F1 Dutch GP Post Race Press Conference (FULL) | FORMULA 1 2024 Dutch Grand Prix

a very warm welcome to the top three finishes of the FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix in third place charlot Clair in second place Max for stappen and taking his second win in Formula 1 and McLaren's first at xan vort since 1985 our winner Lando Norris many congratulations Lando what a drive how satisfying was that performance today um I mean a win's always satisfying so uh very good um obviously didn't didn't start in the most optimistic way but the pace was um was unbelievable from the beginning and I could go with Max quite happily at the the start um I just didn't expect our Pace to be probably as good as what it was today um which is a good thing it's uh it's nice to be kind of a little bit surprised by this and as soon as I got ahead it was quite straightforward I could push I had good confidence to push the whole race um save the ties a little bit but just get in a good Rhythm and go from there so car felt amazing car felt felt great and um made my life easier for sure so uh a big thanks to the team sanval hasn't been the happiest of hunting grounds for McLaren in recent Seasons just how much have these upgrades lifted the performance I mean this weekend a little bit um I still feel like we probably would have won without the upgrades this weekend um the upgrades didn't make us Sun a lot quicker here you know but the upgrades we've been putting on the car they've helped us every time it's like we put it on and questioned it um we put it on and it was just did everything it wanted to do and needed to do and wasn't me to do so we taken our time and this was our first upgrade since Miami um yes we've had little bits along the way but just like tweaks is nothing that's like his performance um and a lot of other people have you know so we kind of fell down a little bit the order in terms of delivering parts and and delivering upgrades comparing to all of our competition um and this was our first time we really put something on the car to drive us a step forward and it definitely did that but um it's not like we've not been competitive over the last two months um since Miami you know we've been quickest in Budapest and very quick at certain other races like Barcelona and um Silverstone and stuff like that but uh um small things make a big difference and today with how the car felt I'm sure it was a step ahead you know a new rear wing probably helped me get past Max today so um little things like that uh definitely help you go forwards after the start when Max got the jump on you were you still very confident that you could win this race no I mean um I mean after yesterday of course we're confident the pace is going to be good for sure and my long run Pace on Friday was was very was very good but um you don't do anything more than like 10 11 laps and he you never know in the 72 lap race and what's going to happen but uh I would say also Maxx's paace didn't look bad on on Friday um you could already pick aart a bit of it and and kind of give yourself some confidence but it wasn't like we came into here thinking yeah we can easy just pass them on track and um pull the capap that we did today you know so uh it's just not often that I've been in the lead and being able to control things and do what I want to do and look after the tires and have clean air and stuff like that and all of this makes a big difference in the end of the day so um didn't expect things to go as well as as it did but after getting done into turn one and off the line I was I was actually just surprisingly Cal maybe because I'm a bit used to going backwards at the start um I'm very prepared for those kind of scenarios and I was very calm and just okay well what can I do now and um that was just to look ahead start saving tires and see what I had Pace wise but really even like lap 10 11 12 13 I kind of managed to catch Max a little bit again and started to gain quite a bit of optimism that actually I could almost pass him on track so I had two opportunities um the first one I wasn't quite close close enough the next lap I did it and uh I could get my head down from there Oscar had a similar problem at the start to you what can you and the team do to improve the situation going forward noet will spin you make it sound quite an easy solution but how do you do obviously not because otherwise I would have done better then but um I mean we know what to do we know what's required to do a perfect start but we're talking about fine margins here um because we both didn't get it right it seems like maybe there was more underlying issue or something wasn't how it was supposed to be or we've clearly misjudged something more than what others did um but like Oscar is one of the best starters on the grid um I'm not as good as but there are thereabouts and that's not a bad startup but not as good as obviously what we need to be and uh again it was a race which almost slipped away off off the line but uh today was again different to every other thing that's happened so um kind of like I said before the weekend we need to find a bit more consistency but we've we've worked on it and I feel like I I've done better procedurally but uh obviously didn't turn into the correct thing so Lando phenomenal Place phenomenal Pace here what does this mean going forward let's let's talk about Monza next weekend do you think you'll be as competitive there I have I have no idea um you ask us questions likea no I got no idea um yeah anyone could be could be on top Ferrari Mercedes Red Bull us um you know Ferrari were quite quick today we probably didn't expect them to be as good as they were um maybe Red Bull struggled a bit more I think that was probably more the factor that the Red Bull struggled a bit more today than we were expecting things so we just keep our heads down there's no point thinking uh how we're going to do next weekend we just get there and work hard and wait till we get there there's no points INE very well done today good luck next weekend Max let's come to you now so you struggled more than Lando was expecting today did you struggle more than you were expecting today ah the whole weekend has been the same I mean I have pretty much the same balance from fp1 all the way to the race I mean the limitations are the same so um yeah it's just very hard to to solve at the moment um yeah it just seems like we are too slow but also quite bad on on deck at the moment so that's a bit weird because I think the last few years normally we you know we've been quite quite good on that so something has has been going wrong lately with the car that uh yeah we need to understand and we need to of course quickly try to uh to improve is there one overriding problem you said at one point on the radio that the car wasn't responding to your inputs so is under steer the issue it's just not a connected balance uh front to rear let's talk about the start um Lando tal talked us through it from his point of view do you think there was more grip on the inside of the track because charl made progress at the start so did George Russell so did you I don't think so I think this start was all right I had a bit of wheel spin as well but uh I think czecho had a good start as well also on the left hand side so I I think um yeah we just got it right as a team probably also and we have been doing quite well with that in most races this year but uh it's also I think a bit more difficult to predict because you know the weather this weekend it's been raining drying so you don't really get a consistent grip rate so sometimes yeah it it's a bit of hit a Miss talk us through the early laps once you were in the lead how confident were you of staying there I just doing my own race you know looking after the tires the way I I try yeah I tried to do the best I I I could but yeah Point nothing was was turning or responding anymore so then Lando got quite close the first time like he said he was close but not close enough and then the next lap there was nothing that I could do so once he passed I just focus on doing my race try to yeah bring it to the end in in second knowing the car's strengths and weaknesses as you do do you think you'll be more competitive at Monza um I don't know I mean we just need to figure out our balance issues I think that will already help a lot also with de um of course in Mons a lot is new you know Tac curbs even the layout in turn one too so also that we need to you know to to understand a bit more um but yeah we know that we have quite a bit of work to do all right Max thank you uh sh let's come to you now a brilliant Race by you and Ferrari very well done you weren't happy with the car at the start of the weekend so talk us through how you've managed to turn it around ah uh that is a very good question and uh I think the the best question is also to understand why we were 9/10 off yesterday and certainly pretty strong today the kai is exactly the same yesterday we've been struggling like crazy today we were strong um and these are the kind of things that we've got to uh to work on um I think as much as we analyze every bad surprises we have during a season we also need to understand when we do something good uh for now I don't think as a team we have the the explanations so uh it's uh it's a great result I'm really happy to be standing on the podium and I think it's a it's a really good surprise uh however we've got to to understand in order to perform more often at our at our best talk us through that last segment of the race when you had Oscar piastri just behind you on fresher tires how easy was it to maintain your Rhythm at that stage it wasn't uh because uh my engineer was telling me about Oscar's lap time which when he was in Freer was quite a bit quicker than than me I think nearly a second then when he got closer I started to push a bit more and gain five t0 and I think with the dirty air he probably lose lost three or four t uh he managed to stay behind and to put me quite under uh pressure for two three laps but then U then couldn't stay there because of the overheating so uh it was a really good strategy I I did not expect to keep that third place until the end but uh but we did a really good job as a team I don't think there was anything more we could have done today your second consecutive Podium how do you view the coming races again it's it's very very difficult to to predict um if you will have asked me that question yesterday I will have told you it will be very difficult today it's much better uh if we manage to understand uh what's what's going on with our car then I'm I'm quite optimistic about the future um but uh but for now we we don't quite have the understanding yet thank you for that right let's open this to the floor name and publication please first one Lawrence Edon ESPN a question for Max you mentioned this lack of balance in the car is it something that has been introduced with development or was it something that was always there but it's now more exposed because you're being pushed that bit harder by McLaren I wasn't there in the first few races but uh yeah something uh yeah and the car has made it more difficult um to drive and it's very hard to pin point where that is coming from at the moment and and yeah that is then hurting of course our one laap performance but also our long run Thanks Max next one uh Dan Lawrence motorport Monday a question for charl um sort of theoretically the next few races Monza backu Singapore should be stronger for Ferrari so just how important was it to get a good result here to then obviously not only in the home race for the team but just to have a good solid run of results over the next few races thank you it's it's super important I think we've had three or four races uh four races ago where we were experimenting quite a lot to try and understand what were the fundamental issues of our car for the development medium term uh we've got an upgrade coming very soon and now I can say actually because Fred said it so it will be in Monza and um and that I hope will help us and help us close the gap um but uh until until they upgrades always said the the priority for us was just to do a damage limitation and uh today we were targeting P6 realistically I think on paper that's what that's what uh we were fighting for however after three four laps the pace was there and we we we called dp3 which is a good surprise again so good points uh however now I I just hope that the upgrades helps us to uh to do a step forward thank you next one uh Ronald foring motorsport.com question to Max uh Helo Marco just told me that he finds today's result quite alarming for Red Bull and he says something needs to happen quickly otherwise both Championship are under threat how alarming do you find today and how do you look at the driers championship where you still got quite a margin and to Lando how confident are you of really having shot at the driver Championship this year uh I think this weekend was just a bad weekend in general so we need to understand that but um you know last few races already they haven't really been fantastic so that I think in a sense was already a bit alarming but we know that we don't need to panic we know we we we just trying to improve the situation and that's what we what we are working on but F1 is very complicated um uh I mean I've been fighting for the championship since the first race of the year um there's no sudden decision of now I need to do better or like it's I've been working hard the whole whole year and I'm still 70 points behind Max so it's um it's pretty stupid to think of of anything at the minute I just take one race at a time and uh just keep doing what I'm doing now because uh yeah there's no point to think ahead and think of the the rest I don't I don't care about it at the minute I'm just um yeah Focus One race at a time so it's not a question that I need to get asked uh every single weekend thanks both next one any more yes one more uh Taylor pable Monday question to alander congratulations on your win you and the team have been reluctant to say you have the fastest car at points this season but after today with how dominant the drive was and with the upgrades do you feel more confident to say you do now have the fastest package oh 100% yeah today um this the whole weekend I think we've we've had the best car um I think we've we've on average had the best car for sure um we've not had a dominant car at any point this season I would say even if you go back to Hungary um as much as people hate me say it Max was still very quick and hungry he just didn't have a I mean a great race but his Pace was still was very very strong um and OB we we see we know more information than people do on the outside so we can comment in much more factual ways than people can uh who were just watching on TV and and taking their picks and guesses um we've had on average the best car um uh you know we we probably should have won two three more races as as a team um but we didn't and um we're not saying uh anything more than that you know we we should have won and we didn't and it's cuz we've not done a good enough job I didn't do a good enough job um and we worked hard over the the summer break to just try and take a step back and and reset and go again so um yes we've had a great car um this was like I said earlier our first time we brought some good upgrades to the car since Miami they worked very well then they've worked once again now and um uh yeah it's um still a long way to go so we still have to keep working hard because this is just zanor um moner is a complete different circuit so we'll keep our heads down and keep chipping away thanks Lando any yes another one sport question for Marx um since the end of 2020 there hasn't been a period as long as this one uh in which you didn't get a win um how do you feel about that and um do you see enough perspective to turn it around quickly um yeah I mean that happens right I mean I've had a lot of good years I mean some people have never won a race in their career you know so you can also look at it like that um from my side yeah we at the moment don't have the fast SC we have some issues that we have to solve and we are working on that um that's anything I can say about that you know we're very focused on it there's still a lot of races left a lot of different kind of tracks this weekend was just not our best weekend thanks Mike anym no more we will leave it there very well done see you at Mona thank you