Heineken Grande Premio do Brasil

Driver Quotes - Sunday 17 November

Lewis Hamilton: It was a great race, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was hopefully fun for people to watch, although the result is upsetting. I never want to collide with anyone, it was really unfortunate with Alex. Naturally I take it on me, it was my fault, I was coming from behind. He was doing a great job, so apologies to him. I gave it absolutely everything and more today, I was pushing so hard in every lap just to keep up with Max in front of me. We really didn't have a lot of pace today and I think we were probably going faster than we should have gone. Congratulations to Red Bull, they did the better job today and deserved the win. They were extremely quick today, I was basically a sitting duck on the straights. There's one more race to go in this season, so we will be pushing for a better result in Abu Dhabi.

Valtteri Bottas: It was a tricky race overall, even before I had to retire the car. The pace wasn't quite there today, so we will have to investigate that. I was aiming to do a one-stop and go to the end on the Hard tyres, but I had to pit again as we were concerned that the tyres wouldn't last until the end. It's obviously not ideal to switch strategies like that, but it didn't really matter in the end as I didn't finish the race. I don't know the details yet, I just suddenly lost power, so we will have look into that and see what caused it. It was very disappointing especially since there was a lot happening afterwards, so it would have been nice to be a part of that action. I'm now looking forward to the race in Abu Dhabi, we want to come back strong and finish the season on a high.

Sebastian Vettel: "The summary of the day is that we did not finish a race in which we could have got a good result. It's a shame about the collision between us, especially for the team as a whole, given that both cars were in the points and considering how much work everyone puts in, both at the track and back in Maranello.

"From my point of view, the race was going well, even if I think that Max (Verstappen) was uncatchable today. Now we must just focus on the final race of the season where will try and bring home the best possible result."

Charles Leclerc: "It's a real pity to end the weekend like this. I am sorry for the whole team, especially because today we were fast and we were looking good to bring home some decent points.

"It had actually been an exciting race for me. Starting from the midfield, I enjoyed fighting my way forward and was satisfied with the way things were progressing.

"We will move on from this in any case and continue to work together in the best way. Now it's time for us to focus on Abu Dhabi to end our season in the best possible way."

Max Verstappen: "It's an incredible feeling right now and to win today was a huge Team effort. It was a crazy race with a lot of action and fighting but luckily we always had the pace to counter back and overtake Mercedes in every scenario. It wasn't easy out there but the Team made all the right calls, especially at the end to pit for the soft tyres during the Safety Car which gave us the win today. As a Team you always try and make everything perfect, I focus on my job and the Team also try to do a perfect job in the pits and on the strategy and clearly today it worked out pretty perfectly. It's a great victory, after last year of course, but more for the way the race unfolded and how we all had to work together. Today and the whole weekend the car and Honda power unit have been working really well and we have made a step so thank you to everyone for that. It is of course a massive shame that Alex could not be on the podium with me as it would have been an even better result for the Team but it's great for Pierre to be up here and for Toro Rosso and Honda."

Alexander Albon: "Of course I'm frustrated but I'm not angry, I'm just upset. I wanted that podium and we deserved it as it was on merit. At the Safety Car restart we had some fun and I enjoyed battling with the Ferraris, the overtake felt good! Obviously Lewis had good grip once he pitted and I think he would've got me eventually into Turn 1, but I thought worst case scenario we had P3. I had a good gap to Lewis and I wasn't worrying about him. I went into the corner deep just to cover him so he didn't get any ideas, and then there's a blind spot and obviously we made contact. Of course he didn't do it on purpose, it's just one of those things and today wasn't meant to be. It's done now and we'll focus on the positives before the next race. Congratulations also to Max, he drove really well and deserved the win."

Daniel Ricciardo: "After the early incident, I would have said ‘no way we could finish seventh', so I'm quite happy with that. I take responsibility for the incident with Kevin. It was close, but I went into him and he spun. Sometimes you can do that and it works, but sometimes you touch wheels. In that situation you think the race is over, but we kept our heads down and managed a really strong race. The safety car restarts were fun and it was good out there. There's one more to go now and I'm excited for that."

Nico Hulkenberg: "I don't really know what happened today and I just couldn't seem to make progress in the race. There was some excitement at the end with the safety cars and the restarts. It was fun with some battling, but it just wasn't happening for me today. It shows how important qualifying is to be right up there and being in a position to gain places."

Romain Grosjean: "First of all, I'm very happy for Pierre (Gasly), it's good to see him on the podium. I'm very happy for him. I was the last Frenchman on the podium four years ago. As for us today, we just didn't get any luck. We were doing the race of our life, we were hanging on in there in P7 with a car that doesn't deserve that. We were doing an amazing job and then the safety car fell at exactly the wrong time for us. The tires at the restart were just tired from a long stint. We knew we could go to the end, but then Sainz pushed me wide at the restart into turn two. I'm not very happy about that. We pushed the car to the limit today, it just wasn't our time."

Kevin Magnussen: "It's a shame, this feels like a missed opportunity for the team today - it just didn't go our way. I got turned around at the beginning of the race and lost a lot of positions, I then had damage on the front wing. At the safety car later, everyone else was just a lot stronger than us at the restart, I just didn't have enough to hang onto it. I got passed and ultimately missed out on the points by just one place - which doesn't feel good."

Carlos Sainz: "Yes! What a day! It's a weird first podium not being there straight after the race, but I'm extremely happy with our race today. To finish P3 coming all the way from the back of the grid was a big challenge, but we fought until the end with everything we had! It was a very eventful race and I think I was the only car to do a one-stop strategy. It was really difficult to hold the other midfield cars behind after the two Safety Car re-starts, but I managed to defend my position well and took advantage of what happened at the front of the race.

"A good first stint, a great pit-stop from the guys and a very challenging and long stint to bring it home and finish P3 for the first time in my career. Congrats to the whole team, here and back in Woking! My first podium is obviously very special but we need to keep pushing to step up there on pure pace! That's what we're really here for, that has to be our goal!"

Lando Norris "A tough, long race, a good result for the team and awesome for Carlos. My first stint was alright, apart from getting boxed-in at the start, and my pace was okay. I boxed onto the Hard tyre and struggled, I just didn't seem to get them working at all.

"I was then fortunate with the Safety Car allowing me to make up positions after stopping again for Mediums. Carlos on the podium, both cars in the points, is a great reward for everyone here and at the factory who have worked hard for Carlos and I this weekend."

Sergio Perez: "It was a very chaotic race - especially the final ten laps when the Safety Car brought all the cars together again. Unfortunately it was difficult for us to really fight out there today because we lacked speed on the straights, which meant that we got overtaken easily and couldn't fight back. In the end, our two points are really deserved and I'm pleased we came away with something. Unfortunately, we couldn't fight for higher positions."

Lance Stroll: "There's not much to say today: it was a really disappointing afternoon. I ran over some debris from the Ferrari incident and that was it, my race was over. It had been a really close race up until then and the Safety Car really mixed things up and changed the race for everybody. It's a shame because up until then I was on a one-stop strategy, my tyres were performing well, and we were definitely in a position to grab some points today."

Kimi Raikkonen: "It's great to finally be able to celebrate our best result of the season as a team. It was a positive day and finally we were able to get the result we worked so hard for. We kept on our own most of the race, but at the end we were in the middle of the action. I am disappointed we couldn't get past Sainz for what turned out to be the final podium position: we had the speed, got a good run on him twice but couldn't get past. But you always want something more: in the end, it's good to get big points with both cars."

Antonio Giovinazzi: "I am really, really happy today, for both myself and the team. What a great race, it was a fantastic way to celebrate my contract for next year with two cars in the points. We had a great start, the best this year - we made up three places and went straight into the top ten, but we still had a lot of work to do. The strategy was great, the restarts were very important, especially the final one when I was under pressure from Daniel [Ricciardo]. The last ten laps were crazy, it was quite intense but we managed to stay ahead. Everyone in the team did a wonderful job and we can be really happy with our work. We are improving race after race and we can now focus on Abu Dhabi and on finishing the season in the right way."

Daniil Kvyat: "Starting from P16 I knew it wasn't going to be easy today. There not much to say, it was a difficult race until my safety car restart on the last lap, as I was able to overtake three cars, getting at least one point. It's the second podium for Toro Rosso this year and I think we are the only midfield team who achieved that, so we can be really pleased with our effort. We scored many points today, taking back the sixth position in the Championship. Today's result is a great achievement for the team."

Pierre Gasly: "This is just incredible! My first podium in Formula 1 and with Toro Rosso. I kept working every race on myself, I always thought that if I could be in the right place at the right time something will come, and today it happened, it's just amazing - I have so many emotions! I've always said the team is my Italian family, I love their spirit and passion, they always push like hell and today was the best present I could give back to thank them for their massive constant effort. You dream a lot about being in F1, you dream about your first podium, but then when it happens all of the emotions coming through me are just unpredictable, it's just the best day of my life right now. I want to send a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me since the start of my career and have gotten me to where I am today."