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DRIVERS
1 \u2013\u00a0George RUSSELL (Mercedes)
2 \u2013\u00a0Lando NORRIS (McLaren)\u00a0
3 \u2013\u00a0Kimi ANTONELLI (Mercedes)
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TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
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Q: F1\u2019s first ever Sprint race in Montreal, Canada. What a race, guys. I\u2019m joined here by the top three: George Russell, your winner. What battles all the way through. I mean, we\u2019ve got all of you to talk to, but I want to pick out Kimi and George first because that was an amazing fight between you. I know Kimi spoke on the radio a little bit, wasn\u2019t too happy, but I want to get both of your points of view on that.
Kimi ANTONELLI:\u00a0Yeah, it was a tough battle, to be fair. We were all there in terms of pace. It was not easy. Yeah, I tried to make my move\u2026 I need to review on that because I was quite well alongside and I got pushed off, but it\u2019s what it is. Then obviously I made a mistake into Turn 8 because I took a big bump and then locked up and then I kind of compromised my race there. But it was a good battle.
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Q: OK, well done. You gave us a great bit of entertainment. If I can flip it over to you then, George. I mean, a race looking in your mirrors, you had to absorb so much the whole way through, but your thoughts on this guy attacking you in those early laps?
George RUSSELL:\u00a0Yeah, it was a cool race. I was just talking with Lando, it was definitely very difficult to get a gap around here. It felt quite easy to follow. The slipstream was quite powerful with the overtake mode. And then yeah, it was a good battle with Kimi and glad we both are standing here after the race.
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Q: Yeah, you managed to do the grounds staff a few favours, mowing the grass around here, Kimi. Lando, second place. You managed to be the interloper at this Mercedes party. You must be pretty pleased with that because the pace looked really good.
Lando NORRIS:\u00a0Yeah, thanks. It was a good race. I mean, it was good just to watch them go at it for a little while. But of course, we were there to pick up the pieces when things happened. And they were quick. I mean, Kimi caught me back up pretty quickly and then I was pretty worried from behind, but also I wanted to try and attack George ahead. It was fun, always a tough track to kind of push on and easy to make mistakes. But today was a good result for us.
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Q: George, you really needed this, I feel like. It\u2019s been a difficult time in Miami. You\u2019ve been great around this circuit and so, to stand here as a race winner again, do you feel like you\u2019re back in your happy place?
GR:\u00a0I was never really concerned, to be honest. It was just, I know Miami\u2019s a bit of a bogey for me and, of course, there\u2019s been this huge break in the calendar, so lots of people with a lot of things to say. But ultimately, just wanted to get back racing and it kind of feels like the season\u2019s going to restart now with, I think, six races in eight weeks. So just looking forward to getting in that groove. Glad to be back in Montreal and amazing fans, as always, so thank you so much.
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PRESS CONFERENCE\u00a0
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Q: Very well done, George. A great result for you. Quite a lot to unpick from that one. Can we start with the battle with your team-mate? Talk us through lap six from your point of view.
GR:\u00a0Yeah, it was just a good, hard battle and obviously I defended into Turn 1 and you never get overtaken around the outside of that corner, and so I knew it was, kind of, pretty safe. But kudos to Kimi for giving it a go and I respect that and obviously came out unscathed. And then went into Turn 8. This track is very dirty as well offline. We\u2019ve seen it all weekend, so I was quite nervous to defend too tightly into Turn 8 because I knew that there was a chance of locking up if I went there. And that was about it really. So glad that we\u2019re both sat here now. It could have been something different, but it wasn\u2019t, and that\u2019s how racing should be.
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Q: Kimi said on the radio that you were very naughty. What\u2019s your reply to that?
GR:\u00a0I mean, I need to see it. I\u2019ve not seen it. I don\u2019t know if it was under investigation or not. I don\u2019t think it was. So yeah, from my side\u2026 It\u2019s as kids in karting we know overtaking on the outside, there\u2019s a certain element of risk that comes with that. And there are amazing overtakes when they come off, but the chances are quite slim. So, there\u2019s only one direction I was going and I was going to close the line because it\u2019s my right to do so. So, as I said, respect to him for giving it a go. Emotions are always high for all of us in the cockpit, but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll both talk about it after.
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Q: OK, thanks for that. Lando, we\u2019ll come to you in a minute, if you don\u2019t mind. Kimi, can I bring you in on this? Just hard racing? Do you agree with George?
KA:\u00a0Yeah, I need to check it as well, to be fair. I was quite well alongside and there was definitely contact, so I need to recheck that. But yeah, it was hard racing. And then in Turn 8, to be fair, I was definitely too optimistic. I also took a massive bump and I almost spun in a straight line, so also that induced the lock-up. But yeah, just need to recheck it and then we\u2019ll talk about it later.
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Q: You don\u2019t overtake around the outside of Turn 1, according to George. Would you agree with him?
KA:\u00a0I think if you are well alongside, you can overtake pretty much anywhere. I mean, obviously there are corners that are more difficult, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s never been an overtake around the outside in Turn 1. But I agree that obviously he was defending his position, so it was hard racing. Of course, we\u2019re both lucky not to crash. But yeah, at the end of the day, it was a very fun race.
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Q: OK, Kimi, thank you. And Lando, just coming to you, you got the popcorn out. You were in a good seat.
LN:\u00a0Yeah, I now know kind of how it felt for some of the others last year. So, it\u2019s obviously a nicer position to be in. I think for us, even though the pace was actually pretty good, the guys both pulled away a good amount, to be honest, in the beginning, and I just couldn\u2019t go with them. So, I think we\u2019re clearly lacking a little bit of speed compared to them, but the pace was still decent, especially when I was a bit more behind George for the rest of the race. But yeah, I just wanted to get to the chequered flag, honestly. So, it was obviously helped out by the fact that they were racing each other hard, and it was good to watch, honestly. Sometimes it is good to watch the racing part of it. So that was a good watch and, of course, we capitalised on it, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re there to do.
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QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
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Q: (Jon Noble \u2013\u00a0The Race) To Kimi, on the radio afterwards you said, \u201cIf we need to race like this, good to know.\u201d Has today changed perceptions on how you go racing with George? And George, are you surprised? Is there anything unusual in how you battled today?
KA:\u00a0We do meetings before races and that\u2019s what we say in the room. Then, of course, we race to win and we try to do our best to defend our position. So of course, probably, I understood the significance of that meeting a bit differently. But just obviously I need to recheck. Emotions were very high in the moment and obviously I was very annoyed, but I just need to recheck and for sure we\u2019re going to talk about it and we\u2019re going to clarify on that.
GR:\u00a0The truth is I need to check it as well from my side. I didn\u2019t think I did anything wrong and I wasn\u2019t investigated, so I guess the Race Director and Stewards thought the same. But I need to check it. It is clear that between team-mates we race hard and fair and no contact, and that\u2019s always the objective. I wasn\u2019t racing Kimi any harder than I would have raced Lando in the same position. We\u2019re both here fighting to win and always in the past, even last year when we battled, I always gave Kimi a bit more room compared to anyone else. So, as I said, I need to review it. There was nothing untoward with the driving and, as I said, I don\u2019t think it was even investigated. I think that says enough.
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Q: (Filip Cleeren \u2013\u00a0Motorsport.com) To George, please. Just in general, obviously Kimi won three races in a row and this is a circuit that you\u2019ve always gone really well at. So, in a bigger picture, did you feel that, despite it being very early in the season, this is an important weekend just to reassert yourself?
GR:\u00a0I think it was more important for you guys and for the overall perception. For me, it was never in doubt. The fact that there was a big break after Japan and then another two-week break after Miami, and Miami has always been a tough race for me. I know my weaknesses and they\u2019ve been pretty consistent over the course of my whole F1 career. It\u2019s just you guys have never really noticed it because I\u2019ve never been fighting at the front. Now it\u2019s a big talking point. I didn\u2019t have any doubts that I could come here and just be back fighting at the front as I was in the first three races of the season. Miami was a blip, tough track for me. There\u2019s one or two later in the season as well which I\u2019m going to put a huge amount of focus on. But it wasn\u2019t a big surprise to me seeing Kimi\u2019s exceptional performance in Miami, the same as last year, and for me to be back in the fight again this weekend.
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Q: (Adam Cooper \u2013 Adam Cooper F1) We didn\u2019t get the rain in Miami, but it looks like there\u2019s a good chance we\u2019ll get it tomorrow. What are your thoughts about a wet race here, given most people have had no running or just a little bit of testing?\u00a0
GR:\u00a0I mean, from the drivers who have spoken, who have driven in the wet, they sound pretty concerned about it. Not because of the power or the downforce of the cars, because they don\u2019t feel the tyres are good enough. The three of us here haven\u2019t experienced the wet this year. Kimi and I both drove this wet tyre last year and it wasn\u2019t a very good feeling, to be honest. Ended up a few times through the gravel and with damage to the car. Time will tell. I really hope that\u2019s not the case. It shouldn\u2019t be the case. We want to fight hard and fair, but the wet tyres haven\u2019t been great at the best of times and unfortunately it sounds like it\u2019s going to be a step worse.
LN:\u00a0Tough. I mean, looking forward to it as an opportunity, not looking forward to it because the comments from the others, as George said, are not great. When you have a thousand horsepower and you have a street circuit, then you need good tyres to go with it. From what we\u2019ve heard, that\u2019s not exactly what we have going into tomorrow. We\u2019ll wait and see. I\u2019ve never driven in the rain with these tyres yet, so it\u2019ll be a new situation for me. And I think it\u2019s made even tougher by the fact that it is a street circuit and you\u2019ve not got a lot of margin for error, and it\u2019s a low-grip track. Excited, could be a lot of chaos, but honestly, at the same time, we don\u2019t sign up to do the chaos. We want the best of everything and I know Pirelli are working on better at the time being, but let\u2019s wait and see how it goes.
KA:\u00a0Yeah, I mean, as George said, we tried the tyre last year and it was not the nicest. There were a few aquaplaning moments. So, it\u2019s tricky. And then of course, this is already a track where it\u2019s hard to put temperature on the tyres in the dry, so I think tomorrow is going to be cold and wet and it\u2019s going to be hard to build temperature, which is the main thing for us, because once you get a temperature, it\u2019s actually not too bad. But it\u2019s those first few laps where you\u2019re just sliding around and the tyre is not really working. So yes, it\u2019s not easy, it\u2019s going to be tricky, but let\u2019s see first what the weather is going to be like, because also Miami was meant to rain and it didn\u2019t. So, let\u2019s see tomorrow.
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Q: (Nicole Mulder \u2013 GPblog) Question to Lando. Last year, you and Oscar were battling each other quite hard at times and then Max almost managed to take it away from you almost at the end. Do you see a similar scenario developing at Mercedes, with now you maybe being the one able to take it away from them?
LN:\u00a0I mean, we\u2019re still just very early on in the season. At the minute, I\u2019m just trying to maximise every result that we can. Today was certainly one of those days where, in a way, we didn\u2019t deserve to be P2 but we were. Well, we deserved to be P2, we shouldn\u2019t have been P2 but we were. Anyway, so we\u2019ll see. I think it\u2019s just what you get when you have two good drivers fighting for a championship with a good team. That\u2019s kind of what you expect. Each individual has to fight for their own career. You don\u2019t kind of just go out to prove your point every time, but you go because we signed up for it as an individual. You grow up alone wanting to be the best in the world and every driver wants to do it. So, they both have their own point to prove, they both want to go out and race, and at the minute they\u2019re fighting more than anyone for the World Championship. So yeah, that\u2019s what they need to do. So, we\u2019ll be there. I think we\u2019re still lacking a bit at the minute, probably similar to last year from Max\u2019s position. So, we\u2019ll see how much we can hang on for the time being. But yes, obviously a day like today, we maximised everything we could.
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Q: (Ronald Vording \u2013\u00a0Motorsport.com) It\u2019s another one for Kimi. You just mentioned the pre-race meetings and that, in your opinion, it was maybe different from what we\u2019ve seen on track. If the evaluation of this Sprint race shows that this is within the boundaries, will you then change your approach going forward in terms of the safety margin you leave when fighting your team-mate?
KA:\u00a0For sure, I think probably we just need a bit of clarity and then once it\u2019s clear, then it\u2019s all going to be fine. I think definitely I need to probably ask again. But the main thing for the team is that there\u2019s no contact, that we don\u2019t crash into each other, which today at the end was very close. But yeah, I think that\u2019s the most important for the team. Also, as a driver, you don\u2019t want to crash into your own team-mate. We all want the best for, first of all, each other, but also for the team. So, for sure we will clarify and everything is going to be fine.
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ENDS\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DRIVERS1 \u2013\u00a0George RUSSELL (Mercedes)2 \u2013\u00a0Lando NORRIS (McLaren)\u00a03 \u2013\u00a0Kimi ANTONELLI (Mercedes)\u00a0TRACK INTERVIEWS(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)\u00a0Q: F1\u2019s first ever Sprint…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[32676,128681,49,48,128679,2929,128678,578,128677,3754,128682,576,109748,580,577,128680,2180,5192,69762,128671,2475,23731,128676,44340,82,101220,128672,1194,92374,128675,128674,128673],"class_list":["post-689272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-rally","tag-action-for-road-safety","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-circuit","tag-connectivity","tag-eprix","tag-f1","tag-fe","tag-fia","tag-fia-president","tag-formula-1","tag-formula-e","tag-formula-one","tag-formula1","tag-hill-climb","tag-historic","tag-jean-todt","tag-mobility","tag-motor-sport","tag-motorsport","tag-off-road","tag-rallycross","tag-road-safety","tag-sports","tag-todt","tag-touring-car","tag-wec","tag-world-endurance-championship","tag-world-rallycross","tag-world-rx","tag-wtcc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}