🎤 Lando's Sky Sports interview after the Sprint in São Paulo:
Interviewer: Talk me through. I mean, the start looked like you got an initial good reaction, but then in the second phase, Max seemed to get away from you. Just talk me through the start and that first lap.
Lando: Honestly, I don't know too much. I know that, I know that I got a slightly better initial launch, whether it was a reaction or just whatever. But then that second phase just not quite so good. So, it happens, I need to review it, and we'll look to try and improve it for tomorrow.
But it's the way it is sometimes, you know? He doesn't need a lot to get that little bit alongside, and then... yeah, it's kind of lost straight away with how much the guy on the inside can commit to Turn 1. So, just racing, but also, it's something of course we wanna improve on for tomorrow.
And, yeah, honestly I did get caught napping just a little bit by George into Turn 10. Surprised he was pushing so much, but at the same time, he paid a price quite a bit for pushing so much. And, yeah, my stint was, I think, very strong in terms of, if you look at us comparing to everyone except Max (smiles), it was very, very good. Just Max had that little bit extra always in the bag, and, yeah, the Red Bull race pace and Max's race pace is just a little bit too strong for us. So I tried, like, there was a few moments where I was, like, "I can get close here". But I just didn't quite have enough.
Interviewer: It looks like the rest of the field have dropped away in terms of Red Bull race pace today, looks like you are the only challenger for Max tomorrow. You've got Sergio starting further back, I know you're P6 tomorrow? What can you do, and have you got an extra set of Softs, any new Softs left over as well?
Lando: I do.
Interviewer: Okay, Checo doesn't. So positives for tomorrow, what's the target? Do you think you can join Max? Can you challenge him tomorrow? It's gonna be tough.
Lando: I mean, it's a different story, I don't think you can just look at today. Of course, you get the initial feelings of pace, on what everyone can achieve. But it's just a different situation, you know? If, maybe, George had a few more laps to get into a good groove and look after the tyres a bit, then maybe he would've been a bit better.
There's still many question marks, it's still a very different day, depending on weather and wind and all these things can also affect it quite a bit. So the pace was good, I feel confident we can come through and do some overtaking and have some fun again. But (smiles) with Max starting on Pole and me in 6th, it's definitely a little bit more difficult than it will be today. But we'll give it a shot.
Interviewer: Just finally from me, if you look at where the team were early in this season, you know, and your performances have been standout in the last few races (Lando smiles), you feel a bit flat to us, and we're used to seeing you smiling. You're being a bit self-deprecating, and we wanna see the light, the happy, bubbly Lando back.
Lando: (Smiling) No, no.
Interviewer: What's going on?
Lando: I mean, I'm happy. But, like, it depends how you look at it. Like, I always think of what could've been, or what *can* it be, you know? And I forget sometimes to look at where we were in the beginning of the year (smiles). And when you look at it, then of course there's gonna be a smile on my face.
Because, yeah, we were pretty shocking, and we've gone on to, I guess, if you looked at today, to be fighting Max, and to be fighting with what a lot of people have said to me is one of the most competitive cars and dominating cars in the history of Formula 1. They've won, what, 16 races this year? Which is a record, right? And for us to suddenly...
Interviewer: More than that, he's won [Max] 16 on his own, but yeah.
Lando: (Smiling) He's won 16 on his own.
Interviewer: But yeah, Checo's got a couple.
Lando: Yeah. For us to... for there to be an expectation all of a sudden for us to be beating them from where we were, I think it's... it just shows the work and the turnaround that the whole team have been able to do.
So, no, you're right. I mean, now I'm thinking, like, "damn, I missed out on a win", and just thinking of my race, right? So it's just, I'm in the moment still. But I'm very proud of the whole team. When we do have races like this, and then remind ourselves of where we were, then I'm more than happy (smiles).
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