© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Here is the transcript of the post 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix track interviews and press conference featuring Kimi Antonelli!
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
Q: Kimi, Max — what a finale at the end there. An amazing drive for both of you. Best ever result, Kimi. Max, third place from the pit lane, but talk us through the finish first of all because it looked like it was almost going to be a drag to the line.
Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, I mean I don’t know where this guy came from, to be honest. I didn’t see it coming. But yeah, to be fair, I was lucky to come away with the restart, with the contact. Need to check with the car, it felt a bit weird afterwards. But, you know, still a good race and the last laps were very stressful with Max coming on fresher tyres. But luckily with free air, we were able to maintain a decent pace and to finish P2.
Q: And how do you stay cool? Because I’m sure everyone in the mirror, seeing this guy behind, is — is a difficult one to manage, knowing he’s come from the pit lane to be in third, hunting you down for second. You did a great job there, but how do you stay cool?
KA: Yeah, I mean, I found my rhythm. Obviously, when he was closing in, I raised the pace, I started to push a bit more. And yeah, I found my rhythm. And obviously, you know, with this car, with dirty air it’s a bit difficult to follow, so I tried to use that to my advantage and yeah, it paid off.
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PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Alright. Very well done to you. Thank you, Lando. Kimi, let’s come to you. Your best result in Formula 1. Very, very well done. How stressful were those closing laps?
KA: Way too stressful. I mean, obviously, when Max did the last pit stop and Bono told me the gap, I was like—ah well, I cannot say because they’re going to fine me now—but I was like, “I might be in trouble,” you know, because he was just nine seconds behind. And obviously, he was on new Softs, so he had… I think this race he had very strong pace. He did an amazing job coming back and he just put me under a lot of pressure at the end. I had to really push the tyre to the limit, and it wasn’t easy. But I think we did our best and I’m really happy with that.
Q: A potential huge turning point in the race could have come on lap six, the restart after the Safety Car. Can we get your take on what happened on the braking into Turn 1?
KA: Well, first of all, the restart—I accelerated a little bit on the wet patch, so I got wheelspin and lost momentum going into Turn 1. But to be fair, I found myself in a very difficult position because I had one car on the outside and one car on the inside. I tried to brake late, not too late. The problem is I didn’t see the car next to me anymore. I still tried to do a decent line for the position I was in. And yeah, ended up getting hit. I was lucky to come away like that, because obviously I hit quite hard Charles. Unfortunately, I ended his race, but on my side, I was lucky to come away with not such a big damage. I had a minor damage on the car. I think the steering wheel was not fully straight, but I was very lucky to come away with it and to be able to continue my race.
Q: Didn’t seem to slow you down much. After what has been your best weekend in Formula 1, just how much confidence do you have in the car now?
KA: Definitely. I’ve had a good run so far, a couple of strong races, and this weekend was the weekend where we put things more together—which is what I need to do, especially for the team. So yeah, I’ve been enjoying a lot this weekend and looking forward to the next ones.
Q: Can we talk about Vegas? Lando says you should be quick there. The car was quick last year. Just how hopeful are you going to Las Vegas?
KA: Very hopeful. I mean, as a team, we said we’re going to try to do everything that we did last year with the car. Even though it’s a different car compared to last year—many things have changed—so it doesn’t mean that if we were quick last year, we’re going to be quick this year. I think as a team we’ll try to put the car in the best spot possible, and as a driver I’ll try to deliver the best performance possible.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Bernardo Corrêa Bercht – Correio do Povo) I want to ask one for Lando and one for Kimi. Lando, about the championship—do you think it may be time to own more the favouritism and race as a leader of the championship, so you can get to your objectives, like have more place as a protagonist? And not just be like, “Oh, we’re going to have problems in Las Vegas,” or “It was difficult for us last year.” And for Kimi: it’s your first time in Interlagos. Most of the drivers find it a challenging and nice track to race on. There’s the connection with Ayrton Senna, and just how was it to face these challenges and also a tricky track with compromises and balance issues, etc.?
KA: My question was? Oh yeah, about the track. I mean, the track is good fun. A lot of elevation change—not easy, especially with the banking. Some corners also have positive camber, so you just need to really understand the line you have to take in order to maximise every corner. I think it’s been really good fun driving around here—challenging, especially to be up to the pace with only one session. But I think on that side, we did the best. On my side, I tried to learn as much as possible every session in order to improve for the next one. And yeah, it’s been a lot of good fun. The support here has been incredible, and it’s been one of the most special weekends so far.
Source: FIA.com
