Part 1: Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto.
Lance, please, let’s start with you. Good to see you. Health update, first of all. How’s the wrist?Lance Stroll: Thanks. Yeah, it’s good to be here. It’s good to be home, racing in Montreal. The wrist is feeling good.
Now we’ve been told by the team that there was a procedure that took place after the Spanish Grand Prix. Just how confident are you that there won’t be a recurrence of the problem that you suffered last time out?LS: Pretty confident. Should be good.
Why do you say that? I mean, is it because you tested the car at Paul Ricard this week and it passed the test?LS: Yeah. Just because it was bothering me for a few weeks, over in Imola, Monaco. And then Barcelona was just really brutal throughout the weekend. I got a procedure done and drove this week, and I was feeling pretty good, so I’m confident.
Can you tell us a little bit more about what the issues are? Is it lack of movement with the wrist? Can you give us any details?LS: Yeah. It’s just the old injury that I had a couple years ago. Just started to bug me again and, you know, so just got it sorted.
Well, I’m very pleased you got it sorted. Let’s bring it on to your home race. With the updates that were introduced at Imola a couple of races ago, how confident are you in the car’s performance here in Montreal?LS: I’m feeling good about the weekend for sure. I think historically we’ve been good here as a team. We scored points here the last few times we came, and it’s a track I always enjoy coming back to. So yeah, just looking forward to it.
Just out of interest, when did you first come to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve?LS: Long time ago. I was a little boy.
Alright. Look. Good luck this weekend.LS: Thank you very much.
Lewis, let’s come to you. Can we throw it back to 10 Downing Street? You were there last week. Just tell us about that trip, what it was about, and what it was like to go behind that very famous black door of the British Prime Minister.Lewis Hamilton: Good afternoon, everyone. Yeah, pretty special day. I was fortunate to have a call with the Prime Minister and we were just discussing the work that is needed within education and the work that we’re doing at Mission 44. He invited me down. I said, it’s really important that we get young people in the room. So, we brought some young students, some that are working within communities that are suffering in terms of kids getting expelled. So, we had all these kids from different backgrounds come in and speak directly to the Prime Minister. We’re working on shifting several policies within education to improve school attendance, reduce exclusions, because I was one of those kids that was at risk of that and did get expelled. It’s just the beginning of the work I think we’re going to be able to do. They’re obviously very focused on improving education in the UK. It was a really special day. I hope it’s not the last time through that door, for sure.
What’s it like behind the door?LH: I think it’s a Grade 1 building, so it’s very old. You walk in and you’re like, it needs revamping! But you can feel the history when you go in there. It’s pretty incredible. There’s a staircase in there that has all the images of all the Prime Ministers going back to the early 1800s. In the main room at the back, where we sat around this table – big decisions, like Winston Churchill would have been sat there making decisions back in World War II. You could feel that. It was incredible to be there.
Let’s bring it onto the on-track business now. Fred Vasseur said after the Spanish Grand Prix that both cars were carrying an issue. How much was it affecting you?LH: Massively. Unfortunately, the team yesterday said they didn’t really want us to talk too much about it, but we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race already. I didn’t know whether or not we had that problem, but I said on the radio that it was the worst-feeling car I’d ever had – and it truly was with that issue. At the end of the race, I was like, ‘jeez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race’. It wasn’t until after the TV interviews I got back to the engineers and we found out there was an issue. It was a bit of a relief to hear that because I didn’t feel so terrible afterwards.
Thank you, Lewis. Good luck this weekend. Franco, thank you for waiting. Let’s come to you now. It’s been a tough few races for you, that triple header. What have you learned so far during your stint at Alpine?Franco Colapinto: Yeah. They were tough. They were not, of course, maybe as I was expecting. I was expecting to do a bit more progress after Imola, but it’s always tough to get back into F1 after six races of not being there. The drivers learned a lot, tyre management, and when you are not driving it’s really tricky. But I think it was really good, this break, this week off to get back with the team, to get back together and understand the issues, understand what we have to do better, where we were lacking some pace and where I can improve as well. So, it was good. I think it was a good break and hopefully it brings some performance for now.
How different is the Alpine team compared to Williams, where you were at the end of last year?FC: It’s very different. When I came into Williams last year, the only comparison I got was that. I never even drove another Formula 1 car. So I couldn’t really compare it to anything else, whereas now I have got that. In Alpine I’m learning a lot. There are many good things. There are some things that are different. The car is very different to drive as well, and it’s just getting up to speed with that and trying to understand what’s the weakest way around it.
What are your expectations here in Montreal? Both drivers were on the podium (sic) here last year. Is that something you can dream of this time around?FC: Last year that was Brazil. Here? I don’t know. Points? Points would be great. I think if we can get back up there, get a bit more of the performance of the car – that I’m sure it has – I would be really happy. So I think we have to start by getting to where we need, focusing on us and then think about the rest.
Questions From The Floor
(Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Sports Italy) Lewis, today two important Italian newspapers have attacked Fred, opening some question marks about his future. What do you think about it? What idea do you have about these rumours? I know you’ve just arrived in the team, but what moment is the team going through?LH: I was just made aware of it before I got here, so I’ve not read the stories. It’s definitely not nice to hear that there are stories like that out there. Firstly, I love working with Fred. Fred’s the main reason I’m in this team and I got the opportunity to be here – for which I’m forever grateful. We’re in this together. We’re working hard in the background. Things aren’t perfect. But as I said, I’m here to work with the team and with Fred. I want Fred here. I do believe Fred is the person to take us to the top, and so that’s that. To me, it’s all nonsense what people have written. Most people don’t know what’s going on in the background. It isn’t all easy, like, it’s not the smoothest sailing. We are having to make changes and there’s a lot of work to do. Naturally there’s a lot of pressure because we want to win, but that’s not any part of the discussion at the moment.
(David Croft – Sky Sports) Another question for Lewis. You’ve overcome many challenges throughout your 19 years in Formula 1, and this year’s been another challenge. So, this weekend, at a track that you love, that you’ve done so well at, do you need a really big weekend to give you a boost for the rest of the season?LH: I don’t feel that I’m searching. Of course, a good weekend is always a good thing, but I don’t feel like I’m in desperate need of one. I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside. Even just coming from engineering now – how they set the car up compared to any other year that I’ve been here is completely different. And having discussions with engineers to change things… There’s a certain way they like to work ands it’s ‘hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense’. Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here, and it’s worked in a lot of them. So, getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes. The car has a real sweet spot, and we’re trying to get it working at all those tracks, which everyone’s having a struggle with. Yeah. I’m hoping this weekend can be strong.
(Laurent Dupin – Canal+) A question to Lewis. You have a couple of things in common with Jean Alesi – being a Ferrari driver and having your first win here in Canada, as he did exactly 30 years ago. Do you have any memories about his win here, and can you say a few words about him?LH: What year was that?
