© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Here is the transcript of the post 2024 Austrian Grand Prix track interviews and press conference featuring George Russell!
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: And ladies and gentlemen, our Grand Prix winner, celebrating his second Grand Prix win, George Russell.
George RUSSELL: Yeah, incredible. It was a tough fight out there at the beginning of the race, just to hold on to that P3, and I saw on the TV that Max and Lando were going pretty hard. I knew Lando would want to try and get that race win, but, you know, the team have done an amazing job to get us in this fight. You’ve got to be there at the end to pick up the pieces, and that’s where we were.
Q: Amazing. So you were watching the big screens, minding your own business and your own Grand Prix, while watching that battle out front, willing to happen what actually happened.
GR: Yeah, they were going for it. And I couldn’t believe actually how close we were to Lando and Max. I think we were only about 12, 13 seconds behind. I knew it was a possibility. You’re always dreaming, but as I said, just so proud to be back on the top step. The team have worked so hard. We’ve made so many strides since the start of the season. So, yeah, the last three races have been incredible, so more to come.
Q: Now, look, you’ve done everything to make sure you were in that position. The other two looked like they had the overall pace today had they not had the contact. But all you can do is drive your car and put yourself in the position that you have to then capitalise. So you must be really proud with this, your second Grand Prix victory.
GR: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s no secret Red Bull with Max and McLaren with Lando are still a little bit out in front, but we’re always putting ourselves in that third place position the last couple of races. And obviously, if anything happens up front, we’re there to pick it up. But, you know, just really proud of everybody. And, you know, what an exciting time for us.
Q: And, George, we’re one week away from the British Grand Prix. That would be nice to carry this momentum towards another podium there.
GR: Yeah, absolutely. I think we’re riding a bit of a wave at the moment. These last three races have been incredible. I think realistically we probably could have won the race in Canada, so this probably makes up for one too many mistakes on my side there, and just really proud to be back on the top step.
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PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: George, very well done to you. What a moment. It was perhaps unexpected, but what does this win mean to you?
GR: Yeah, it feels really great to be honest. These last three races as a team, we’ve really turned it up. I feel that Montreal was probably a victory that we missed out on and we ended up finishing P3. Today was a deserving P3 and we got the victory. So it’s funny how this sport turns around and just credit to all the team for all the hard work they’ve done. Such huge progress since the start of the year.
Q: This is also a racetrack that brings out the best in you. You’re the first driver to win here in GP3, Formula 2 and now Formula 1.
GR: Yeah, there we go. Yeah, it’s a track I enjoy. The last couple of years have been very difficult for us as a team. And we didn’t have high expectations going into this weekend. But we ended up qualifying P3 yesterday. And we’ve been in that mix. And as I said, we were fighting for the podium. I think realistically, we still probably have the third quickest car behind Red Bull and McLaren. But the last three races, Lewis and I have been in that P3 spot. So, you know, we’re really getting the most out of it. And sometimes, racing, it goes your way.
Q: Well, can we delve into the race now and perhaps start before the lights had even gone out? Going to the grid, you were expressing some concerns over the radio. How was the car, first of all?
GR: It was very windy out there, and I think the car was feeling a little bit strange. On my laps to grid, we checked everything, and everything was fine. But the pace felt strong. I had Lewis attack me early in the race, but then once I got back past him, I got a bit of a gap to Carlos. I knew Oscar was going to be quick, and he sort of came a little bit out of nowhere towards the end of the race on those Hard tyres. For me it was pretty difficult. And then suddenly I had Toto screaming in my ear, ‘you can win this’. And I almost crashed when he screamed into my ears. It was that loud. But I think it just goes to show the passion that we all share. And it’s obviously been a tough couple of years for us. It feels great to be back on the top step.
Q: You were slightly offset strategically. You ran the medium tyre in the middle of the race. How much did that help you in the closing battle with Oscar to be on the hard tyre?
GR: I don’t think it helped at all, to be honest. I think it’s difficult. I think we split the strategies with Lewis just to try something. You never know how the race is going to pan out. And VSC, Safety Cars have a big factor. That VSC at the end was quite handy for me. It allowed me to cool my tyres down and then my pace against Oscar. The last five laps was the same when he had the medium. So, you know, the car’s been feeling really good. We know we’ve got a little bit of work still to do if we want to consistently be in that fight for the podium. But looking at the steps we’ve made versus Ferrari, versus Aston Martin, it’s been pretty huge since Bahrain.
Q: And in terms of execution, was this the best weekend that you and the team have had so far this year?
GR: Yeah, without doubt. I think we really executed everything really well. I think every session we maximised, qualified as high as we think was truly possible. Race starts have been good. P4 in the race yesterday was the maximum. P3 realistically was the maximum and the deserving result today. You know, the team did a great job. So it’s nice when you get a reward for all that hard work.
Q: And what a result to take into your home race at Silverstone next weekend. Do you dare to dream about a repeat on home soil?
GR: You always dare to dream for sure. Anything can happen. I think Red Bull were really quick this weekend in the high-speed corners. So they’re going to look pretty strong next week in Silverstone. But we’ve got a few days between now and then. I’ll be on the simulator on Tuesday back at the factory. So I’m really excited for that one.
Q: A little bit of frustration about the track limits yesterday in qualifying?
GR: Yeah, definitely, I mean, I was pretty upset yesterday that, you know, there are so many corners, we’ve made changes on the track here to get rid of the track limits issue. But this one corner, for some reason, we moved the white line, but not enough. But at the end of the day, I went slightly outside and that’s the mistake on me, or that’s what it was. But after seeing the evidence on what I got my lap deleted for coming from a chopper cam that was only on me, in pretty questionable resolution, that stung quite a lot. So I had a bit of fire in me going into the race. So I think some of my overtakes probably came from a bit further back than maybe they would have otherwise.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) A question for George, please. George, yesterday you said that you’d let it play out a little bit between Max and Lando, which worked out alright. What was your immediate reaction when you saw those two coming into view ahead of you? What were the engineers saying to you on the radio before Toto came over?
GR: I was just trying to focus on just maximizing my driving, to be honest. Marcus, my engineer, said three laps before, they’re fighting really hard and we can win this. And I said, look, we need to sort of secure P3 first, let me drive. And I knew Oscar was fast behind. And then when I got into the lead, I knew it was going to be a challenging last six laps. My tyres were difficult. That VSC helped marginally because my tyres were overheating. And that just allowed me to cool them down. Yeah, it’s a bit of a strange one to win a race like this, for sure. But as I said, it’s racing. Sometimes it goes against you and I feel like we’ve probably missed out on one or two possibilities of victories. Montreal was won, arguably Singapore, things could have gone very slightly differently last year, and today it went for us. So it’s how the cookie crumbles.
Q: (Isabelle Barker – The Sun) George, how do you plan on celebrating? I assume no two-day benders because you’re back into work on Tuesday.
GR: Yeah, I’m back home tonight. I’ve got my girlfriend waiting for me back home and one of my good friends there too. So I’m flying back with Fernando. Hopefully, he’s not left me here already because I’ve been pretty busy with media this evening. But, for sure, I mean, my first victory, I was right onto a flight for 15 hours from Sao Paulo to Dubai. Hoping to be back this evening before 10 o’clock maybe. And, yeah, I want to celebrate it because you can’t take these moments for granted. I feel that I’ve got a lot left in me and a lot more victories to come in the future but in an era of total dominance by one team and driver, any victory by any other driver, you need to enjoy it. But it won’t be as hard as Lando’s celebration. If it’s 50% as hard as Lando’s celebration, it will be a pretty massive night.
Q: (Mark Ivanov – Avto+Šport) Question for all of you, for all of three. How hard was it in the last few laps when all of you saw that you can finish on the podium and how hard was the focus for all of you?
GR: I think the difficulty was we were approaching a lot of back markers and we were interacting a lot with them. And if you get fortunate with the position, you get the DRS into Turn 1 and then into Turn 3 and into Turn 4 and you can gain six tenths. If you’re unfortunate, you could maybe lose six tenths. So you could have a 1.2 second difference just on where you catch the back markers and when there was only two seconds between Oscar and I, that was probably the most nerve wracking. But yeah, nothing more really to say than that.
Q: George, how concerned were you about Oscar in those closing laps?
GR: I thought he was going to catch me, to be honest, but I think catching is one thing, overtaking is another. So I had Carlos behind me for 10 laps yesterday in my DRS, and I was also behind Carlos for about eight laps in his DRS, and overtaking wasn’t straightforward. So I knew, I just sort of said to myself, do what you do best, no heroics, and you’ll win this race.
Source: FIA.com
