Parc Ferme Interviews – Conducted by Jolyon Palmer
Oscar, it was an amazing lap, an amazing session, but you’ve just come up short in third position. How was it from the cockpit?Oscar Piastri: Intense as it always is around here. Quite reminiscent of last year, to be honest. My first lap felt good, and then the second lap, a mistake in the Harbour chicane, and yeah, left a little bit on there. I think to beat Lando today was going to be tough. So well done to him. But no, still pretty happy with it. It’s been a pretty messy weekend so far, so to come out with a lap that I thought was pretty good and third is a decent result.
You say messy. We’ve enjoyed you getting really friendly with the barriers the whole way through, including a big tap in Q2 as well in the Rascasse. Looks like it’s just been difficult to find the grip and find the lap together for you overall.OP: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think I’ve hit more walls this weekend than I have in my whole career, so it’s been untidy. But yeah, just been struggling to get into the groove a bit. I think in qualifying I was much happier with things, and I felt pretty good. But yeah, we’ve been doing some digging this weekend, and to come out with this result is a decent effort.
Yeah, a great effort. And tomorrow, it’s a two-stop race. You’ve got two McLarens in the top three. Have you been thinking about that already or focusing on qualifying?OP: We have thought about it, but a lot depends on where you qualify. So, we’re in good positions, obviously. But yeah, it’s still gonna be an exciting race tomorrow with the two stops. So, let’s see what happens.
Alright. Well done, Oscar. Good luck tomorrow.OP: Thank you.
Charles, Monaco master. You had a bigger cheer than that when you came across the line and had provisional pole position, but in the end, it’s just second place. Was there anything more in there for you, or did you give it everything?Charles Leclerc: Well, there’s always something more to be done. No, I mean, at the end of the day, this was the best we could do. I think the lap was really good. The first lap was a little bit of a shame because that gives you a bit more confidence for the second run when you have a first good lap. I couldn’t have that. I had to deal with traffic, but it’s the way it is. Just obviously very frustrated. We know that we don’t quite have the car to go for wins this year, but this weekend the car felt good. And starting second here is going to be tricky to then take that first place.
I mean, you’re still on the front row. You’ll still have a clear view to the first corner, but what is it about this track that just suits you? Because watching your laps through practice and through qualifying, you’ve been lighting up the timing screens. I know you haven’t quite got pole, but it’s been a pleasure to watch. And you really do seem to have something with your history here as well.CL: Yeah. I don’t know. I like city tracks in general. I like to really go all in into qualifying and take maximum risks, and I think this, most of the time, pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t pay off, but yeah, I’m proud anyway of the result we’ve had today, as on paper it was going to be a very difficult weekend for us. At the end of the day, it’s not that bad.
Well done. You’ve still got a Ferrari onto the front row, you’ve kept a lot of fans very happy here, and hopefully you can give us a great race tomorrow.CL: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Lando, that was an amazing qualifying session. Two laps that were pole. One was taken away and then you did it again right at the death.Lando Norris: Taken away? What?
Only provisionally by Charles.LN: Oh, yeah.
You got it back. Don’t worry about it. But you kept everyone on their toes. And in the end, first pole since Melbourne. What a place to do it.LN: Yeah. It’s been a long time coming, you know. So, I feel good. I don’t think you realise how good this feels, you know, for quite a few struggles over the last couple months. Especially here in Monaco, it’s a beautiful place. The hardest track probably to do it, up against the hometown hero as well. So, I’m very proud of the whole team. We’ve worked a lot this week – well, actually over the last few months – to get to a day like today. So, very pleased.
And the run plan was different for McLaren than it was for anyone else. Two flying laps at the end. Feels like a little bit of a risk, but it obviously paid off.LN: No risk from our side. It’s what we believed was best before quali, and it’s what was proven to be best after. So no, we stuck to what we believed in. Like I said, the team have done an amazing job. So thanks to everyone here, everyone back in the factory, because these days don’t come easy. And of course, proud to give something back to them.
And how has it been, the focus for you today? Because I saw your first flying lap in practice and you looked on it from the word go today. The mentality, the difficulty of driving around this circuit, 19 corners, putting them all together and getting pole – how do you keep the focus?LN: That’s the tricky part, you know. Trying to consistently find lap time because it’s what the others are going be doing, improving more and more, and you’ve got to take a similar amount of risk. But I mean, when you get to Q3, the final lap is just about who can – in a sense – who can risk a little bit more and who can commit a little bit more. But it was a nice lap. It was a well put together lap, and it feels very good when you cross the line, and you know it’s all paid off, so I’m very happy.
It was brilliant. You have got a two-stop race tomorrow, so you know that’s going come in, it’s the mandated new rule. How does that change things? Do you think you’re going to have to push from the word go?LN: Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. And at the minute, I don’t care. I’m going to enjoy today. I’ve worked hard for today. Yeah, that’s what tonight’s for – to prepare for tomorrow. But I’m just very pleased with today. I’m happy with quali. I’m going to live the moment for a little bit and then I’ll focus on tomorrow.
Press Conference
Very well done to you, Lando. What a qualifying session for you. A new lap record as well. What does this one mean?LN: Means a lot. Not just because it’s been a while since I’ve been here, but just because of how things have been, how things have gone over the last couple of months, in qualifying. So, to come here with a fresh mindset and plenty more opportunities – and in Monaco, you know, it’s just a cooler, more special place to do it. A harder place, because it’s more difficult as a lap, more exciting, more pressure, but the most relief at the same time when you do a good job. And today was that day. So, it means a lot to me, to my whole team, because we’ve been working a lot for another moment like this.
Charles has been very quick all weekend. Just how much confidence did you have coming into the session?LN: A reasonable amount. I mean, never going to be full of it when you know Charles has been quickest in every session, but I think we were always there or thereabouts. I always knew that I could push a little bit more in a few places and gain some lap time, but I definitely think going into qualifying, I started to just unlock more and more, and I was gaining more confidence through quali. And that’s exactly what you want around here – improved confidence through the session. Especially in Q3, when I’ve just done two strong laps. Obviously, a good banker, which just gives you that reassurance that you can then go a little bit more the next time around. But it’s not just these two – it’s Charles, Oscar, Max has been fast, Lewis has been quick. So, yeah, it’s a good grid. It’s a good competition from everyone, so it always makes it a little bit better.
And Lando, tell us about the different run plan for both McLaren drivers in Q3. Was it all about getting a clear first lap, or having the ability to do a second lap if you needed it?LN: I don’t really know, to be honest. I mean, you always want laps. We knew that it was hard to get a lap time out on the first attempt. In pretty much every session, people were improving and improving. So, we knew it would change into qualifying, but I think we stuck to our plan, which was to do one lap, then box and do another two. It’s what we thought was right and clearly what was right. So, happy with what we chose to do.
Mandatory two stops tomorrow. Just in percentage terms, how much of the job do you feel you’ve got done already?LN: I have no idea. Four? It’s impossible to put a number on it, especially here and more so probably in the past than going into a new-rule race tomorrow. I would have felt like a higher number if it was last year’s rules, but obviously this year, things have changed. Again, my only focus until this point has been qualifying. So, I’ve not thought about the race. I don’t need to until later with the team. For now, I’m enjoying the moment of the laps that I did.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Monaco here.
