Brazil Grand Prix: Press conference on Sunday

1. Levis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Mak Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

Interview on the track

Question: (Paul di Resta) Mak, what happened on the highway between you and Esteban Ochon?
Mak Verstappen: I do not know what to say. Do everything in your power, break through the peloton behind the wheel of a good car, and then this idiot takes you off the track and looses the circuit.

Question: (Paul di Resta) After qualifying, no one imagined you would fight for victory. You boldly attacked the first corner, using all the car's options …
Mak Verstappen: In my opinion, the race went better than expected, the car worked perfectly. In addition, the team has prepared an optimal strategy for me. On SuperSoft tires, I drove a fairly long terrain with a great pace. I do not know what to say … I'm satisfied with the other position, but today I had to win.

Paul di Rest Question You almost managed to win two races in a row, add optimism for the next season
Mak VerstappenA: Next year, we need to get a more powerful engine, so we will become even stronger.

Q: (Paul di Resta) Kimi, at the last round of the race, which you actively pushed Daniel Riccardo, but you managed to finish the third. Satisfied with the result?
Kimi Raikkonen: It was a good race, although it's heavy. We had to fight, we hoped for a better result, but it turned out that it was not easy to achieve.

Question: (Paul di Resta) It seems that your strategy did not quite justify – at the start of the race rivals were much faster on soft tires, especially if we were talking about Mak …
Kimi Raikkonen: I do not know whether we did the right thing, that we started on Soft, but the tires on my car worked well, but it was difficult to cross. I've lost too much time on downloading, but with tactics you never guess. In any case, nothing can be repeated.

Q: (Paul di Resta) Levis, today your team won the Designers Cup five times in a row. What does this success mean for that?
Levis Hamilton: All the past six years, the team has set the border, together we have achieved incredible success. Konstruktorsko prvenstvo is a trophy for which the team is working for the entire season, therefore employees come to their jobs every morning and make maximum efforts. We worked again as one, and I repeatedly said that I am proud to represent Mercedes on the track.

It can be said that today in a brilliant style we have provided the Design Cup: obviously there were problems with the engine, but we won in spite of all the difficulties. At some point, Mak Verstappen literally passed, but later made a mistake and we returned to the fight again. I am extremely grateful to all employees, partners and sponsors – without you it would not have happened! I managed to win in Brazil, thank you very much!

Question: (Paul di Resta) What did you think when you saw how Mak Verstappen spin on the track? Did you expect to be able to play backwards and create pressure again?
Levis Hamilton: You know, the incident did not surprise me. I saw that Mak and Esteban struggled to each other, but that was not a fight for the position, and I acted differently in that situation. Well, that Verstappen managed to continue the race, and troubles sometimes happen, this is a racing incident. Mak reacts too aggressively, sometimes has its consequences, but now I am proud of our success, and the rest is of no importance to me.

Question: (Paul di Resta) From the moment of crossing Formula 1 to the turbo engine, you and Mercedes won 49 victories, winning every other race – fantastic statistics! This is mostly your personal merit, right?
Levis Hamilton: I always said that I was just a link in one big chain. The team gives me a car that allows you to fight for victory and I try to do the best I can. It's nice that sometimes I manage to make it even more successful than I need, but for that I compete in races!

Press conference

Question: (Scott Mitchell) Mak, imagine how surprised you are now. What happened between you and Esteban after the race? We watched, for example, exaggeration. Esteban kind of provoked you? Do you plan to talk to him when your emotions stop?
Mak Verstappen: I have nothing to say about this situation, except that Esteban did not do the best.

Question: (Rodrigo Franca) Question to everyone. How do you think Formula 1 will be able to attract a younger audience in the future if non-motorized vehicles and electric motors are moving at such a fast speed? Is it possible in the future to expect the merger of Formula 1 with Formula E?
Levis Hamilton: It is difficult to answer this question because I have a biased opinion. On the one hand, I am concerned that the exhaust gases of the Formula 1 car is harmful to the environment, on the other hand – I am a runner, I will always be a fan of gasoline engines and under what circumstances I like electricity. I hope that before we leave the race, we will work on gasoline V-machines that have at least some sound.

It's great that Formula E is becoming more and more popular and that the biggest manufacturers like Audi, BMV and Mercedes are actively investing in electric motors. Everywhere in the world, thousands of cars stand in traffic jams every day, in time most of them will be replaced by hybrid cars, and this will have a beneficial effect on the environment, but the problem with exhaust gases can be solved in other ways.

I do not think Formula 1 and Formula E will compare one day with each other. Perhaps in 5-10 years, such an opportunity will appear, but already the technologies we use are much more perfect than those we could reach in Formula E in the future. In addition, their cars are still inferior in speed even to Formula Ford cars, they will take a long time to reach the same pace as now.

However, I do not know if they achieve such a goal. Judging by photos on social networks, Formula E cars seem to be impressive, so I want every success in this series and monitor its progress.

Mak Verstappen: It seems that in the lead of Formula E, they have made it clear that they have no intention of competing with Form 1, and it seems to me that these statements are enough to answer your question. Formula E is a completely different racing series. Yes, with the arrival of big car manufacturers, it gets more and more interesting, but at this moment I am happy to work in Formula 1, and even if everyone around them is completely passionate about electric motors, I will remain one of the few who will fight for buying the last barrel of gasoline!

Kimi Raikkonen: Nothing to add. Externally, Formula E cars look good, but more.

The question of Livio Orihio Maka, do you think that a penalty in the form of ten seconds in the corpse is enough for the fact that the efforts of 900 Red Bull Racing employees have not led to victory in the race
Mak Verstappen: I do not think it matters how much Esteban Widens got the penalty for this incident. I already paid for the fact that I could not win the race, and even if Esteban got two drinking straps or was completely disqualified, it would not change my own result. I do not know what a fair punishment would be. Yes, racers have the right to return to the same circle as a leader, but be careful.

Q: Mak, how many of your cars have been hit?
Mak Verstappen: It seems that several pieces up to 20 centimeters wide were interrupted from the bottom of the bottom, causing the car to seriously lose its power. I had to correct a lot of adjustments, but I did not completely compensate for the losses. Yes, the car was still running fast, but without all that trouble, there could be more speeds.

Question: (Dario Coronel) Levis, why did you react so emotionally to the victory today?
Levis Hamilton: It seems that emotions from the title have been won in Mexico. A few weeks ago, I did not feel the triumph, because I remembered that we should win the Design Cup, and because of the team I have to keep the concentration. I was actively preparing for this weekend and doing everything to get the maximum chances.

The desire to win the championship is always very high, in this situation there are quite a few mistakes, but the team practically did not allow this season – at least on the track. In the previous years, we have achieved a lot of work, but we have kept the desire for success that brings us all. Relationships in the team are good, as never before, we have provided the next purchase of customers for ourselves – in a very difficult race.

Throughout the distance, I said to the car: "Come on, hold on to the goal" – we had obvious problems with the engine. I constantly watched Mak's car in the mirror and ride in a qualifying rhythm, trying to keep the lead. I think this is a race. I'm sorry, during the season such exciting theater scenes happen rarely, but we still won the Champion Design for the fifth year in a row! Together history of history, and even if I ended my career today, many years later, Mercedes would remember this success and that I was part of it!

Ariane Shuten Mak, from the very beginning of the weekend, you said that this route does not fit into your car and that you probably will not happen to win, however, even with the turning on the track today, you lost only 1.6 seconds to the winner . What are the chances of winning in Abu Dhabi for two weeks?
Mak Verstappen: I can not imagine. In this race, we were much more competitive than expected. Of course, I expected the car to be fast, but it did not mean that. Let's see how things go in Abu Dhabi.

Question: (Matthaus Sacramento) Mak, on the same incident between you and Esteban Ocon, occurred in 2001 on the same route between Juan-Pablo Montoy and Jos Verstappen. Montoya then led the race, and your father drove the sixteenth, and there was a collision between them. Did you hear about the incident and if you remember when you came across Esteban?
Mak Verstappen: In my opinion, these are completely different incidents. I do not know what you want to tell me about your question, but it's always embarrassing when someone gets you from a leading position.

Translation: Valery Kartashov