Team Talk: What The Teams Said – 2024 Miami Grand Prix

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It was an eventful race during the 2024 Miami Grand Prix with lots of battles throughout. The main talking point however is Lando Norris’ maiden win with McLaren.

Let’s take a look and see what other teams and drivers had to say following the Miami GP!

Red Bull Racing

For Verstappen, he had a fantastic start to the race and very nearly got taken out by his team-mate, Sergio Perez who miraculously missed other cars on the grid too.

Max Verstappen: “Ultimately today we were not quick enough; the safety car did not help us but we still had plenty of opportunities to win the race and unfortunately we lacked pace.”

“When we took the car back to the garage, we also found that the floor was damaged and had a hole in which could have been picked up from hitting the cone. We also struggled with the tyres and balance of the car all weekend and I never felt too comfortable in the car.”

“In the high speed I was understeering and we also struggled a lot with the grip with the tyres. It wasn’t our best weekend and it really shows that everything needs to work well to win races and it is not as easy as people might think.”

“However, I am happy for Lando. Your first win is always emotional and he drove a great race: it was a long time coming and he deserved it today.”

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Sergio Perez: “Overall it was quite a tricky race, especially at the start when I went down the inside and ended up narrowly avoiding Max.”

“There was no grip at all, which we hadn’t expected and I ended up losing a place to Piastri and damaged my tyres for the first stint.”

“Basically, everything was running a little too hot and I was struggling to get through the people ahead as we lacked pace today. We were struggling on both mediums throughout the race, we came back a little bit towards the end but I couldn’t get into the rhythm until late in the race.”

“We knew Mclaren were very, very strong this weekend, and we just didn’t have the pace of the Mclaren today at the front.”

“We made some changes overnight, that in hindsight were not in the right direction, so we’ll need to debrief from this weekend to come back for Imola.”

Christian Horner – Team Principal: “Firstly, congratulations to McLaren and Lando. They ran a great race and it’s a well deserved victory.”

“Max was a little unfortunate to sustain floor damage when he hit the bollard around the 21st lap, he did well to maintain his position, but it was difficult for him to recover from there.”

“Checo was also struggling with his tyres, he came back a little to the end but it was hard to find a rhythm. We were also a little unfortunate with the safety car today but that’s racing, we still scored the most points in the Drivers’ Championship and in the Constructors’ so can take that with us back to Europe and the fact that it’s still been a strong weekend.”

Ferrari 

For Leclerc, his start wasn’t great and with wheel-spin, he got caught up in the grid allowing his closest rival to maintain the lead.

During the race, there was a lot of talk within the team with Sainz, his team-mate asking to be switched as he felt (and looked) stronger to fight for P2.

Ferrari didn’t move their drivers and instead used pit-stops to split the drivers. Whilst a great result of P3 came along for Leclerc, it wasn’t the same for Sainz who received a penalty after the race going from fourth to fifth.

Charles Leclerc: “A tough race today. The first lap was a close call and thankfully we got away without any damage there. We held second place, focusing on tyre management.”

“We stopped rather early, which unfortunately cost us after a Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car were deployed, giving others the opportunity to pit.”

“We struggled on older tyres, and had to fight to keep the pace. We have our upgrades coming shortly, so hopefully we can join the fight for victories soon.”

“Congratulations to Lando (Norris) for his first victory, I hope he enjoys it fully.”

Carlos Sainz: “Congratulations to Lando, I’m truly happy for him! He deserved a win for a long time and today was his day.”

“Looking at my race I would say the opposite, it wasn’t my day. The start was very good but I went from P2 at turn 1 to P4 after having to avoid Perez.”

“From there I was in a DRS train for some laps and decided to open the gap, take care of the tyres and extend my first stint to try something different.”

“Unfortunately, the Safety Car came out the lap after I pitted and we lost a chance to lead the race. It is what it is.”

“However, I’m quite happy with my race because the pace was very strong and at the end of the day we scored good points for the team. On to the next one.”

Fred Vasseur – Team Principal: “First of all I want to congratulate Lando and McLaren because it’s a first win for a driver who is very popular in the paddock and we are happy for him.”

“It was also a good result for Formula 1 as a whole. From our side we had a strong race and we were able to stay with Max (Verstappen) all race long.”

“We were a bit unlucky with the Safety Car with Carlos but it is what it is and we have to stick with the positives, especially the fact that the pace was there all weekend.”

“Charles had a pretty straightforward race. However, for Carlos the start was not ideal because of Perez’s mistake at turn 1.”

“Today track position was very important, as it was very difficult to overtake and he lost two places through the first two corners. However he had very good pace and was able to come back at the end.”

“The next Grand Prix is in Imola, which has been the scene of some really exciting racing in recent years. Before then everyone in Maranello will be working hard to ensure we get a better result than we did today.”

Mercedes

The team didn’t have the best race but with Lewis Hamilton working his way through the grid, he managed to reach P6 – a good result despite the ongoing situation with the team.

Russell had a bad start, dropping way back outside of the top 10 and ended up spending the first part of his race fighting to get back into the points.

For the team, this is their best result of the season, so far.

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Lewis Hamilton: “I am so happy for Lando and McLaren. They have both been doing a great job and they deserve today’s victory.”

“It’s great to see McLaren so competitive. I also know how special it is to get your first Grand Prix victory so a big well done to Lando!”

“In my race today, I had some enjoyable battles out there. I was giving it everything I had to make progress and made a couple of good overtakes.”

“We were challenging the Red Bull at the end so to be able to race them felt great.”

“Today was probably the best day of racing I’ve had this year, so we just need to keep pushing. We’ve got some more small upgrades coming for Imola. Others are developing too but we will keep working hard.”

George Russell: “A massive well done to Lando and McLaren. He truly deserves it, and all told, he probably deserves to have more than one victory already by now.”

“We’ve been racing each other for a long time; he’s put so much hard work in, and I had no doubts that he would win in F1. I’m very happy for him.”

“My race today was difficult. I lost a few positions at the start and then in the final stint, I had no pace on the Hard tyre and was struggling a lot.”

“We will go away and assess why that was. Our lack of speed was quite unexpected, whilst Lewis had a strong race so there was definite speed in the car.”

Toto Wolff – Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:  “Firstly, well done to McLaren and Lando. He has long been overdue his first win and today he drove a very strong race.”

“McLaren have been on a big upward trajectory since last year and that is good for us to see; it shows what is possible.”

“Congratulations too to everyone involved in designing, manufacturing, and operating the Mercedes Power Unit at High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth.”

“The good news in our race today was that, like-for-like on the Medium tyre, we showed that we had good speed.”

“Lewis was faster than Perez in the Red Bull ahead on the same compound but wasn’t quite able to make the overtake.”

“George struggled a little more on the Hard tyre but overall it was encouraging to see the improvements we made from Friday and that we had solid pace compared to others.”

Aston Martin

For Aston Martin, they chose to start Fernando Alonso on the hard tyre which initially saw them losing places however as the track started to adapt and the tyres got into their ‘window’ (performance window) things started to look up for the team.

Whilst it may not be like the season that they were enjoying last year, the team have been making progress steadily.

For Lance Stroll, he was handed a time penalty as he forced Alex Albon off-track dropping him down the to P17.

Fernando Alonso: “After a difficult day yesterday, it was good to come away from this weekend with some points for the team.”

“We got a bit lucky with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car and then the full Safety Car bunching the field up. We then took this opportunity to fit the Medium tyres.”

“This changed our strategy a little bit and allowed us to have some good battles out there. I enjoyed the racing and it seems we showed a little more performance in the race than we did in Qualifying.”

“We do have some work to do to improve our performance in the next couple of races.”

“I am happy for Lando [Norris]. It’s always special to secure your first win.”

Lance Stroll: “It wasn’t a great race today.”

“We went for an early stop and then a few laps later the Safety Car was called, so the cars that had stayed out benefitted heavily from that. That really compromised our strategy.”

“From that point I managed to pass a few cars and crossed the finish line in P13, but was then penalised for my pass on [Alex] Albon.”

“We’ll go through the onboards later, but it feels like a strange penalty. We’ll be working hard over the next couple of weeks to find some more pace in the car for Imola.”

Mike Krack – Team Principal:  “Two hard-earned points from a race that was dominated by track position and traffic. Our starting positions hurt us today.”

“Fernando’s race was a straightforward one-stopper and the timing of the Virtual Safety Car proved helpful as he was suffering with some flat spots on his Hard tyres.”

“He eventually was able to progress to P9. With Lance, we maybe pitted a bit on the early side, trying to undercut Tsunoda, and we never really recovered from the track position we lost.”

“We will learn the lessons ahead of the start of the European season.”

Alpine

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The team-mates of Ocon and Gasly going wheel-to-wheel on the opening lap, it was a tense fight for the team which saw Gasly in the front.

Climbing through the grid, the strategies and pit-stops didn’t work out entirely well for the team however they were able to jump through the field during the Safety Car.

Ocon had battles within the grid, including Fernando Alonso (ex-team mate) and managed to stay within the points, in P10 for the team – the first points for the team, this season.

Esteban Ocon: “It is good to score a point today and get off the mark for the season. In the past few races, we have been getting closer and finally this weekend we come away with a reward, which is what the team deserve given their efforts in recent weeks.”

“It was a very intense race from start to finish, and good battles throughout. We cannot be fully satisfied with the result because it is only one point, but it is an important point for our season.”

“From where we were in Bahrain on the last row, to where we are now – it is credit to the entire team at Enstone and Viry for keeping the belief and motivation and continuing to improve the car.”

“Hopefully, it is going to be the first points of many for the rest of the season.”

Pierre Gasly: “We had a great race today even if we missed out on scoring points. We did everything we had to do in order to put ourselves in the best possible position to score points.”

“We had good pace, we battled hard at the start to keep position and then, as with our plan, we pitted early. The VSC timing did not go in my favour but that is the way it is sometimes.”

“From a team perspective, we scored the first point of the season and that’s most important. Whether it’s me or Esteban does not matter and I’m just really pleased for the team today.”

“It’s great for motivation and confidence for everyone at Enstone and Viry. We need a lot more to fight for higher positions.”

“We are in the mix, it’s been the best weekend of the season from a performance point of view, so it’s good to show progress.”

Bruno Famin – Team Principal:  “It’s our first point of the season today, so from a sporting perspective, that is satisfying for us.”

“We had a clear plan where one car would try to pit early and undercut the cars around us while the other car would take a gamble by running a longer first stint in hope of a VSC, SC or red flag scenario.”

“On this occasion this is how it unfolded and it was Esteban who scored the point in tenth place. It was a faultless race from everyone in the team – strategy, race management, pit-stops – and we did enough to put ourselves in a position for the team to benefit.”

“It’s been a much more positive weekend here in Miami and we must keep striving for more if we are to keep fighting for higher positions.”

“The hard work will continue as we eye up returning to Europe next time out.”

The Formula 1 Girl 🙂

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