08:42then as soon as we get close just lose quite a lot of grip and has been quite tough to to overtake
08:48to at least try a move you know to be side by side at the end of the straight or even at the position
08:52that you can dive bone but you know last weekend was very tough because I was not even in that situation
08:57so yeah just just a shame because I want to be fighting again for something you know I want to be
09:02fighting for overtakes and for positions and so far this year has been very tough to not being able to do
09:08that you know most of the times it's an undercut you're doing the pit stop or try to stay a bit
09:12long to try something different but not really an overtake on track all right well best of luck this
09:17weekend let's now open this to the broadcasters who's going to go first please david yeah thanks
09:23tom david croft sky sports f1 afternoon there gentlemen question for for gabriel um last in the championship
09:30average starting position 17.3 i think it is but you're a better driver than that and and your
09:36previous two seasons have proved it how are you coping with having a season that is so so different
09:44to your last couple of seasons and what experience have you got to help you cope with differing
09:50positions on track to what you're what you've been used to well i hope in fp1 i'm like you in the
09:56in the question you know like flat out so well it's not easy if i'm honest it's not easy you know you
10:03come from two championships you are used to you know being in this room but actually after a race
10:08you know because you win or you are in the podium and now for us it's it's already a mega job if you
10:14are going to q2 or fighting for q3 but you know there is always going to be someone paying this price
10:24at the beginning if you see george russell at the beginning of his formula one career
10:28i don't think he scored a point in his first season in formula one or something like this and
10:32now you know he's one of the best drivers in the grid and doing such a great job and
10:37i wouldn't say fighting for the championship right now but he's constantly in the podium or fighting
10:41for things so it's all about having patience uh there's nothing much i can do right now just learn
10:48try to grow as a driver in these tough moments and do a better job every race weekend and uh
10:54uh and yeah get better because i'm not fighting for points right now that's the realistic situation
11:00not me not nico you know nico has did a very good job in in australia when i'm messy race and managed to
11:05score points but realistically in the last three four rounds we have not been able to be there by pure
11:11pace and what we need to do now is try to point the team in the right direction with the development of
11:16the car because we saw last year with sauber as well you know they were less through the whole year
11:20basically and i think one upgrade or two upgrades they bring they were backed on fighting for q3 so
11:26in this world i've learned something that everything can happen so we cannot give up
11:33okay next one please thanks yeah mariana becker from tv bungee gabriel um you just
11:42explain how tough it is for you mentally to keep on wanting you know and fighting even
11:49with the limitations of your car is there someone who gives you those tips because you haven't been
11:55in a situation like that before and several you know more experienced driver they did is there someone
12:01who talked to you or even if it's not a driver someone who would would tell you you have to be patient or
12:08anything like this and the second question is is do you have uh any difference on the car here
12:17that would give you hope to have better position or to have a better understanding of the car
12:25well answering your first question um i i don't speak with anyone you know outside of motorsport just my
12:34family and and with some drivers i do speak you know uh and some of them have been through what i'm going
12:44through right now uh tough seasons you know not scoring points or struggling to do that and uh yeah
12:52you just need to have patience but it's not it's no news for me it's not that i came to this season
12:56expecting to be fighting for podiums or points every race you know i knew what i was gonna go through and
13:01i just needed to be strong and uh keep it up and uh the team has been very clear with me since the
13:09beginning that that was our situation and uh we just fight for it and uh i know it is not nice to be
13:16in the situation we are but it is it is what it is that's life i think so yeah and uh answer your second
13:24second one um uh no not that i know you know no difference uh just normal and uh still we need to try
13:33to bring some good upgrades on the car but not for this one
13:44welcome back everybody to part two of our drivers press conference here in jeddah this time isaac
13:50hadjar max verstappen and fernando alonso very warm welcome to you all uh fernando let's start with
13:56you it's been a bit of a tough start for aston martin uh this year do you think the faster sweeps
14:04of jeddah are going to suit the car better than was the case in barring yeah i hope so i think um
14:10yeah the first couple of weekends has been yeah not easy for us uh some challenges uh with with the
14:16new car but uh yeah i think the the high speed content of jeddah should should be a little bit better
14:23for us so yeah um we really hope for a better weekend what what are the limiting factors with
14:29this car um we still actually discovering a little bit the car and some of the weaknesses of the car
14:36um i would say that the first four grand prix's the low slow speed corners were probably our weakest
14:45part of the track but um there are some concerns as well of of um bouncing and and some other stuff
14:52that we are facing from time to time so yeah we are working hard on on yeah improving those and
14:58uh as i said here in jedi super high grip a lot of high speed corners so yeah all in all should be
15:03a better weekend is there a quick fix to the low speed problems um i think in formula one there is
15:12never a quick enough uh thing to to solve your problems i think competitors are strong they are
15:18also improving their cars and and their problems and it's always a race off track you know to to
15:24get the car better and better but uh yeah i think we have a couple of ideas uh some of those has to
15:31be also with the setup that we could try on on the weekends as well um and yeah here we have a stable
15:37weather condition so let's try to use fp1 fp2 fp3 to uh to maximize the the track time and learn about the
15:44car i remember you saying uh in the press conference in hungary last year that you wanted to build some
15:51momentum in the second half of last year how important is momentum this year when we look ahead
15:57to the the rule changes in 26 less important less important than last year because this year's cars
16:05are a continuation of last year's um you know the last race in in abu dhabi i don't think that
16:12you know the results that we are seeing now they were very different than than abu dhabi compared
16:17the first four races so yeah i think next year is a completely new set of regulations a completely reset
16:24what you learned this year maybe it's not super useful for next year in terms of uh aerodynamics
16:30uh on the course so yeah obviously you always want to to finish the season on a high and and keep the
16:36motivation high for everybody but i think the motivation in the team is super high anyway because
16:42uh um as we said many times you know we have our wind tunnel now working uh since you know a few
16:48weeks ago we have adrian in the team we have honda coming new regulations so the motivation is
16:55is really high yeah you mentioned adrian you've got this great asset this great racing brain
17:00in adrian newey would you like to see him just investigate some of the problems that you've got
17:06with this car or would you like to see him just concentrate on 26. um i think ultimately is his
17:14decision and and he um he has enough experience you know and you know enough knowledge and and background
17:24to know what is best and i think uh um he's working on only on 26 so if he's deciding that i totally support
17:34that all right fernando thank you very much for that max let's let's come to you now this triple
17:40header has been a bit of a roller coaster so far you started it with that sensational win at suzuka
17:46then then came the frustrations of bahrain last weekend what can we expect from red bull here in jeddah
17:53um yeah i hope a bit better uh than than bahrain i mean a few more high speed corners uh different
18:02tarmac um yeah i i i hope that we can um let's say i'd be a bit more competitive and maybe a bit more
18:10in the middle between the the two races potentially and pirelli are bringing softer compounds here compared
18:16to last year how do you see that playing out what sort of influence will that have yeah i mean in in
18:23general i think here uh it's been always a bit like a one-stop you know race and um i i think it's
18:29always you know there's a bit more going on when you try and have maybe a two-stop or or whatever but
18:35let's see first of course how the the tires are going to hold up you know it's going to be quite uh warm
18:40as well to uh to drive max similar question to the one i asked fernando in that is there a quick fix
18:48to the issues you've got with the car and where would you like to see the team focus its resources
18:5325 26 i think we've experienced enough to focus on this year and and next year but naturally um yeah
19:03we we're still trying things with the car not even you know even outside of bringing parts to the car just
19:10set up wise other things that we can improve you know it's constantly trying to
19:13um yeah improve the car i guess um and that's what we'll try to do again this weekend all right best
19:20of luck with that thank you very much isaac coming to you now slightly more difficult weekend for the
19:26team uh in bahrain let's start with that what were the issues do you understand what the problems were
19:32there yeah i think it was um definitely not as good as the last two weekends even melbourne
19:41um i think it's a bit of an outlier bahrain you know with those track temps and uh it's a really
19:49different tarmac there's no grip and you don't feel like driving a real on f1 car there so so yeah we
19:56definitely struggle a bit more there was still i still had a car that was able to go to q3 i think
20:03with a better lap so it's still not too bad and then um yeah definitely on sunday you know we had a
20:09tough lap one and then from there the race is pretty much over so i still think it was not as bad
20:16as it looked but um i i i want to believe that jeda is going to be shooting us way better something
20:23i asked the rookies in group one was uh what are your expectations of jeda in a formula one car you're
20:30going to be going i think 14 seconds a lap faster roughly than you were in formula two what sort of
20:36feel have you been getting on the simulator yeah it's uh i mean it's all every track i go to in fp1
20:43it's um always impressive the first time because your last reference is from formula two so it's always
20:50a bit of a the shock the first few laps but to be fair now i'm let's say up to speed um but yeah it's
20:57i'm definitely looking forward to to this track especially sector one uh it's gonna be it's gonna
21:04be really exciting look this is race five isaac it feels like you've got your feet firmly under the
21:10table now at racing balls just what is the biggest thing you've learned thus far in your formula one
21:16career um make sure the belts are tight no and not too tight yeah not too tight yeah i don't know
21:35watch out for white lines this kind of stuff you know that's all all in the detail yeah details
21:42all right look thank you for that let's now open this to the floor we're going to go to the
21:46broadcasters first and david david croft sky sports uh f1 uh max let's uh let's turn to you first
21:54um something about jedder isn't it red bull go really well on track but there's just as much to
21:59talk about off track with red bull and this week help helmet marco says he fears your red bull exit
22:05why is he saying that is it just because you were trying to overtake pierre gasly for sixth place on
22:10the final lap in bahrain or is there something more deep-seated than that i don't know to be honest
22:17um i just keep working you know keep trying to improve the car now naturally bahrain wasn't
22:22a great weekend for us i think we were all pretty disappointed with that and yeah we just keep on
22:28trying to improve the car come up with new ideas to try on the car um competition and stuff and yeah
22:35that's how i go about my uh my weeks you know just trying to improve the situation so he's getting
22:40the wrong end of the stick you're not thinking of leaving red bull at any time no i think just focus
22:46on commentating i'll focus on driving and then you know you don't need to think about any any other
22:52scenarios we just worry about you all right thank you next one please hi mariana from uh tv mariana
23:02becker from tv when they're dangerous max uh what do you want to see differently uh in the team this
23:10weekend that it didn't work last one last week yeah well we we struggle a bit with the the balance you
23:17know entry to to mid corner balance is not where i wanted to be so we'll try to um yeah fix that
23:25improve that how much we can fix that here i don't know but hopefully at the time i can also helps a
23:30bit with that thank you max next one david camiccioli sky taglia for max max uh uh what's about your
23:40future all talking about uh mercedes aston why not ferrari
23:49yeah i don't know i mean honestly i i uh yeah a lot of people are talking about it except me so
23:55yeah like like i said before you know i i just want to focus on um on my car work with the people
24:03in the team that's the only thing that i'm i'm thinking about in formula one at the moment um
24:10i'm very relaxed
24:13okay thank you yeah hello margot lafitte canada plus question for fernando
24:18we're doing a report about you and aston martin so it's going to be a kind of general question not
24:22specifically on jeddah two years ago you were fighting for pole position you led the race you were also on
24:29the podium what um do you make of what happened since then since being able to lead a race which was the
24:37last time and where are aston martin and you uh standing today you said you were still very
24:42motivated motivated but are you still patient enough
24:48yes um yeah it has been incredible journey so far i think this is the 50th grand prix for me with aston
24:55and um yeah i could not probably imagine what what we achieved in in these 50 grand prix but uh yeah
25:02uh now we are facing some more difficulties than uh for sure the first uh the first part of the
25:08journey but um at the same time we are a much better team a much more prepared team to
25:15fight for world championships that uh we were two years ago where we had a very small factory we were
25:21using mercedes wind tunnel and maybe we didn't have the right you know people and partners together in
25:29the project so yeah the results on track on sunday are not you know um the same as they were before but
25:37i feel very relaxed very motivated um and this is just a transition time that we have to learn things
25:45and prepare the team in a different way uh for the time that we have the car ready to fight for
25:51championships the team is ready as well in that moment okay thank you next one uh vicky birria for
26:00sky italy for fernando next year it's supposed to be you know a good picture for you guys
26:07based on the chit chat on the paddock you know with adrian and and the new engines and
26:13these rumors of max do this do you see them as a threat for your seat
26:21i don't think so um as i have contract for next year but um i see the rumors you know um very good
26:30for the team you know as as you said before um the world champion you know is sometimes linked
26:39with uh some other teams and a possible departure from red bull and the teams that they are
26:43are commenting our mercedes aston martin and ferrari uh as your colleagues said now so this shows you
26:52know the project that we are in and the um future that this team has and as i said always even last year
26:59when i um extend the contract i said that i will drive for as long as i feel fast and i feel competitive
27:08and the team needs me uh behind the wheel but my contract is much longer than my racing career so
27:15i will stay with this team uh for many many years in a different role and if that means that we can
27:22win a world championship uh even when i'm not behind the wheel i will still feel very proud of the project
27:28fernando would you welcome max as a teammate yes but uh it's unlikely to happen very unlikely
27:38okay next one please tom slafer that's on spain question for fernando about these rumors likely or
27:45unlikely eh on that's coming next year with exclusivity for the engine adrian new we and other top
27:50engineers wanted to join the team maybe max wants to join the team does it make you feel that you make
27:55the right decision before everyone else did does it make you feel comfortable with your decision
27:58joining aston martin a couple of years ago i don't know i mean it's not a right or wrong decision you you
28:04make your choices and um when i left alpine i thought that i will not fight for a world championship in
28:10alpine they may do in the future or in the short-term future because i don't have a long-term future i will
28:16not race forever so in in the period of you know my racing career is active um you know at that time
28:24i thought aston martin was a a better place i did enjoy 2023 being competitive and i do enjoy now the
28:31process that we are in and uh the building of of this team of the future that i sometimes say
28:39we are not the team of the present and it's what i would like to have you know because uh in the
28:44future i don't know if i will be as i said behind the wheel but uh i will do my best to help aston to
28:50to to to achieve you know the best results as soon as possible