United States
RACE REACTIONS
What the drivers
had to say after
racing in Austin
Alpine
Pierre
GASLY
“[It was] a disappointing afternoon where we fundamentally lacked performance. We were just too slow. The first stint felt good, I was on the back of Liam [Lawson] in a train of cars and it felt like everything was being managed quite well. Then we pitted onto softs, had a slow pit stop, and everything just fell apart from there to the end of the race where I was in a lot of traffic. We have many things to review as a team as it has been very difficult for us to be competitive on Sundays. We will work on it and we go again in Mexico City.”
Franco
COLAPINTO
“A tough [Sunday] and a tough weekend in general for us as a team. On my side, it's not been too smooth and I have generally struggled a lot with the car. We learned a lot session by session and the aim is to just try and be stronger each time we are on track and we will have another chance to do that in Mexico City. We will keep working hard as a team and just try to find those improvements. At the end, I had slightly fresher tyres than Pierre and saw Gabriel [Bortoleto] attacking. I wanted to keep him behind both of us, so it is something we will discuss as a team and learn from moving forwards.”
Aston Martin
Lance
STROLL
"[Sunday] was a fun race – we made our way through the race attacking with some good overtakes and picked up a couple of positions. We were close to getting to the points, but it was always going to be tricky from where we were starting – we did the best we could. The car was feeling good and became a bit more alive with the change of wind direction. So a positive Sunday considering [what happened on Saturday] and now looking ahead to Mexico."
Fernando
ALONSO
"We started tenth and finished there, so we come away with one point in the end. We didn't really have the pace to fight for anything more than P10 and it seems we had a bit more performance in Qualifying than in the race. It wasn’t the most exciting day for me, and we were open to various strategies, but it was a standard one-stop race. We’ll go again in Mexico and see if we can fight for points there."
Ferrari
Charles
LECLERC
"I’m happy with our weekend. We made a very good recovery, from starting out with an issue in FP1 which put us on the back foot, to making progress in Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint race, delivering a solid Qualifying, and being rewarded with a podium after staying focused on the job.
"We were on a more aggressive strategy [on Sunday], so my target was to gain positions at the start. Arriving on the grid as the only car on the softs looked risky, but ultimately, it paid off. Our team did a good job and we will push to keep this momentum as we head into the final rounds of this season."
Lewis
HAMILTON
"It’s been a productive Sunday overall. [The] race was a strong result for the team and we gained some good points. My first stint was encouraging, and I was in the fight for third, but after my pit stop the gap to the top three became too difficult to close.
"As a whole, the weekend has been a positive one. It showed the progress we’re making as a team and confirmed there’s still more potential to unlock in the SF-25. Thank you to all the fans here, who brought incredible energy all weekend."
Haas
Esteban
OCON
“It was a very tough afternoon, to say the least. I gained three or four positions in Turn 1, and then lost them all in the first couple of laps really because of sliding with no grip on the hard tyre. From there on, the pace was okay but we couldn’t recover what we lost in that first 25 or 30 laps. It’s quite clear to us why it was such a hard weekend, the high-speed section was incredibly hard so we had to drop a lot of aero balance which cost us in other places – we need to review. It’s good for the team that we got two points from the race.”
Oliver
BEARMAN
“Heading into [the United States Grand Prix] weekend, if you’d told me I’d cross the line P8 in the Sprint, and finish P9 [on Sunday] – I would’ve been very happy. On the face of it, it was a good weekend and we got some good points for the team, but it was clear there was more out there. Regarding the incident with Yuki [Tsunoda], I felt it was very dangerous and against the spirit of the regulations. Although I avoided a crash, I lost two positions so it’s a shame, and it's disappointing as it’s clear I had more pace today.”
Kick Sauber
Nico
HULKENBERG
“I’m really happy to finish the race with points. We’ve shown great pace all weekend, right from FP1. With the incident in the Sprint, we didn’t get the chance to show what we could do, so it felt great to have another shot [on Sunday]. The race was clean, well-executed on multiple fronts, and we were determined to make the most of it. The whole team deserves this result for the work they’ve put in. Now onto Mexico!”
Gabriel
BORTOLETO
"It's been a rather uneventful race for me. We possibly could have done something different under the Virtual Safety Car, but starting from the back always makes things tough, especially if you do not have a big advantage on those in fronts of you, which was the case. Overall, it's been a challenging weekend. Still, I want to thank the team for the work done throughout the sessions, listening to my feedback and trying to get me in the best possible position to perform. We'll take the learnings from this weekend, understand what we could have done better, keep our head up and move onto the next one."
McLaren
Oscar
PIASTRI
"A bit of a tricky race. Similar to [Saturday], I was struggling for pace. We gained one spot, which was positive, but it was hard to make any progress from there. Not the weekend we were looking for, but we’ll review and bounce back next weekend."
Lando
NORRIS
"It was an interesting race, and a good battle with Charles [Leclerc]. However, it took a little too long to get by and, as a result, we had to settle for second. It was tough, but the strategy was good, and it worked out well in the end. Full focus now switches to Mexico and doing the best job I can there."
Mercedes
George
RUSSELL
"I thought before the race that it was likely wherever we exited Turn 1 would be the place we finished. That was due to the expected level of degradation and similar pace of the front-running cars. That is exactly how it played out and, sadly for us, we lost positions at that first corner. I made a good start but got boxed in behind Lando [Norris], and Lewis [Hamilton] and Oscar [Piastri] were able to overtake me around the outside. From there, it was a lonely race to P6.
"We turn our attentions straight to Mexico. It is a very different circuit to Austin and the altitude creates its own level of challenge. Hopefully we can have a better race there and fight back in the fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship."
Kimi
ANTONELLI
"[Austin] was a frustrating race from our side. I felt good in the car early on, as I had done all weekend, and was looking forward to trying to gain some positions from P7. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. I tried to leave some space for Carlos [Sainz] at Turn 15 as I saw him coming. I managed to do so but we still made contact and that put an end to any realistic chance of scoring good points.
"[Sunday] was a disappointing day, but we move forward. We head straight to Mexico now, and we have a chance to bounce back straight away. I’m hopeful we can do so as the Constructors’ Championship is close, and every point is going to matter."
Racing Bulls
Liam
LAWSON
"I gave the race everything I could but didn’t have the strongest start as I was boxed at Turn 1. That place probably cost us a point, however overall the pace wasn't strong enough. It's very hard to overtake here and Aston had control of us throughout the race by being both in front and behind. It's frustrating as there have been points available throughout the weekend which we missed out on, but we'll take our learnings into Mexico."
Isack
HADJAR
“That was the race I expected, starting from the back. I haven’t shown real pace [during the] weekend, and our strategy was to go for a long first stint and hope for a Safety Car. There are a few things we need to understand with the car, we’ve been strong most weekends this year, but we had a ride issue that we need to figure out and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I still had some good battles on track and learned a lot, so there’s plenty of momentum to carry into Mexico.”
Red Bull Racing
Max
VERSTAPPEN
“It was a perfect weekend and I think the start was key. The pace wasn’t magic but we got a good start on the first stint and Charles [Leclerc] got in the middle of myself and Lando [Norris] which helped a lot and as soon as Lando was in clean air he was very fast. We just did the best we could and tried to manage our tyres in the best way possible even though they were overheating a bit. This performance was exactly what we need until the end of the season to fight for the title. The team has done a great job, I’m having fun and it’s exciting for everyone. The performance of the car has been better and we need to keep the momentum going. We really maximised everything with the points and we need to continue having these perfect weekends until the end of the season. I am very happy to win again.”
Yuki
TSUNODA
“[Sunday] was a great start and Lap 1 once again, the first few laps were good, I had nice pace and managed to overtake a lot of cars. I enjoyed both races and had good confidence. I have scored points in both races [over the] weekend so, overall, the weekend was positive. The pace [Sunday] was okay, I could have maybe done a slightly better job with that, in the second stint especially. I have to keep scoring the points in the next few races and improve on the short runs in particular, as we have been struggling there. That has to be the focus now, I have to work on that and put it all together for the short run for Mexico and beyond.”
Williams
Alexander
ALBON
"A frustrating day [on Sunday]. We started on the hard tyre, which is usually a good option when the track is this hot, but we had no grip and effectively did another stop early in the race. We actually had good pace, but it was a bit scrappy at times and we just weren’t clicking in the corners. I didn’t feel like I was in rhythm with the circuit, but at least we came out of the Sprint with a few points and some key learnings. Next time out in Mexico we just need to tidy a few things up and hopefully have a smooth weekend."
Carlos
SAINZ
"It’s a shame to end the race that way as the car had great pace. I had done a similar move on [Oliver] Bearman some laps before, so I tried that inside line with [Kimi] Antonelli into Turn 15. He opened the line and then closed the door more abruptly than what I was expecting, I tried to react by slamming on the brakes to avoid contact but it was too late and we touched. I was behind so I accept my part of fault and ultimately it’s a shame as it cost the race for both of us. We were quick, so it hurts not to convert it into more points but we’ll bounce back for Mexico."
