With Formula One gearing up for the weekend in Montréal, the drivers were facing the media ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez of Force India, Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado, Daniil Kvyat from Red Bull, Felipe Massa of Williams, World Champion Mercedes man Lewis Hamilton and Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen were all present as the FIA press conference got underway.
The key points included the Monaco Grand Prix shock that was Mercedes’ catastrophic decision to pit Hamilton from the lead and cost him the race. Also mentioned was Verstappen being under fire after his collision with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean in the principality two weeks ago.
Verstappen was asked: “Coming back to you Max, a big crash in Monaco and you’re carrying a five-place grid penalty this weekend in Montreal as a result. What did you learn from that whole episode, that experience, and how do you evaluate your performance overall during that Monaco weekend?” The 17 year old Dutchman mentioned about how strong cars are now, as well as thankfully not having any injuries, however what he said next was the most interesting.
The Toro Rosso youngster replied with: “I will have some work to do on this track, but I think it will not change me as a racing driver. I will keep fighting and especially when you want to fight for points, I will still go for it.”
It was Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, who once said: “By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing, we are competing to win,” Verstappen’s reply perfectly embodies what the enigmatic Brazilian said.
Ironically Verstappen was likened to Senna by Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle this week, and it seems Verstappen is keen to put Monaco behind him and look forward to the weekend ahead.
Lewis Hamilton was most busy as the press were keen to get his view on the Monaco debacle. Andrea Cremonesi of La Gazzetta dello Sport asked what the atmosphere within the team was like. The world champion replied with: “No, things are good with the team. Excited to move on to this weekend. So, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing because that’s done pretty good for me up until now.”
The next question from Helmut Uhl of German newspaper Bild asked about the confidence level within the team: “Same as always, 100 percent,” replied Hamilton.
With Hamilton and Verstappen both keen to put their Monaco weekends behind them, one driver who’d love to restart this season is Pastor Maldonado. The Lotus man has five retirements from six races this year and when asked about what the team are saying to him and his mind set, the Venezuelan replied: “This should be a good track, a good opportunity for us. I’ve been always fighting for the points before the problems we had, so there is not any point to don’t do it from now to the rest of the season.”
Someone whose luck seems to have changed is Daniil Kvyat, the Red Bull driver had a poor start to the season by their lofty standards, but a career best fourth in Monaco last time out seems to have kickstarted his season. Kvyat said: “I hope it is a very good confidence boost for all of us in the team, that’s what we needed, and now we hope to keep growing from there onwards. I hope it’s going to bring us something else in the future.”
Montreal looks to be a place of redemption for many, but will any of these drivers and teams prevail? For more from the FIA conference, read the full transcript here.
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