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00:00to the driver's press conference ahead of the FIA Formula One Miami Grand Prix. We have two
00:10sessions coming your way and you can see session one in front of you now. We have Lando Norris,
00:15Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda. Lando, why don't we start with you? Great to see you again. Back
00:21to the scene of your first win in Formula One. Does it give you a little spring in your step
00:27returning to the Hard Rock Stadium again? No, but it's just good memories, right? It's
00:34stuff I dreamed of as a kid. I was winning and standing on the top step and I managed to do it
00:40here, which was a cool place to do it. So just good memories, good times, thinking back to the
00:46race, the checkered flag, seeing the team, the celebrations, a lot of things that always bring
00:52a smile to my face. So hopefully and the plan is to try and do it again. Well, let's talk a little
00:57bit more about that. What are the biggest challenges facing you and McLaren this weekend?
01:04Same as normal, I guess, other competition. We feel good and we feel confident we're the best,
01:11but the others are certainly not far behind and are consistently putting pressure on us. So,
01:17you know, one little mistake and we're behind and we're not where we want to be.
01:21Otherwise, it's just another weekend. It's another weekend where we're trying to improve.
01:26I'm sure others are trying to improve and try and get ahead of us. But yeah, just making sure I
01:32have a good weekend and a clean weekend is the main thing. Clean weekend. I mean, we haven't seen the
01:36best of you in qualifying at the last couple of events. Are we going to see a change in approach
01:41from you? I mean, I'm working on my things. I'm working on what to improve and trying to
01:51figure out all the things behind the scenes on what I need to do better on. It's certainly not
01:57because of a lack of speed or lack of ability to do so. You know, I've often led the way in Q1 and Q2,
02:05but always when I've got to Q3, then it's not going to plan. So yeah, I think there's stuff from
02:11the driving side and other things from the car side where just things haven't clicked. But I'm
02:18working on it and hopefully this weekend I can put it into practice. All right. Best of luck with
02:22that. Lando, thank you very much. Pierre, let's come to you now. How's your throwing arm? You're
02:26likely to see Alpine investor Patrick Mahomes this weekend? Yeah, we've got some big names coming.
02:34Obviously, we have a lot of American support and investor in the team. So yeah, coming here is
02:43always a special moment. Patrick is going to be around this weekend. Yeah, I must say I admire
02:50his work, his success in his sport. And it's always a special, special time to be able to touch with
02:58him. Let's bring it on track. It's been a bit of an up and down season for Alpine, just that seventh
03:04place in Bahrain to show so far. What trends are you seeing from the car now in terms of
03:10performance? Well, I think it's extremely tight in the field, like especially from, you know,
03:16the sort of position we're fighting in. Within three tents, you could be, you know, in Q3 or
03:22knocked out in Q1. So it's just difficult. I think we've been able to really put things together.
03:28the last two events, not being very fortunate in the first three races. But I do feel we've got the
03:35speed to fight, you know, the Williams, Alftar as well are very competitive at times and also has. So
03:44just got to be on top of our game and extract every hundreds and millisecond of our package. And I'm
03:52sure we'll be able to to fight for those points. All right. Best of luck. Thank you, Pierre. Yuki,
03:57coming to you now. Let's start with that Silverstone test last week. You did a day in a two-year-old car.
04:04How did it go?
04:07Yeah, I experienced the, I think, classic British weather. So I started down and we didn't bring any
04:15wet condition, wet tires, anything, just because we didn't want to waste any mileage for the
04:21driver, driver, driver TPC test. So we wait a quite long time for the, to get dry, dry up. And
04:30also, yeah, unfortunately, we got a bit of issue in the end of this as well. So in the end,
04:36we didn't drive much, but yeah, still cool experience. I mean, yeah, I mean, to be honest,
04:43it's hard to, hard to feel the difference, right? Because it's completely different condition.
04:48And it's completely different characteristic corners compared to previous races that I
04:56raced in. So also, I didn't want to really, yeah, say something, yeah, stupid feedback to make the
05:04confusion. I didn't want to make it confusion. So I tell the difference what I felt clearly. But
05:10other than that, I mean, that's still a good test, I think, for me to get, get back on a good mileage.
05:16And you've now done three races in the RB21. How confident are you feeling in this year's car?
05:24Yeah, just needs more time, I guess, to get used to it fully. I mean, I think I'm happy with the
05:30progress so far. And I think the confidence is quite there. But just when you push 100% on the limit,
05:38you know, in qualifying, which you kind of face, you know, almost first time qualifying, right?
05:44Because you don't really push 100% until then, which I want to, but at the same time, just starting
05:49point is always slightly below the way I want to, where I used to, you know, start with the RB1. So
05:56just have to build, it takes a bit more time to build up, you need tracks and, yeah, in qualifying,
06:02most of the time so far, I experienced kind of, yeah, a new kind of behaviour from my car and
06:08just not able to sometimes cope with it. But I would say, like, car is super, super difficult.
06:14It just needs more time and to define where the limit is.
06:18Okay, Yuki, thank you for that. It's a very busy room here. So let's open this to the floor now.
06:22We will start with the broadcasters. And where are we going first? David, David?
06:28Yeah.
06:30Craig.
06:31Craig Slater, Sky Sports. A question for Lando. Lando, Andrea Stella talked about an upgrade
06:37targeted to make the car easier for you to drive. I just wanted to know how far down the road
06:44that is in terms of being deployed and whether you really do feel you need that to fully get
06:49on top of this year's car. I mean, I certainly think it'll help. I probably,
06:55I don't honestly know the exact timeline of things. There's also a mixture of things that
07:01will probably slowly come and be implemented over time. But I also don't want to just rely on that
07:08myself, you know. So there's also things I'm trying to work on separately and hopefully that's
07:13a better fix than waiting for the bits to come. But it's good that we're working as a team and the
07:19team are working hard to try and understand these things because it's been clear that there have
07:23been some differences from last year in how the car works and how it how it acts and and then how
07:29I'm able to get lap time out of it and perform, you know. So a mixture of things. But yeah,
07:34confident that I mean, I have to be a little bit patient with certain things. Some things are bigger
07:39than others, but it takes time. Some of these things. So I just keep my head down and keep pushing
07:43myself. Thank you, Lando. David. David Croft, Sky Sports. Yuki, a question for you. Sorry,
07:49the British weather stopped you running too much at Silverstone last week. But if it's not a super
07:56complicated car to drive, where are the bits that you need to work on so that you feel way more at
08:01home in the Red Bull as opposed to the the racing balls? What are the bits that need a little bit of
08:07care and attention, a bit of time on them? Yeah, I mean, it's not I would say it's not complicated
08:12in sense that to like try to drive around. I mean, it's still it's not easy for sure. Like what I
08:19felt in vehicle was a bit more lenient, a bit more like forgiving with any directions. And definitely
08:28Red Bull has a sharper kind of narrower window that they can form, which I think
08:37being in the window and try to drive around is not I mean, it's still still not easier than a V car,
08:44but, you know, better than better than I thought, you know, initially when I jumped into Red Bull,
08:49but just like just for me, it's the first car after joining, you know, Formula One. And since four
08:58years, I've driven the same car. I know how to set up those cars and I know where the limit is. So,
09:04you know, I just naturally didn't have to really think about it. But now, yeah, in terms of setup,
09:11you know, the setup I tried, for example, a couple of times in the car, whatever, where I thought will
09:17be good, just didn't work out. You know, even in the car, I feel quite good in terms of balance. But
09:22just in terms of lap time, when I look, it just didn't really affect reflect the feeling I had. So
09:29those things just come, I guess, from the experience and sometimes just have to accept the kind of
09:34difficulties of the of the car. Sometimes if you're feeling kind of a lot of overstay, a lot of
09:39understay, just if it's still lap time is good, just to probably stick to the direction. So those
09:44things just is different approach. And the things I'm trying to learn as much as possible. And so far,
09:50Tim's definitely helping quite a lot with those direction, but just also, yeah, just have to get used to
09:57it. You know, like even the limit, I just still don't know yet exactly because I had Q3 last lap in
10:04Saudi. I just like push more and I have massive snap, which I didn't expect also. Yeah, you'll get
10:11there. But just I just try to keep my head down and slowly builds up. But also, I think, yeah, also
10:19it's just in general environment in me and my engineer. He's a Scottish. So, you know, a bit of
10:27Scottish mix between Scottish English and my Japanese English. It's a bit interesting really
10:31going on. So those things just needs more time to blend in in general directions.
10:38Thank you, Yuki. Next one, Mara.
10:40Martin, I want to ask a question to Lando. Lando, I know that we are just in Miami, but speaking with
10:46your opponent, they are sure, they are all convinced that a lot will change in terms of volumes from
10:55Barcelona. Are you two as a team?
11:01No, no. This is the nice thing. You know, you see a lot of what people say and what they speculate,
11:08but no, I'm confident like not much at all has to change for us and we can keep doing what we're
11:13doing. So, like Oscar said before, I think we'll be strong through the whole season. I'm confident
11:17of that. We have plenty of things we want to improve and do even better on. But no, the
11:24others can say what they want and can think of what they want out of mind.
11:28Okay. Thank you. Next one. Yeah. Diego Mejia, Fox Sports, Mexico. Maybe for Pierre and if
11:33anyone wants to come in as well. Once again, we have a softer step in the tires. We didn't see
11:39to stop Sinjera. Do you expect that to be more of an effect here? Well, I think, yeah,
11:45for sure it brings a bit more unknown coming this year also with the spring weekend. It doesn't
11:53make things very easy in terms of tire allocation and what way you want to go. So they're probably
11:58going to be compromises to be taken at some stage throughout the weekend. But yeah, I think
12:03we might see slightly more differences across strategy. Yeah, definitely for Sunday. But
12:10I'm sure we'll learn more about it also Saturday once we've done the spring race.
12:15Lando, do you agree?
12:18He agrees. Right. Next one. Yeah. Where are we going? Yeah, Albert.
12:20Yeah, Albert Fabrega, ESPN Latam. Question for Lando. Do you think that this year's DNA of the
12:26car, it switch better to Oscar's driving style rather than yours?
12:36It's a difficult one to answer. Yeah, very difficult to answer. I think
12:43there are just certain things which don't allow me to feel what I need to feel. And those things
12:53are what allow me to drive to the level that I can drive at, to get pole positions and to
13:00drive at the highest level in racing. And we're talking about small things, you know, it's
13:07not like it's impossible to drive all of a sudden. It's just when we're talking about qualifying
13:13split by hundreds of a second, thousands of a second, that's what we're complaining of
13:18and nothing more than that. So yeah, it's not one I can probably just give you a yes or no
13:25answer to. I think he's maybe more naturally able to adapt. And I also think it's a driver's
13:31job to adapt to whatever car they get given. But there's compromises and the team are also
13:35there to try and help you get the most out of the car. But it's clear there have been some
13:41changes and whether it's just suited Oscar or Oscar's ready to do a better job, a better
13:46job at adapting, then that's not for me to kind of know or try and figure out or waste
13:52my time on. But yeah, for me, it's so she hurt me a little bit more and I'm not being able
13:57to perform at the level that I was at the end of last season, which I think is the best
14:02level that I've been.
14:04Okay, thank you, Lando. Next, please.
14:06Mervi Kallio from Viaplay. This is for Lando. Did you expect in the beginning of the season
14:11that this car is going to be trickier for you than the last year car, as you said?
14:19No, I don't think so. I mean, it's very hard to know. Of course, we have the simulator
14:26and things and there was nothing that really spoke out that much about it. So the answer
14:35is no. We knew it would be a step forward. We knew it would be quicker. But until you
14:40really put it on the track and you drive at different circuits, you know, it's not just
14:43that one. There are some circuits I felt better and some circuits I've lacked the feeling a
14:47lot. No, but not enough of an indication for me to kind of prepare probably what I needed
14:55to prepare for.
15:02Welcome back to Miami, everybody. Part two of our driver's press conference. Closest
15:08to me, Nico Hulkenberg, then George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Let's start with the man
15:13closest to me, Nico. Good to see you. Now, since the high of Melbourne, the P7, it's been
15:21a little tougher going for you and Sauber. Just tell us about the performance of the
15:25car. Have you found the limit of it yet?
15:28Well, I hope not. And I hope that we can, you know, shift the limit up, you know, as the
15:31season goes on. Yes, it's true. You know, the last couple of races, I think it's been
15:36difficult. You know, on some tracks, we were a bit more competitive than on others. I think
15:41Jeddah in particular, I feel in quality, you know, we didn't maximize the potential. And
15:45in the race, we simply weren't competitive enough. Yeah. So like I said, I think I feel it's a
15:51little track dependent. And, you know, anyway, in the midfield, it's so tight that you have
15:55to be perfect on the execution every time to get something meaningful. So yeah, that's
16:01where we are. I think we are aware, you know, that we still have a lot of work ahead of us.
16:06But we're not that far away either. Track dependent. What kind of track suits the C45? Faster tracks
16:14by the sound of the ball. I think not necessarily. I think, yeah, no, I wouldn't say that.
16:21Maybe from what we've seen so far, maybe actually a bit more of the low and medium speed,
16:25which obviously here is a little bit more content of that. But yeah, we'll find out. And, you know,
16:31temperatures also in conditions always, as always play a role. The team is building up to the arrival
16:36of Audi next year. What do you want to see Sauber do over the remainder of this year? Would you like
16:42to see them switch everything and focus on 26? Or do you think you need to build some momentum
16:46this year as well? I think it's very important still to build momentum this year.
16:50You know, everything we do now somewhat, you know, also matters next year, of course,
16:55different set of regulations. But I think, you know, we have to push on parallel. I'm sure
17:00that's what, you know, everyone is doing and especially the big teams. But I, you know,
17:04still want to see some some progress this year. And, you know, we want to, yeah, score more
17:09points. It's still a long year. We're still pretty early in the season. So still, yeah, a lot to play for.
17:16All right. Thank you very much for that. George, let's bring you in now. Three podiums from the
17:21opening five races. Is that a tally that matches with your preseason expectations?
17:26No, I think it's probably better than our preseason expectations, to be honest. The pace has fallen
17:31out where we thought, you know, that step behind McLaren and then a close fight with Red Bull and
17:38Ferrari. And, you know, we've been doing really well to get those podiums. But I don't think it
17:44necessarily, and we're nicely P2 in the team's championship, but I don't think it necessarily
17:49means we are the second fastest team. I think sort of on average, we've been the third fastest
17:53team. We saw obviously Charles had a great race last week and obviously Max also the last couple
17:59of races. But we've just been nicely consistent and picking up points. Consistent, yes. But it
18:05looked like Saudi was the most difficult of the races so far. Having had a chance to debrief with
18:11the team, what conclusions have you reached? I mean, tyres were too hot, really. So that was
18:17a big problem. And I think just pushing a bit too hard to try and keep up with the front two. And,
18:22you know, Charles put in a really, really strong race and we were, I was probably driving too quick
18:27for what the tyres and the car was capable of. And then we dropped off a cliff. So not too sure how
18:34this weekend's going to pan out because I think in terms of temperatures and the tyres,
18:39it'll be relatively similar to Jeddah. So, you know, we'll have to wait and see and see any of the
18:45learnings we've taken from last week. We can translate into a bit of performance, but, you
18:50know, I'm confident the quality pace will sort of be there or thereabouts, but it's the race pace.
18:54There's a bit more of a question mark. All right, George, thank you for that. Good luck. And Lewis,
18:59good to see you. It feels like this is a big weekend. Your first race for Ferrari in the USA.
19:05You've got the Met Gala on Monday. We know what weight, what you're wearing in the car. Can you tell
19:10us what you're wearing on Monday? I don't even know for minutes. Really? Not putting much thought to it.
19:16Look, you're co-chair of the Met this year. Just how much have you enjoyed that experience?
19:21Oh, yeah. It's amazing working with Anna and her team. And yeah, it's been a privilege. I mean,
19:30to be able to continue to do stuff in fashion is fun. But Anna's been really understanding. I
19:37haven't had a lot of time to do a huge amount with it. But the work has been in drips over the
19:43past like two years already with Anna. So yeah, excited for people to see it.
19:48Well, Lewis, let's bring it on track. Now, it's been a little bit frustrating these last few races for
19:55you. But we've seen stints in races where the car and you have been really competitive. What is
20:03stopping you repeating that performance? Those those quick stints?
20:08Many things. Lots of different things. There's not one particular.
20:13Is there anything we can talk about here having been back to the factory?
20:17Not particularly. I mean, I just when I joined Mercedes, the first six months was tough getting
20:23accustomed to working with new people. Obviously, the engineers that are working with now are used
20:29to setting up a car for a different driver and a different driving style. And I'm used to driving
20:34a car with a different driving style. And so it's just a combination of a bunch of different
20:39things. Are you able to drive this car instinctively? Or are you having to think consciously while
20:45you're in it? I would say for that you're generally always a mixture of the two. But I'm definitely
20:54working hard to adjust to this one for sure. All right. Well, what about this weekend in Miami?
20:58What can we expect from you and Ferrari? No clue. We'll do it the best we can. And
21:04yeah, we've not got upgrades or anything this weekend, but we continue to try and optimize
21:10the car. And obviously, Charles in the last race did a fantastic job and showed what the
21:15car can do in a race. So the goal is to try to replicate that. All right. Good luck with
21:20that. OK, thank you. It's busy room in here. Let's go to the broadcasters next. Start with
21:25Craig. Yeah, Craig's latest, I suppose. Question for George, actually, with your GPDA hat on.
21:31President Mohammed bin Sulaim has said that after constructive feedback with drivers, he's
21:36looking at making improvements to the rules that govern the driver conduct issues and so
21:42on. I just wanted to know, do you think that's a very positive step, George?
21:48Yeah, I mean, conceptually, yes. But obviously, we want to see these things put into action
21:54rather than saying, you know, we're considering things, you know, we all consider a lot of things.
21:59We're clear. We want changes. And once they are implemented, then we'll comment on it. But for
22:06the time being, it's being considered. So it's just, you know, those the words don't mean anything
22:14until the change has been made. OK, David. Question to Lewis, David Croft, Sky Sports. Hi,
22:21Lewis. Carlos Sainz has said today that you can't just show up at a team, be two or three tenths
22:28quicker. It's just not possible than your teammate who's there and established at the team. Is that
22:35true? Or did we see in China with the sprint that you can do that and your car is probably more suited
22:41to the sprint at the moment than a Grand Prix? Just try and explain a little bit as to why that was so
22:47good in China. And is this weekend a plus for you, given it's a sprint weekend?
22:51I can't really explain it too much. I mean, in the sprint race, obviously, there's not a huge
22:59amount of changes you make. I think the one thing to take from it is that we didn't make
23:02a lot of changes, if actually any changes go from P1 to then quality, as we're on all the other
23:09weekends. We've been tinkering with the car and making it worse. And on the subject of you can't
23:19turn up and be two or three tenths quicker than your teammates, is that true? Or do you think
23:23that is possible? I mean, there's elements of that that are true, but I mean, it's different for
23:30everyone. All right, next one, Albert. Albert Fabregal, ESPN LATAM. A question for you all
23:38three. I'm sure you reviewed last Grand Prix, corner one, lap one incident between Oscar and
23:45Max. Do you feel that the penalty of five seconds penalty was correct? It was ten seconds or
23:52it was you think it was no further action? What's your opinion? Nico, let's start with you.
23:59You always take me first on these, Tom. Thank you. Well, I think, you know, these guys, you know,
24:05are fighting for the championship. You know what it looks like right now and, you know, probably that
24:10will continue like this. So, you know, there's no gifts, you know, when you when you fight for a
24:16championship and in racing in general and it's lap one action, turn one, you know, you come with
24:20with quite high speed, even though it's not the longest of runs. So for me personally, you know, I think
24:26it's part of racing and these kind of things just happen.
24:31Same, same. Sorry, Albert. All right, next one. Yeah, this is Merva Calio from Wildplay.
24:41Nico, you are no more the only racing father in the paddock. Do you have some advices for Max?
24:49Maybe some diaper advices? You know that for a fact. I don't know.
24:54At least in the near future, in coming days. He's not here for this week, today.
25:00Yes, it's true. It was a fun fact that I was the only since, you know, Checo and K-Mac left
25:06at the end of last year was the only dad. So yeah, he's joining that club and I hope it's
25:13a good sleeper. You know, we've been quite fortunate and lucky, but yeah, I think lots to discover,
25:21you know, many beautiful and nice things that come with that. So yeah, I'm sure he will enjoy that.
25:27He will enjoy that.