QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Stuart Codling – Autosport) Question for Mario. You said five compounds for 2026. That means the C6 experiment is over. Could you explain in a little more detail the thought process behind dropping the C6 and not progressing with that idea? Because it’s one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time.
MI: Yeah. Simply because the C6 that we found was too close to the C5, and we already saw this year that when they are so close and there is no clear difference, it’s a little bit useless to bring both. So, homologating the C6 was an automatic way to skip one level – that means C3, C4, C5, or C3, C4, C6. At that point, it’s useless to have an extra compound. So, we will continue to look for a C6 for 2027 as soon as we have an idea on the performance of the cars next year. And obviously, next year we can test with the current cars, with the proper cars, and we will have better feedback.
Q: (Leonid Kliuev – Grande Prêmio) Question to Steve and Fred. Adrian Newey was, of course, confirmed as Team Principal for 2026. How does it change the dynamics and collaboration between you guys, between team principals?
SN: Do you want me to go? Honestly, not at all, I don’t think. As Fred’s already said, I think we’re quite inward-looking. We have the structure we have for our own reasons. I’m sure other people have different structures for their own reasons. But in terms of interaction – I think that was your question – I don’t think it changes anything for us, honestly.
FV: Nothing to add.
Q: (Diletta Colombo – AutoMoto) Question for Fred. You mentioned before how tough this season has been for your team, but are there any positives to take from 2025?
FV: Yes. You have always positives, even in a tough season. I think we had a decent recovery in terms of performance. We were back on the podium – Mexico, Austin. I would say São Paulo we were not far away. That means we were on the right way. It’s good for the team, at least for the psychological side. You always improve a little bit everywhere, in every single area. It’s the best preparation for 2026. But the most important of this call that you mentioned is that we agreed quite early that we would put a maximum of energy on the future. That means then we have to react as a team, even when you have tough weekends, to come back Monday morning at the factory and continue to push and develop and work all together. I understood the question from Tom, but honestly, we had a good reaction to tough sessions and tough weekends. Let’s see next year if we did a good job this season also.
Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365) Another question for you, Fred. Looking at Lewis specifically, it’s obviously been a very difficult year for him, as we all know. But positively, what has he brought to the team that’s had a good impact? And additionally, what do you want to see more from him going forward into next season?
FV: The season was difficult. I think it’s a mathematical contestation, not a feeling. But the most important is the reaction. The most important is the energy that you are putting in to push the team again and again, to try to understand what the issues are and to fix them – and it’s details by details. For sure, we knew that it would be difficult from the first quarter of the season. But at the end of the day, when we had podiums in a row one month ago, I think it’s the job of everybody. It’s not the job of one driver or one engineer. It’s the job of 1,500 people at the factory, from the two drivers, from all the engineers. Collectively, the reaction was good, and Lewis is part of the reaction, for sure.
Q: (Jack Smith – Motorsport Monday) A question for Steve. Before Franco was confirmed for next season, one of the things he told us in Mexico was that he feels he could prove himself by being in a preseason situation for the first time, having not done that with either you or Williams. Aside from what you feel he can offer on track and in race conditions, what do you think he can offer the team in terms of development of the 2026 car in next year’s preseason testing?
SN: Well, tricky to answer because I’m not sure what we’re going to face in 2026 preseason testing yet. The car’s not on the track. Franco is early in his career. He’s learning. He has some weekends where I’m sure he would look back and maybe do things differently, and other weekends which are more successful. But it’s learning – it’s like learning anything for the first time. He’s on that journey, and we’re going to help him with that. But specifically, to identify what issues we may have in preseason 2026 – I don’t know the answer yet. I’m not sure anybody does.
Q: (Gianluigi Paolucci – F1Generale.com) A question for Fred. Did you expect the kind of performance you had in FP1 here?
FV: Well, I think we don’t have to pay too much attention to FP1. This is true from the beginning of the season at every single event. On our side, we had some issues with the power steering. It’s not a secret – Charles was vocal on the radio. We have to fix it for the Sprint Quali now, but it’s OK-ish now. If you look at last year – I think it was a relevant classification – all over the weekend the order changed each session. That means the field is so tight that with different conditions, different levels of wind, different track time… Last year we had five sessions and five different classifications. It means we need to keep this mindset, be open-minded, and try to adapt the car to the next session, not to the previous one. Let’s see what we can do for Sprint Quali.
Q: Mario, can I just bring you in on a 2026 matter? You’re staying with the 18 inches, but the tyres are going to be narrower. How’s that been affecting performance during testing?
MI: We had to redesign completely the tyre with a new profile, optimising the footprint. Obviously, because of the new aero package, we expect higher speeds on the straight, but at the same level of load – or similar – in cornering. That means that overheating could be an issue. We have worked to try to minimise the overheating, that we know drivers don’t like that, while keeping some thermal degradation. So the targets were clear, but obviously on a smaller size, it’s a little bit more difficult unless you don’t penalise the performance quite a lot. That is not the target, obviously.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for the two team representatives. There was a meeting yesterday about driving guidelines. What is the way you want to go forward with it – destroy the guidelines and just rely on the system and the expertise of the stewards, or keep improving the guidelines?
FV: I think we are all a bit schizophrenic. We want to have consistency – that means in this case, you need to have guidelines and to follow the guidelines. But at one stage, we also want to introduce a human factor able to judge – not just to follow the guidelines. At one stage the situation becomes difficult. This is also coming, I think, compared to the past, from the fact that the field is closer probably, and we have more often these kinds of situations. But I think to keep a human factor in the decision makes sense. Because it’s not just about having the wheel nut one millimetre in front of the mirror or below the mirror – for the drivers, it’s very difficult to assess whether they have the front axle ahead of the mirror or not. Honestly, it’s quite impossible when you are in the car. At the end of the day, having a human factor is important. But we have to accept that the decision can be a bit different if it’s not just a mathematical approach.
SN: Yeah, I’d agree with Fred, honestly. OK, I’d mostly agree with Fred then. [laughs] No two situations are the same. And as Fred said, there’s always going to be a human factor. I think this is a sport that wants to measure everything to the nth degree and have an exact science. When you have human judgment involved, there are going to be variations. I think we just accept that as part of the sport, to be honest. There’s always going to be differences of opinion. It’s not only in this sport – it happens in other sports as well. And I think we just trust in the FIA. They’ve got fine people doing it, and we’re happy with it.
Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365) Fred, another question for you. You mentioned earlier that you opted to shut down development in April, and you mentioned you underestimated the psychological impact that had on the team, and it was tough to manage. Just what processes and steps were put in place following that decision to manage that impact? And how much of an impact did it have on the drivers, and has that resulted in their performance as well on track?
FV: Yeah. First, this decision was shared by everybody in the team. At one stage, you look at the championship and say: OK, it will be very difficult to come back on McLaren with the delta pace, the delta points. So you say: OK, let’s focus the resources we have in the wind tunnel on 2026. On the other hand, we can still continue to develop the mechanical side and bring some upgrades on the car, except aero. And that’s what we did – and it was a good exercise, honestly. For sure, the drivers were part of this decision. They are fully committed to the project. It’s something we have to share altogether. In this kind of situation, you have to act as a team, and that’s what we did in that stage of the season.
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Fred, another one for you. Just picking up on Steve’s point about the very, very short off-season this year. How much of an added challenge is that? And did that factor as well into the decision to switch early to ’26, because it’s going to be such a tight turnaround?
FV: No, because you do the reverse planning from T1 [2026]. That means we have to release everything a bit earlier than we did last year. For sure, the fact that you have now the mandatory shutdown at Christmas – it’s good for us and for the family. But we just have to anticipate everything by 10 days. The exercise is the same. It’s more for track operations that it’s difficult because it’s not after the chequered flag. The week after the chequered flag we still have the tests in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi – that means it’s not 36 days, it’s seven days less. But no – when I say this, I’m not speaking about me or the drivers. I’m speaking first about the mechanics. It’s much more difficult for them than for everybody else. We have to think about them. It’s true this exercise will be tricky.
Q: Fred, Steve, can we expand on that? You talk about it being tough on the mechanics. Of course, there’s no test team anymore in Formula 1. It’s going to be the race teams that are testing the cars in January at Barcelona. How do you ensure that everyone gets enough rest after what’s been a long 24-race season?
SN: Well, you have to forward plan. As I think Fred just said, you can’t wait till the chequered flag and then decide what you’re going to do. So, we’ve been looking at that sort of stuff – staff rotation and so on – months out, in order to make sure that we’ve got the workforce available to build cars and go testing. We’re building next year’s car in December. I’ve never known that before. So it’s a completely different way of looking at it. But that work and scheduling starts months before.
FV: Yes. It’s true that during the racing season, you can imagine having a kind of rotation for the test. We’ll have to bring everybody because we’ll probably have some night shifts also. That means all the mechanics will be in Barcelona and Bahrain. Let’s think about them – what we can do to give them some free time during the sessions and so on. And keep in mind – we are doing the best job in the world.
Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365) Mario, Tom mentioned earlier that next year’s tyres haven’t had the 2026 car to run on. What plans are in place for next season to get a better understanding of how the tyres are interacting with the cars? Are there any plans in place, and how quickly can you react should changes need to be made?
MI: Next year we have the usual plan of 40 days with all the teams. The plan has already been defined and shared with the teams. The point is that for sure we cannot change the allocation for the first five races. We are producing the tyres for all the pre-season tests, and logistics is a nightmare also for us because we had to start the production as soon as possible to supply the tyres to the pre-season test – which is not only three days, but nine – plus the first five races that are overseas. So, the allocation has been defined already. But depending on the results of the first five races, we can change in the second part of the year. If we want to go a bit harder or softer, we have at least flexibility.