“Have you spoken to Esteban Ocon again since the race in Austria and your exchange of words between teammates?
Non.
So the “ciao” (said on the radio after passing his teammate) was final?
This is racing. You do what you have to do in the car and that’s it. We did our race and I was more focused on the fact that the eighth was 1”5 and the ninth was 4 tenths ahead of us… We had the feeling that we could have gone for three more points. We reviewed and at certain moments of the race we could have done better.
“We know the current situation, we know that Esteban needs to find a seat for next season and it’s certainly not easy”
Wasn’t it your battle between teammates that made you lose that time?
It’s not just that. There are other times when we thought we were doing well at the time but if we had to do the race again, we would do it differently, not to mention Esteban’s case. It’s always easier to say afterwards but we might have had a better chance of overtaking the cars in front of us.
Aren’t these tensions undermining the team a little?
(He thinks) It’s not ideal. It’s true that between teammates, in terms of fighting, we would all hope that it would be a little more… How to say… That there would be a little more room. Because it’s true that in our situation (8th in the Constructors’ Championship, 10 points behind Haas), we can’t take the risk of having cars touching. That’s how it is. We know the current situation, we know that Esteban needs to find a seat for next season and it’s certainly not easy.
Do you think it might calm things down if he finds a seat for 2025?
Maybe maybe.
Carlos Sainz’s name is increasingly being considered as his replacement. What do you think?
I’ve always said it, I want the fastest guy in the paddock next to me. Carlos is the most valuable driver on the market right now, the most competitive with the most experience coming from Ferrari and McLaren. We would make a great pairing. Then there’s Carlos, Jack (Doohan) and Mick (Schumacher) who are already in the team so there are only good options but Carlos would clearly be the best for all of us.
How do you see your weekend at Silverstone?
From the back of the grid (due to upcoming penalties), we know it’s going to be a difficult weekend. We had to make a decision on when to take this penalty. We had to change the battery, we’re taking the opportunity to change the engine and put Jack in the car on Friday (in free practice 1). It’s a slightly compromised weekend but we’re going to try to prepare well and give it our all on Sunday.”
