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Here is the transcript of the post 2021 Qatar Grand Prix track interviews and press conference featuring Lewis Hamilton!
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button)
Q: Lewis, after a faultless qualifying effort yesterday, a great race. It looked really straightforward from the outside, but I’m sure it wasn’t.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, well, I always like to give a thanks to all the people that came out today, because it’s the first time we’ve seen a crowd here in Qatar, so thank you all for coming. Yeah, it was pretty straightforward. It was pretty lonely at the front. Of course I enjoy those races where you are battling through, but we needed those points today, so a real solid job from the team, just with pit stops, with the car and yeah, I can’t wait to watch the replay of the race to see what happened behind me. I’m not really sure why people’s tyres were going, I’m sure it was the kerbs. But yeah, I’m really, really grateful for these points. It’s been a hell of a year, so to be at this point of the year and to get back-to-back wins is a great, great feeling and it puts us in good stead for the next two.
Q: I think we all agree that this year is probably going to go down in history as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, title fight, between Max and yourself. You’ve got it down to eight points with two races to go, what’s the feeling going into those two races?
LH: The feeling feels good. I’m really, really happy with the car. I feel fit. Fitter than I’ve ever felt, so that’s a positive. A big, big thanks to Ange, who is helping me to train, keeping me on my toes. Recovery has been great, so yeah, bring on the next two.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Tremendous race Lewis, well done. You looked to have it under control from the outset. Is that how it was in the cockpit?
LH: Thank you, thank you. Well, it was just an amazing… these past three weeks have been so difficult for everyone with such big distances between all the races and the team did such an amazing job – particularly these past two races, and today, of course, the race was made a lot easier with the penalties that the guys obviously got for the mistake they made yesterday. That made it a lot more straightforward and yeah, I was just managing the gap at the front and just keeping the car safe and trying to maximise and bring the car home.
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Q: Talk us through the start. Was your life made difficult with you being on the Medium tyre and the cars around you being on the Soft?
LH: Yes, a little bit. There was a little bit to gain from being on the Soft tyre but I generally felt I wasn’t massively under threat. I managed to cover the ground just off the start and after that it was just head down and focused on trying to bridge the gap. I already saw that when I got to Turn 6, Max was already in fourth place, so I knew he was already past my team-mate, and at the time I obviously didn’t know that Valtteri had had such a bad getaway but after that I was just focused on trying to maximise the points for the team. So, I was feeling strong. I think they had relatively decent pace, but I was able to manage the pace, so it was no problem.
Q: And Lewis, any nervous moments for you when your team-mate had the puncture?
LH: No. I mean, I wasn’t… I was managing quite well, I wasn’t on any of the kerbs, so it wasn’t a concern for me. I assumed they were coming from people running on the kerbs but I was never near any of them, that wasn’t the issue. I’m really, really grateful, as I said, to my team. Big thank you to all the guys, the men and women back at the factories who have been pushing so much over this… particularly this second half of the season, to really try to bridge the gap, to really try and bridge the gap to our competitors. It’s a great feeling but there’s no time to celebrate, there’s no time to rest. We keep our head down and we keep chasing.
Q: You talk about bridging the gap to Max. It’s now down to eight points, having been nineteen after the Mexican Grand Prix just two races ago. How confident are you feeling?
LH: As I said, I feel great. I feel in the best shape physically that I’ve been in all year. So just feel… obviously at the beginning, not particularly that well, so yeah, I feel great, the car is feeling better than ever, and I feel positive going into these next couple of races. I think they should be quite good for our car, so I’m looking forward to that battle.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Lewis, I wanted to ask you about the pace of your Mercedes package this weekend, it seems to have quite the edge over Red Bull. You mentioned the work the team has done to close the gap. Has it made the difference, that work, in terms of overcoming Red Bull’s previous superiority in higher speed corners?
LH: Yeah, I think we just, as the year’s gone on, we’ve understood the car more, we’ve definitely been able to squeeze more performance out of the package without bringing any upgrades. We’ve not had an upgrade since Silverstone, so it’s quite phenomenal to see the small bits… the increments that we’ve been improving. I think it’s very close between the two cars, clearly, so I think that lines us up for a great battle but yeah, in these last two, I think we’ve just been able to do a better job overall. I hope that we can take this form into those next two.
Source: FIA.com
