Part 1: Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen

Q: Carlos, why don't we start with you? how was the break? I gather you've been comparing yourself on a bike to the world number one?
Carlos Sainz: Comparing, I don't think it's the right word. I've been suffering next to the world number one, that by the way is in incredible form and an incredible moment for Tadej Pogacar, now that he's killing it in cycling. And I had the brilliant idea to go on a recovery ride for him. For me, it was the toughest ride of my life. He was on recovery mode after winning the world champs. And yeah, his recovery ride is still my zone five heart rate, zone four, zone five. So it just shows the difference. I mean, we are athletes in our sport. Obviously what we do is special in terms of reflexes and car handling and skills, but what he does on top of a bike is just incredible. And anyone who's been on a bike before, I cannot imagine how much this guy pushes on a bike.

Q: Sounds like you learned a lot. Tell us about the mood inside Ferrari as we come to Austin. Is the team confident that it can maintain the form that it's shown on street tracks in recent races?
CS: I think the more tracks that we've done since Monza, the more confident we are that the upgrades that we brought to the car start to work pretty much everywhere. But for me, I always said, no, with the last three races, I said, until we don't go to Austin and we try them in a normal track, we will not be able to measure how much we've actually improved in tracks like Zandvoort, Spa, where we last struggled a bit more. So I think this will be the most important test so far for us to see whether all these upgrades that we brought in the past are working in the right direction for more of a normal kind of truck like we see here in Austin.

Q: And can you just clarify, are there any new parts here or is it just consolidation of what you bought before?
CS: Nothing new here is what we brought in Monza. And I think we brought a small upgrade in the front wing for Singapore. But yeah, more than that it's confirming whether our better pace in the last three races is coming more from going to three tracks that really suited us, like Monza, Baku, and Singapore. or whether it's also the upgrades having a big effect on whether we were more competitive in those three tracks. And Austin will be able to tell us which one of the two it is.

Q: Carlos, how are you approaching these last six races with Ferrari? Are you all consumed with the challenge ahead at Williams, or are you still focused on what you've got to do with your current team?
CS: For me it's two separate things. I'm really looking forward to next year and the challenge with Williams. First of all, it's also good to see how much they've improved recently and how that car now can get to the points quite often in the last few races. So there's encouragement, and looking forward to that, obviously. But there's first a job to finish this year with six races left in a car that can potentially allow me to win a race or score a couple more podiums. And I want to maximise this opportunity to see if I can help the team also finish as far ahead as possible in the Constructors' Championship and obviously give myself that big present of a nice podium or a win, which is what I'm looking for and what I'm focusing on with the last six races.

Q: Alright, well, good luck with that. Thank you. Esteban, let's come to you now. First of all, how was the break? Are you feeling refreshed? Any cycling for you?
Esteban Ocon: It was good, thank you. Cycling, not as hard probably as Carlos, but, yeah, trained well, rested well, spent time with family and friends and, yeah, ready to go again. I mean, it can sound silly, but, you know, it makes a difference to how ready and how much energy all the team have coming into these last races and we'll see hopefully how that goes for us.

Q: Well, on track, you've had a tough time of it since the summer break. You could do with a change of luck. How do you think it's going to go this weekend? Do you think Alpine and COTA will be well matched?
EO: Yeah, I mean, it's been obviously a difficult run of races with the performance of the car. That is very clear. Unfortunately, we maximised the potential in Singapore, but, you know, that wasn't enough for us to be points scorers. You know, Pierre will have upgrades. I will run the old car this weekend and we should hopefully have the upgrades for the next races onwards. So, yeah, we're excited to see what that's going to bring to the performance of the team and hopefully it will be a better position for us to end this season.

Q: Can we throw it even further forward now to next year? Your team for next year, Haas, have recently announced a technical collaboration with Toyota. Can we get your reaction to that news? It must feel like a good time to be joining the team.
EO: Yeah, for sure. Back then, Ayao convinced me with the plan he had. He didn't specifically talk about that, but he really told me what his plan was to take this team to the next level and help on the things that the team have the chance to improve on. He convinced me back then and it reinforces me to clearly trust him for the future. I think it's exciting times for the teams ahead.

Q: Esteban, thank you. Kevin, let's come to you now. How was your break?
Kevin Magnussen: It was good, thank you.

Q: What did you get up to? Anything you can share?
KM: Not a whole lot, you know, just kind of spent my time at home with the family and lived a normal life for a while. So that was nice. Yeah, refreshing myself for the last few races here.

Q: Well, and you said a moment ago, just off camera, that you've done one race in the last seven weeks. So you must be hungry to get back on track?
KM: Yeah, it's not been a lot of races recently because I had that race ban. So it's just been that one race in Singapore since Monza. So it feels like a quiet time that I've had recently.

Q: Now, Haas has new parts here this weekend. It seems that medium downforce tracks suit your car as well. So do you enter this weekend with quite a lot of confidence?
KM: I think this year we've been pretty strong at most circuits. There has been a little bit more of a competitive edge at medium downforce tracks. This one is kind of close to high downforce, so we're not so sure what we're going to run. It's not a bad track for us, I think. There's some upgrades on the car and we're excited to see if they're going to be good again. I think this year we've brought a few upgrades that have been working, so that's been a really good trend. We're in a tight fight with RB for P6 in the Constructors' and we're very motivated to take that battle to them and see if we can. If we can beat them, you know, Williams are not that far behind us as well. So there's, you know, we're focused both in front and behind. So it's pretty interesting.

Q: Who do you think has the faster car, you or VCARB? Because as you say, you are only three points behind them in the Constructors' Championship.
KM: Recently, we've had a slightly faster car, at least in the races. And, you know, maybe they've been a bit faster in qualifying. We've been a bit stronger in the races. So, yeah, with the upgrades this week, hopefully we can take a small step there and be that much faster in qualifying as well. Yeah, I hope so.

Q: Kevin, final one from me. I was talking to Esteban about the technical collaboration with Toyota. It comes in with immediate effect, so do you think you're going to see the positives from that before the end of this season?
KM: I don't think so. I think it's a longer-term thing, but I do think it's very positive for Haas and I think a very good way to expand the operation and a very needed step, I think. I think what Haas has achieved in those years already has been quite impressive. If you actually know the operation and how small it is, it's kind of impressive what we have been able to achieve. But there has always been a feeling of potential for more. I think this is a good step to move further into that direction. I think it's going to be interesting to see where they go.

Questions From The Floor

Q: (David Croft - Sky Sports F1) A question to all three drivers. Whilst you can't always compete for a race win on the track, you can always compete for a fastest lap and an extra point if you finish in the top ten. that goes with it. But it seems the fun sponges have decided we're not going to have an extra point in the future and they've taken that away. Do you, as drivers, agree with that or would you have liked an extra point for a fastest lap to have remained as part of your weekend tally should you get it?
CS: I always was of the opinion that it was a not-needed point in the points system of Formula 1, mainly because of how it is achieved. Right now, that point goes to the one that has a free pit stop one lap to the end of the race. So it's not showing who is the fastest guy in the race, and he deserves one point for being the fastest guy. It's a point that goes to the guy that by chance or by luck or by race situation has a free pit stop at some point of the race. It's not always the case. Not always, but in a lot of occasions, most of the times.

Q: Would you like to see a point awarded for something else? Maybe pole position?
CS: Yeah, I agree. Pole position is something that, at least in Formula 1, is given a lot of value. Qualifying is something that media people keep a lot of importance to know. And obviously as drivers in qualifying, we like being the fastest because it shows you've maybe have done the cleanest lap. You've taken maybe more risks. You've put everything on the line to go on pole. And a point for that in a tight field makes sense. In a field where only one car is going to get all the pole positions makes less sense. But in the ideal scenario of a tight field and one guy going for it in qualifying and getting that pole position, I think it could make more sense than the fastest lap of the race.

EO: I join Carlos. I think for us drivers, being on pole is something very important to us and I think to all of you guys. it's something that we put a lot of effort on and that is very rewarding. On the race, we race to win. You don't necessarily race to be fastest on one lap. I never thought that this is a good thing, to have one point, for the race. But for pole position, it would be much more rewarding and that's something I would prefer.

KM: Not a whole lot to add from the perspective of a midfield team. I think it's something that very rarely is on our mind. If we're in top 10, even if you're P6, P7, it's very rare that you will have a pit stop gap to go with what Carly says. For us, it's never been relevant.