© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Here is the transcript of the post 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix track interviews and press conference featuring Lewis Hamilton!
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Nico Rosberg)
Q: Wow, this is really Formula 1 at its best at the moment! It’s unbelievably exciting out there to watch from outside. Lewis, P3 today. You beat the Red Bulls fair and square as well. Good feeling?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah. Big thanks to this amazing crowd this weekend. And a huge congratulations to McLaren on the 1-2. That’s my old, original family, so I’m really, really happy to see you, all the boys, the whole team, back up front. And then for us today, yeah, the team has done a great job to continue on with pushing this car. Ultimately, we didn’t have the pace of the McLarens, nor did we have the pace of the Red Bulls, but we just were able to hold on at the beginning of the race. It was very, very tough to hold on, to make those tyres last. And obviously, the close battle we had at the end was a bit hair-raising, but that’s motor racing. So I’m really happy. I’m grateful for the points. Big thank you to the team.
Q: Take us through that battle a little bit, with Max. I mean, it was just unbelievable to watch from the outside. How nerve-wracking was it from inside the car?
LH: It’s not nerve-wracking. I think when you see the pace at which they close the gap in certain corners, you just laugh to yourself, because it’s not something I can do. Particularly in the last sector, they were very, very strong, same as the McLarens. So, I mean, I saw him coming from a long way back, and he was able to brake a lot later than me. But he sent it up the inside. I stayed still, and he clipped the wheel and went over. So I think a racing incident, but, you know, yeah.
Q: Let’s have a word for Oscar, who just had his first win on a Sunday in his career. You have more than 100, many more, so let’s have a word for Oscar.
LH: Yeah, amazing. Congratulations to Oscar. He’s been doing a fantastic job ever since he got here, to be honest, but he’s been so consistent, and it was only a matter of time before he got a win, so this is a great day for him. He had an amazing pace from the get-go, so really, really happy for him and his family.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: And Lewis, coming to you, 200 podiums, what a score, what a trophy cabinet. Now, you’ve often said that you’re not into statistics, but this surely means something?
LH: The number doesn’t, no. I just think about these two and how young these guys are. They were in nappies when I started, so… No, honestly, it just makes me think about the whole journey and all the great people I’ve had the chance to work with. You know, I got signed by McLaren when I was 13 and so there was always so much love for that team and through the journey that we had, where I had my first World Championship and then they went through a really difficult time so to see them back up there is really, really great. I’m really happy. You know that’s my old family, so really, really grateful to be up here with them. And then ultimately I think it was a tough race today and I definitely didn’t think I would be having 200 podiums but what have I done? Like 340 something races? So, not too bad a score but I couldn’t have done it without all those great people that I’ve worked with in both these teams.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lewis, could you talk through the touch with Max? He obviously made that move down the inside. You guys touched. He was on the radio saying about you were moving under braking. Could you talk through your side of it, please?
LH: Yeah. No, I think, I mean, from what I can remember, obviously we passed a backmarker. I got to the braking zone, and then Max appeared, to overtake the car behind me, so I moved over to defend. I left enough room in the inside, but Max locked up, and he was going a different trajectory to me. I was going towards, around the corner, and he came shooting across. It felt like a racing incident. And it’s easy to make mistakes like that. And so I don’t feel there should be any hostility. But of course, from his side, there always will be.
Q: (Jannik Sauer – Watson.de) Lewis, I was wondering, because you have this little fan laying next to you, especially after a hot race like today, there were some headlines in the past few days about the FIA planning to implement some sort of cooling for the cockpit and the drivers. So you are surprised, I see. Do we have any opinion on that?
LH: Well, firstly, I didn’t know that. And it’s not needed. This is Formula 1. It’s always been like this. It’s tough in these conditions. And we’re highly-paid athletes. And you’ve got to train your ass off to make sure you can withstand the heat, ultimately. And it’s tough. It’s not easy, especially when you go to places like Qatar and Singapore. But I don’t think we need an AC unit in the car.
Q: (Florian Niedermair – Motorsport-magazin.com) About your race space in general, did you expect before the race to be battling with Max or was it a surprise for you, especially given the conditions?
LH: No, I think out of pure pace, we weren’t. Unfortunately, we’re still not, in hot conditions particularly… So you saw in Austria and here, we’re not able to keep up with these guys. But in stint one, I was really surprised to see that I was able to hold on to Max. And I wasn’t even having to push too hard to stay within a second, or around a second behind him. So I thought at that point that maybe I was in for a chance of at least fighting for that place. But then in the second stint, it was a bit of a disaster, it didn’t feel good. And the true pace of the car started to show, I think, on those tyres. But we obviously got the undercut and track position is clearly key on this track. And I think that really ultimately made the difference.
Source: FIA.com
