FIA Thursday press conference

PART ONE – Franco COLAPINTO (Alpine), Kimi ANTONELLI (Mercedes), Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin)

Q: Fernando, welcome to Monza. It's a place, of course, that you know very well. How hopeful are you coming into this race? Because the last two races in Hungary and Zandvoort, the car has been performing very well. Do you think it'll translate to the long straights here at the Autodromo?

Fernando ALONSO: Let’s see. I think we come to Monza a little bit more cautious about our performance. Last efficiency circuit was Spa, and we were not that fast in Spa. So yeah, we’ll see. We made some changes after Spa on the set-up of the car and how we approach the weekends. So hopefully we can be a little bit better. But I think, you know, on paper, it’s not the same track, Monza, as the last two races.

Q: We're two-thirds of the way through this championship now. You talk about changes to the set-up, but can we focus on the positives? How much better is the car now compared to where it was at the start of the season, and in what areas?

FA: I think it is a lot better than at the start of the season. I think my first point in the championship came in race eight or race nine. So yeah, at the beginning we didn’t have a car to be in the top 10 on Sundays. And now it seems that we are able to fight in the midfield and to score points regularly. In the last nine races, I think I’ve been seven times in Q3, in the top 10. So definitely there is a very different car now. It is better on the aero platform. We didn’t change much mechanically on the set-up. Yes, we are working a little bit weekend to weekend, but I think aerodynamically the car is a lot more stable, a lot easier to drive, and we can put the laps together.

Q: And when you look at the remaining nine races of this championship, where do you see your best opportunities?

FA: I think we have a couple of places that we think are more similar to Budapest and Zandvoort. Maybe Singapore can be one of those, maybe Brazil. But, you know, we’ve been surprised a little bit — sometimes negatively surprised, sometimes positively — so we are not really putting all the hopes in one or two races. We will go every weekend to give our maximum, like this one in Monza, even if it seems difficult. And yeah, we’ll see in Abu Dhabi how many points and which constructor position we have at the end.

Q: Alright. Fernando, best of luck this weekend. Thank you for that. Kimi, let's come to you now. Back at Monza, scene of the announcement last year when you were confirmed as a Mercedes Formula 1 driver. It's been quite a 12 months since then. Can we start just by reflecting on everything that's happened since Monza last year?

Kimi ANTONELLI: Yeah, it happened a lot of things. I have good memories, but also really bad memories here. But yeah, I mean, it’s a really special place, and I think it’s going to be a special weekend because it’s not just my second home race, but obviously, as you said, this is where it all started with the announcement. So that’s why it’s going to be a very special one. But, you know, it’s been very intense ever since. And yeah, so far, it’s gone quite okay.

Q: And when you look at car performance, where do you expect to be coming out this weekend?

KA: It’s always tough to say because the cars now are getting closer and closer. But last year, looking at the result, especially in qualifying, they were up there. So this year, it’s been a bit of the trend that the car where it’s been good last year was also quite good this year. So hopefully it’s going to be the same, but we never know.

Q: And when you're on the simulator, are there similarities between here and Montreal? Of course, Montreal was a great race for the team.

KA: Well, I mean, first of all, it’s a lot lower downforce here, but the first two chicanes are really high braking and then going into a slow corner, similar to Melbourne. But also here you’ve got some quick corners such as the Lesmos, Ascari and Parabolica. So in some way, it’s similar to Montreal in terms of characteristics, but the second half of the lap is a bit different. But hopefully — obviously we’re back on the old suspension, which has given us more confidence — so hopefully we’ll be able to have good pace.

Q: One thing — you talked about this being your second home race. You were quite open after Imola saying that maybe if you'd had that race weekend again, you might have done things differently. There were a lot of demands on your time there. Are you approaching Monza a little differently?

KA: For sure. I will be much more prepared, and I definitely know much better what to expect. I know much better how I need to move around, how I need to behave during the race week in order to be able to be 100% every time I go in the car.

Q: Alright. Kimi, best of luck. Thank you very much for that. Franco, welcome to the press conference. So back at the scene of your Grand Prix debut last year — just how different does it feel coming back to a racetrack for the second time as a Formula 1 driver?

Franco COLAPINTO: Yeah, it’s the first track I actually raced in last year. So from now on, we’ve got another nine races that I know — races that I’ve already been in — which is always very helpful. But just very nice memories. Being back here in Monza after a year of my debut, it does bring a lot of flashbacks and memories back, which is always very nice. To win that surprise call last year, that I was jumping in this weekend, was a dream coming true, and a lot of things happened from there. So yeah, it’s really nice to be back here in Monza. It’s a track that I always like and I really enjoy driving in. It’s full of Tifosi, very passionate people and fans that support us, and it’s a great track to race. So yeah, can’t wait for it.

Q: And do you come here with a lot of confidence? Because last weekend, you finished very close to the points. Do you feel you're making progress with this car now?

FC: Yeah. I feel much more in control, starting to be just more confident with the car, and I’m gaining that feeling that I had last year very quickly. I didn’t have it this year so early on, and I think now the team, my engineers, really helped me to win that back a little bit. We are still working on it really hard because it’s not where we want to be. We are doing a lot of progress with the car, but I think generally it’s been much better. The last two races have been more competitive. We showed that we’re very close to the points. So still a lot of work to be done. This track, it can be quite hard for us with the long straights, but I think if we do well and we take all the opportunities available, we can have a good weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Tom Slafer – DAZN Spain) Question for Fernando. You were mentioning how much better the car is now compared to the beginning of the season. Besides the good results that the team is getting lately, it feels like the team has found its way in the development race with the new floors in Imola and Silverstone, and maybe particularly with the new front wing. Does this make you feel even more optimistic going towards 2026?

FA: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I think to trust the tools that we have in the factory and bring things to the track that actually deliver what was expected from them is obviously a very good thing. We didn’t have that in 2023 and in 2024. So yeah, it’s good to go back to a more normal factory-track kind of correlation and develop the 2026 car next winter knowing that the tools are correct.

Q: (Mara Sangiorgio – Sky Italia) A question to Kimi. Kimi, you told us last week how much you needed a fresh weekend. How do you get rid of bad thoughts like Zandvoort or Monza last year? What’s the way?

KA: Just focusing on myself, just focusing on what I have to do. It’s really easy to get lost and focus too much on the final result. Instead, I think it’s much better — and this I haven’t been doing super well — but just focusing on the things I have to do: driving well, putting things together, and helping the team the best way to find the best balance as well. So I think that’s the main thing — just trying to focus on myself and trying to get every detail right.

Q: (Moritz Steidl – Servus TV) Question to Fernando. It’s a 22nd time in Monza driving. Take us maybe through the years — how much did it change to drive a car in this Temple of Speed?

FA: Yeah, definitely, it did change a lot. I think I drove even different configurations of Monza, not only the current one. But yeah, the way the cars changed makes Monza a little bit different than in the past. The way the downforce behaves now is a little bit safer. I remember the first couple of years in Monza, driving with no rear wing basically, made the car feel like it was floating on the straights, and it seemed like you were not totally in control of it. Now I would not say that it’s easy, but the cars are in control all the time. Obviously, now we have different devices that are making this place safer. That’s for me the biggest difference. In the past, when we used to come to Monza, you felt the danger, you felt the speed, you felt the adrenaline. Now it’s a little bit more difficult to feel that thing. We have the Halo, we have the HANS device, we have different things that I didn’t have the first time I drove here. Everyone is doing tests before coming to F1 in Monza, or at least with very low downforce. Back in the 2000s, there were not these kinds of privileges.

Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) A question to all three. F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has talked about maybe young fans having shorter attention spans, and maybe we need more Sprints or maybe even Grand Prix should be reduced in length. What do you think about that? Who’d like to start? Go on, Kimi.

KA: It’s a tough one. I think personally, Sprint weekends are fun because you have a lot of activity. You have to be on point straight away because you have one practice, then qualifying, and then you go into a Sprint race. But I think shorter races — I don’t think it would really work, because already now with long races, we do one-stop strategy with the tyres we have. They would have to implement so many more rules for a shorter race in terms of pit stops and so on, because I don’t think it would change so much. I think also with the longer race, probably you have more time to build your race. But yeah, I don’t really know. I can’t really give a clear answer on this, but that’s my thought. But Sprint weekends are fun, so that wouldn’t be bad — having more of them.

FC: Yeah, I think they are just doing a great job. Stefano did a great job in bringing the sport to where it is now. He’s a great leader, and I really appreciate the effort that everyone is doing to try to make it better for the fans, for everyone here. It’s getting bigger and bigger, Formula 1. If it’s from someone, it’s thanks to them and the effort. I can’t comment too much on that — there are a lot of new things happening in the sport and they are bringing a lot of new people to it. I think we are all very grateful for the effort they have been doing in the past to make the sport better and to bring it to where it is now. I just enjoy driving. So if we keep driving and keep doing a lot of laps, I’m happy with that. It doesn’t really matter what session it is.

FA: Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I will be on the other side — I will be in front of the TV when that happens. So I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a problem with the sport. So probably it’s not needed to change, but Stefano knows better than anyone. So if he thinks that it’s needed, we are in good hands with him in this kind of decision. But I don’t know. Also, football matches are a little bit long. When I sit in front of the TV, I’m not watching the 90 minutes fully concentrated. I go to the kitchen, come back — there’s always some moments of distraction, and no one is talking about having 60-minute football matches or something like that. So it’s a problem of society and the kids, but not the sport. So probably it’s not needed, the change.

Q: And Fernando, if you did shorten the Grand Prix — with all your experience — what would we lose, if anything?

FA: I think, as Kimi said, probably you need to do your own race and you need to find your way into the race to go back to your natural position at the end of the race if you execute it well. If it’s too short, like in some of the Sprint races, if you start with a bad qualifying or whatever, there is not time to execute anything. It’s difficult to follow — all the cars have the same tyre age, there’s no possibility to recover places. So the longer race gives you that possibility, that freedom on the strategy. But yeah, as I said, it’s a difficult topic. Probably refuelling would be the best thing — I’ve said many times. I know this is totally the opposite direction of how it’s going. But when you can choose your fuel load and have different strategies, that changes completely the way the race unfolds and that creates an incredible, attractive strategy and races.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Sadly there wasn’t much overtaking in the refuelling days but we can talk about that another time. Question to Kimi. If a rookie year is all about learning, what did you learn from Imola that you have changed for this — so that when you say you’re better prepared for this, your second race, you'll do differently?

KA: Well, definitely when I said I’ll be more prepared — obviously, it was my first home race and there was a lot going on, especially outside the track. I think also on my side, I didn’t manage energy the best way, and just going back in the car and not feeling 100%, also focus-wise. So I feel like on that side I will know much better how to react and how to behave. I think that’s going to be the main learning — also trying to manage the energy the best way possible during the whole weekend. Because, obviously, you start the weekend and then as you go, as you arrive to Sunday, of course you have a bit less energy overall. But the most important is that you arrive with the most amount of energy. I remember being in Imola and already from the Saturday I was pretty tired. So yeah, definitely that was a good learning and I don’t want that to happen again.

Q: (Panagiotis Seitanidis – Antenna TV Greece) A question for Kimi. Obviously, you are the home hero and whole Italy cheers for you. But when you were in Santorini this summer, everybody was sending me pictures — “Oh, Kimi’s here, Kimi’s there.” How do you cope with this sudden stardom of F1 even in places where there is no race and you don’t have your team kit? And secondly, what did you like about our country?

KA: Well, first of all, I love Greece. I went already a couple of times and I think it’s a really great place to spend summer — whether with family, with a girlfriend, or with friends. I think it’s really nice, the place, first of all, because it allows you to disconnect and to relax. And the other question — you kind of expect it a little bit, especially when you’re racing at the peak of the sport. But it’s obviously super nice to see that there are already a lot of fans supporting you. I just try to embrace this as well — getting the positive energy from them. Of course, sometimes you need to maybe say no, but in that occasion, on holiday, I was happy with that. I was just trying to get the positive energy from them, and it’s always nice to have these kinds of things.

Q: (Ian Parkes – RacingNews365.com) Question for you, Fernando. You've been involved in many a great title tussle over the years — some you've won, some you've lost. When you're in the position that Lando and Oscar are in right now, what's the ideal mindset to take, particularly when you know, given that it's strictly between those two, that any mistake or any incident — as Lando unfortunately suffered on Sunday — can prove incredibly costly?

FA: Yeah. I mean, nothing you can do on the external factors. You just need to deliver the job every weekend as they do. They are doing incredibly well. They have a very strong car, but they keep delivering always, even on the difficult weekends. Lando was unlucky in Zandvoort, but still many races to go. So you just focus on winning every weekend if you can. And if you do that, you will be champion. And accepting that sometimes you will be second or third, and try to keep the next one alive.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Franco, after one year in Formula 1, which are the aspects in which you feel more comfortable? And which are the ones where you still have to try hard?

FC: Yeah, I think that one year ago everything was new, and everything was tricky to get used to it so quickly. Now I’ve got a lot more experience, a lot more time. I think that step of suddenly having to work with 20 engineers, or 30 engineers, in the factory — and in F2 you only had one person really to talk to and get all that information out. Here, it is a really big team. It’s a lot of people putting a lot of effort to make that car go quick. It's more than a thousand people in the factory making that car to put it out on track. And I think that’s the best thing I’ve learned — to work well with everyone and with the team, and to understand that for it to go well, it needs to be really strong from the base. And I think working with the team constantly really brings a big help to make the car go quick and do what you want it to do. That’s really important.

Q: (Ludo van Denderen – GPBlog.com) Fernando, with your company, you signed René Ramos last week as one of your drivers to be managed. What do you expect from him, and do you see a future for him in Formula 1?

FA: Well, I mean, at that age, you never know what the future will bring. Every driver that we take in aged 14 — obviously, we try to help as much as we can to follow their dreams. But ultimately, I think you want to be a professional driver. When you are in karting and in junior formulas, you normally have to invest money, and everything is expensive. You need to keep deciding which programme you do the following year depending a little bit on the budget as well. So if we can manage to have drivers that are professional and get paid to perform the job in the future, that's already the first goal. To get to F1, obviously, that’s the dream of all the young drivers. And the problem in Formula 1 is that there are only 22 [seats]. That’s the only filter that you need to go through eventually. But he has the talent. He has been extremely fast in karting, attracted the attention of many Formula 4 teams, and he’s doing very well in single-seaters. So for sure, he’s one of the most promising drivers we have in the academy.

Q: (Leonid Kliuev – GrandePremio.com.br) Question for all three. In Zandvoort, Carlos was quite vocal about the stewards' decision on the collision with Liam. Did you guys talk about it in the drivers’ WhatsApp group? And are you now unsure what’s allowed and what’s not?

KA: I mean, not really. I was already busy with my stuff and with what I did. So I didn’t really have to look at it. FC: No. I don’t really know. I think he said he wanted a meeting with the stewards after, so we should ask him. We’re not in that meeting, so I don’t know. FA: Yeah, same. No. I didn’t know anything further.

Q: (Jake Boxall-Legge – Autosport) A question for Franco, please. Franco, you said after Zandvoort that your team didn’t maybe maximise the chances to get you into the points. I think it was about you and PS switching positions. Did you get clarification after the race on that incident? Are you happy with how it was handled in retrospect?

FC: Yeah. I think it was a really good weekend. In general, I was really happy with how it went. We did find a lot of performance, and in the race I think we did a good job on the strategy. The team did a good job as well. I think everything was very clear. We did swap positions and everything was good on that. We were just very close to the points, and it was a bit of a pity we didn’t score, but I’m sure it will come soon.

Q: A question for Kimi. After what happened in Zandvoort, do you think it’s best for you that there is another race straight away, even if that comes with the extra pressure of being on home soil?

KA: Yeah. For sure. I think in the race I was having good momentum. The pace was strong, and especially on that hard tire I felt pretty well. I was able to catch, lap by lap, the group in front. And then of course, the contact happened, which obviously was not ideal. In the moment I felt like going for it, also because it was probably my only chance. So yeah, just a shame — obviously it wasn’t me. But of course it’s always nice to have a back-to-back race because, despite what happened, I can still carry this momentum into this race weekend, especially after seeing that the pace overall was better. So hopefully we can keep working, keep improving, and then deliver a great result this weekend.

Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Question for Franco and Kimi. About the possible increase in the number of sprint races — do you think that it will make life for rookies more difficult, considering they will have less time in practice to learn and experiment?

KA: I think yeah. I mean, it obviously depends on the track. If it’s a new track, it’s a bit tougher for rookies because they have to get up to speed — like we had to do in a couple of occasions this year, such as China, Miami, and Austin as well with Sprint. So sometimes it’s tough. But if you have the confidence, you’re able to build up into the session and find your rhythm pretty quick. Compared to more experienced drivers, it can be a bit of a disadvantage because you don’t know the detail of the track, where you can make most of the time and where you can lose the most. But overall, if you’re able to get up to speed quickly, and especially if you have the confidence, you can still deliver a good result even with one practice. FC: I think we are used to two weekends — it's very short, very small amount of laps before quali — and you need to be very quick on top of it. It’s always tricky when you don’t know the track. I had that last year. I think Austin and Qatar were Sprints. I didn’t know the track, so it’s tricky, but I still had a good result there in Sprint Quali in Austin. So it’s not — I think if you prep well nowadays, the simulator also helps a lot. So yeah, if you can be on top of it and do a good prep, it really helps. We are used to not having a lot of laps in practice, so it’s not too bad, I think.

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