British Grand Prix Sprint Top Three Press Conference

Featuring Sprint Race winner Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes); P2. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and P3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

Lando NORRIS: That was a very good race. I'm very happy. Good start, good first lap. Not the pace to go with these guys but I had a good battle with George and all behind me, so pleasantly surprised with today. So good, but it's just a Sprint, so we have to do it all over again tomorrow.

LN: Thank you, well done. Yeah, no, there were a couple of little things we can certainly do better for later and better into tomorrow. So, no, a good race, good points. I gave it everything I could, as George was catching me pretty quickly at the end. So, no, it was a good race and congrats to these two as well.

LN: No, I didn't.

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, a big thank you for everyone that's here. The crowd is amazing here. Also, this is the most energy I've seen in the pit lane before, so yeah, you have your super fans right here. Tough race to keep the Mercedes behind. I did say that was potentially the case yesterday, and obviously with it being so windy today, big headwind down the back straight, I mean, he came flying past. I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything, but well done to Kimi, and yeah, we've got work to do to try and close that gap so we can keep up.

LH: Yeah, they are particularly quick up to Turn 6, and so I had to sometimes use a boost there. But one of the biggest places is when you come around Stowe, Turn 15, you get on the power and there's no power, and that's where he was catching me massively, then getting into the overtake mode. Once he got the overtake mode, then I couldn't hold him back after that because he has extra deployment through the lap, and I couldn't break that one-second barrier then. So as soon as that was lost, I knew he was coming.

Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, it was a very fun first few laps with Lewis. We were both pushing very hard, and yeah, when I braked... When I got into overtake, I knew my chance was coming. And then out of 4 that lap, it was very close. I went alongside in Brooklands, he used the boost and I decided to wait. Then obviously going into Stowe I used everything I had, and then I was able to overtake. From that point on, I just tried to get into my rhythm and, you know, just try to break the overtake that he had, and then just try to bring it home.

KA: Yeah, I mean, obviously the momentum is there and we're doing a great job together with the team, but of course, you know, we can't let our guard lower because Lewis and Ferrari are doing an incredible job, and Red Bull, McLaren, they're coming, and obviously also George is super quick. So, we just need to keep raising that bar and, you know, keep delivering performances.

KA: Yeah, it was a fun race. It was pretty flat out and, yeah, I had a good start but then I couldn't quite get the momentum into Turn 1. I wasn't alongside enough, but then I was able to keep up with Lewis and, once I got into that overtake, I started to close the gap more and more and then made the move and then, obviously, a bit more free air and tried to pull away. But, yeah, it was a fun race and very flat out and I enjoyed it.

KA: Yeah, obviously I got a good run out of 4. He went a bit wide and I think he used boost to defend, and I just waited and then I used it out of 13. I used everything I had and, yeah, made the move.

KA: No, to be fair, the car felt good over the race, also in terms of degradation, so I wouldn't want to change much. In Qualifying it's more about trying to extract more from myself. But, yeah, I think we're in a pretty good place.

LH: Yeah, the car was good today. It has felt good all weekend. Relatively decent start, nice and close battle with Kimi, and a pretty good first lap where I was able to create a bit of a buffer between us. And then I was pushing as hard as I could to try and keep that gap above one second but in my tow he was just closing, and then he got into the one second. And as soon as he got into the overtake mode, once he had the overtake mode, I couldn't get rid of him and then he was just tailing me from then on. So, he came flying past halfway down the straight.

LH: Yeah, it has been nice. I said yesterday, it's a big, big surprise, honestly. The guys were talking about it being a seven-tenths, six, seven-tenths deficit on the straight. In the last race we were losing four-tenths on the straight in the race every lap, and that's obviously a hard gap to try and close through corners. And I imagine it's something similar maybe here. It was less so yesterday. We seemed like we were doing pretty decent on the single lap, but in the race that margin increases with deployment. But the guys have done a fantastic job just continuing to bring parts. They're pushing so hard and that's what I like to see.

LH: I mean, everyone's progressing. I'm sure they're going to be progressing in Qualifying. It was so close between us. I have some more time to pull out of the car. I didn't get absolutely everything out of the car in [Sprint] Quali, so I'm trying to see if I can. I was very close, but I'm going to try and see if I can pull that extra bit of time out so we can stay in the fight.

LN: Nowhere. I just had a good start and good lap one. So, it wasn't like I fought my way through after that, it was just I hung on well from that point onwards. My start was very good off the line and I got two or three cars pretty much immediately, so that made my life much easier from that point onwards. I was fighting the car everywhere, to be honest. So, it wasn't like it was a straightforward race, and I knew George would be catching like he did, especially at the end of the race. So, it was good fun. Pleasantly surprised to be here today, but a good race and good fighting, especially the first three laps with the Red Bull and with Mercedes. You always have to judge and learn where their deployment works and where they're fast and slow and how to counter them in these areas. But once I did that, then I managed to pull a gap and pull away.

LN: No. No chance. We're not even on a similar level to these guys in terms of our car performance. So, that's why I'm surprised to be here, because I think we still beat a good amount of cars today that were a lot quicker. But I just wouldn't have been under as much pressure from George. So, yeah, it would have given me a couple of tenths over a few laps where we went quite extreme, and then after that I think the pace was not that bad.

KA: I mean, very similar as usual. A lot of differences depending on how teams deploy their energy, how they use the energy. I think behind Lewis, he was deploying more into the high-speed section than me. I was deploying more earlier in the lap. So, it really depends as well a lot, but it creates opportunities to make moves.

LH: Yes, it's not as bad as coming into the weekend. I think some drivers had been on the sim and said how poor the deployment would be. I mean, the engine does cut off and it's still not ideal, but it still feels good going through Copse and through Maggots, Becketts. I mean, the engine is kind of dying through there in seventh gear. You're not getting into eighth gear there, at least we aren't. And then down the straight, where it pulls and it just stops pulling and starts dying. I mean, you want the engines to keep going, and that's more what racing, I would say, is probably about. But, yeah, that's about it.

LN: Not much more to add. I think Lewis said it in a nicer way than I would have done. Honestly, it was better than I was expecting. I think on the simulator you don't necessarily feel the sense of speed and actually you just feel the negatives more than the positives of everything. And also, with wind conditions and things, Maggots and Becketts is still a good challenge. It's not like it's just easy and completely dead. Better than I was expecting, for sure, which is a good thing around here.

LH: I don't remember. Are you talking about Turn 4?

KA: I think probably you went a bit wide, on entry?

LH: Maybe. Yeah, I mean, it was quite tricky through 3 and 4. He was generally a bit quicker than me, particularly through 3, but he was just getting closer and closer to me. I don't really remember it, to be honest. Out of 13, yeah, didn't have anything left.

LH: I don't have an answer for you. Literally, after Qualifying I said that to the guys after we finished our debrief. I was like, "So, what do you think? Yesterday you said it was going to be like this and it was completely different." And they said they only have, at the moment, questions. They don't have any answers to it.

KA: I mean, I don't really want to answer this. I don't like talking about others, to be fair, others' performance. I just focus on myself. But George is very strong and, for sure, he's going to be back at his form. And, especially in Qualifying, he's always a very good qualifier. He's always able to extract the maximum out of it. So, yeah, I think he's a very strong driver and, for sure, every driver has their moments. On my side, I just need to keep focusing on myself.

LH: You should be a politician. It's nothing to do with me. I'm not really focusing on anybody else.

LN: Just a few things, to be honest. Some, yeah, don't need to get into it, but some that we should just be doing a better job on. It's quite simple stuff that just limits our performance and limits our potential to get podiums and points when we need to. So just some things we need to do better as a team.

LN: Good luck. And, yeah, I mean, he can do whatever he wants. He doesn't... I think I just have more passionate fans and a better fan base, so mine was more wanted from a public point of view, which is a great thing. But the thing is, even in my grandstand there's a good mix of all fans. It's not just simply fans who are here to support me. It's a grandstand, it's my grandstand, but at the same time it's full of, sadly, some other teams and also other drivers, which I've got nothing against. So, yeah, he can do whatever he wants, but he's certainly not taking any of my seats.