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Here is the transcript of the Post 2021 Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying track interviews and press conference featuring Lewis Hamilton.
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Mark Webber)
Q: Lewis, that looked like pretty challenging conditions for you. It looked like the car was not that easy to drive in intermediate conditions throughout the whole of qualifying. Are you pretty relieved that you got to qualify that far up at the end or did you want more, of course you want to be on the front row?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, it’s been a very difficult day for everyone. I just tried to stay positive, focused and calm. Well done to Max, he did a great job right at the end. My first lap was really good, the second one I struggled a little bit. Also, a great job by George, that was just fantastic.
Q: Phenomenal lap by him. For tomorrow’s race in terms of mixed conditions. The intermediates are going off quite quickly, is it going to be quite hard on the strategy, not just on the track drying off and going wet again, but are the intermediates good in those transitions?
LH: Yeah, if it’s like this tomorrow it will be tricky. There is this balance of straight line speed versus that mid-section downforce. I think we tried to strike the best balance possible, maybe it’s not the best for today but we will see tomorrow exactly how good it is. Otherwise I’m really grateful to the team for keeping their cool in this session and tomorrow is another day and hopefully we have better weather, hopefully for the fans because they are probably drenched out there today.
Q: You’ve nearly got another wingman up there with George another Mercedes-powered car. Having him up the front there in terms of strategy maybe putting a bit of pressure on Max with the pair of you?
LH: Yeah, I don’t really know what happened with Valtteri, a bit unfortunate because I think they have two Red Bulls not too far away, so that’s going to make a little bit harder in terms of strategy as I think Valtteri has a penalty also. But nonetheless we will do everything we can and tomorrow is another day. I hope that it is not crazy rain like this but interchangeable could be fun.
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PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, it looked like one of your tougher qualifying sessions here at Spa. Just talk us through it.
LH: Yeah, difficult for everyone. These guys did a great job in the final stages of Q3. I think my first lap was OK but yeah, just difficult for everyone. Really happy to see Lando is OK. He was looking incredibly quick. I think he’d probably be up here with us, or maybe even squeeze me out potentially. He had some great pace today, so I hope that he gets back on the road tomorrow. Just a tricky session for everyone with the rain more intense in different parts of the circuit. A real struggle, I would say, with our car today. As you’ve seen with Valtteri as well, the car was a bit of a handful today but I’m really happy to be on the second row and, as George said, the points are tomorrow.
Q: Can you tell us any more about the issues with the car in the wet weather.
LH: There’s not really too much to say. There was not a lot of grip out there for everyone. There are people with different downforce levels. We tried to find the best compromise, the best balance for both potential circumstances for today and tomorrow in terms of dry and wet, and so we hope we’re OK. We’ll see what the weather’s like tomorrow and we’ll see how it works.
Q: Are you more confident about your race pace?
LH: Yes. I think our race pace should be a little bit stronger than our pace today – but I still think it’s going to be a handful, particularly if it’s going to be these conditions.
VIDEO CONFERENCE
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Lewis, you seem to be a bit lukewarm about potentially having George as teammate next year. After this performance, do you still feel the same way?
LH: I don’t feel any different. George has been doing a great job all year. This doesn’t really change anything, really. I’m sure he’s got pressure on him just as Valtteri does to do the job and it’s great to see him delivering. I can’t fault him for it.
Q: (Luke Smith – Autosport) Lewis, you mentioned Lando’s crash there. It’s the second rather nasty crash we’ve seen this weekend at Eau Rouge after the shunt in W Series yesterday. We know the changes are coming for that complex next year but I was just wanted to know, what are your feelings on the safety standards around Eau Rouge and the Raidillon, with the cars being as quick as they are now?
LH: I think they’ve just got to get rid of the bump and then leave Eau Rouge as it is, in my opinion, but they will do what they do. I don’t feel you need to spend the money.
Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Spa, which you rank as one of the most majestic circuits there is but you’ve driven it in the dry, you’ve driven it in the wet; which is better from a pure driving satisfaction perspective, a wet Spa or a very fast flowing dry Spa?
LH: Wet Spa is more exciting. I think now we just have too much downforce and Eau Rouge is flat, very, very easy flat in the dry and there’s a kind of an off there, you can run very wide everywhere. The wet makes it much, much trickier.
Source: FIA.com
