Max Verstappen:
"The beginning of the race was a bit tricky, it was hard to follow in the train of cars because there was very low grip. At one point it all settled down a bit, I could move forward and the safety car helped a little bit. It was about being calm and overtaking the cars one by one. In general P2 was always the target today. Today was about recovering what was possible, if I had qualified P1 then today would have looked very different. I was catching Checo towards the end of the race but we calculated it wouldn't be enough to make up the gap to him by the end of the race. I started to feel a vibration in the laps where I was catching and trying to push, I started to feel some instability in the car. Sometimes it's better to just tell yourself it's better to bring that P2 home. As a Team we have to work on making sure both cars are reliable because we have a very fast car but I still think we can do a better job. I would like a clean weekend in Melbourne to maximise everything we can. I am happy with the way it is turning it out at the moment but it is still a long season."
Sergio Perez:
"I had a wicked race - which is a new word I learnt this week! I didn't have a great start but after I got back around Fernando, I was able to create a good gap between the rest of the field and me... until the safety car came out and I was reminded of Jeddah 2022... It was a new race after the safety car though and I'm happy I was able to build a gap again and then keep it, even when Max was pushing at the end. Everyone back in Milton Keynes and here at the track have built such a fantastic car for us this season. I love being a part of this Team because of the way we push and the way we deliver, I'm so proud of us. The Team is working at such a high level so it's really great to be a part of. In the end, we must remember it's a long season but tonight was a massive team result."
Charles Leclerc:
There wasn't much more we could have extracted today. Our first stint on the Softs was pretty strong and I could push, making up some positions. Just after we switched to Hards, the Safety Car came out so unfortunately we didn't gain an advantage there. Our pace was not as good as we expected on the Hards and the rest of the race was spent in a train with Carlos. We have work to do on our race pace and will push to come back stronger in Australia.
Carlos Sainz:
It was a tough Sunday. Going into the race and looking at the sessions over the weekend, we were expecting a better race pace. We have work to do and we know the car is not where we want it to be at the moment. However, we will keep pushing and I am fully confident we can improve the situation.
Lewis Hamilton:
We got some great points as a Team today. George getting third is amazing and I was able to move forward from seventh to fifth, which is the main thing. If I had qualified better then maybe I could have got a better result, but we still got some points. My set-up this weekend has been the biggest issue I've faced. I got it wrong for Qualifying and it wasn't good in the race either, so I struggled today. We were trying to go long on the hard tyre, but the Safety Car came out, so I had to pit. We just about managed to make the medium work, but it was a long second stint. We didn't have the same tyre degradation as we did in Bahrain, though. We were a lot closer to some of those ahead and it's great to be in the top five, ahead of the Ferraris. There is lots to work on but there are positives to take away from this weekend.
George Russell:
When you put the hard work in and it pays dividends, you come away feeling satisfied. We finished ahead of both Ferraris on merit today and we know we've got a lot of performance to come soon. The gap to the Red Bulls is still considerable, but we'll take the positives from the weekend, keep fighting as hard as we can and focusing on ourselves. It was an interesting race. After the Safety Car I was on the hard tyre and Lewis was behind on the medium. He had a bit more pace at the beginning, but I knew my pace would come at the end. Fernando deserved to be on the podium today and I was pleased with P4. I'm not complaining too much about taking home a trophy though, and we will take the extra points!
Esteban Ocon:
"Overall, I would say it's been a reasonable race for the team. The final result reflects our performance in the race and eighth place is the maximum we could have achieved today. Having both cars in the points is definitely positive, especially after Bahrain, but we must not be completely satisfied with where we are at the moment. Our car has potential and we will continue learning and building to catch up to our competitors. We want to challenge for positions higher up the grid, and we will keep working hard to do that. We will debrief on this weekend and our attention will quickly turn to Australia where we'll aim for more."
Pierre Gasly:
"It's definitely satisfying to make it two points finishes from my first two races with the team. I think finishing in eighth and ninth was the best we could achieve today, though. We're making positive steps; we're learning things each time we get in the car and we must continue to apply that knowledge to keep improving the overall package. On my side, there's more to come, especially in extracting the maximum in Qualifying, which will allow us better track position for the Race. I'm looking forward to debriefing with the team, continuing my learning and going again in Australia where we want to show further improvements."
Lando Norris
"Tough race, we were very unlucky today. I had a really good start but then got hit with debris which damaged my front wing. We did our best to try to come out with something, but no luck was on our side. We did the best job we could, working as a team, but it was difficult to achieve anything more than what we did. So, it's tough, but now our focus is on Australia where we hope to do a better job."
Oscar Piastri
"Obviously it's not the day we were looking for, there was contact at the beginning where I lost part of my front wing. I'm not sure if there was anything I could have done really, I was squeezed a little bit. There was some good racing at the end, which was nice and obviously I did a long stint on the Hards, so it's good to get a bit of learning for the tyres but overall, it's not what we were looking for tonight."
Valtteri Bottas:
"Our qualifying performance yesterday was similar to the one we had in Bahrain, so we had good hopes for tonight, but unfortunately the race was a very different affair. The car didn't feel right, we couldn't get any grip from the beginning of the race and we need to figure out exactly what happened. I ran over a large piece of debris on lap one, so perhaps I was carrying some damage to the floor: we'll look at the car and at the data and understand more to prepare for Melbourne. I believe our car is much better than what we've shown tonight: Zhou had a much better pace, so I don't think this weekend was very representative, and I am confident we can be back fighting for points in Australia."
Guanyu Zhou:
"We looked strong in the first stint, our pace was good and it seemed the top ten was within reach. Of course, track position always makes the difference on street circuits like this one, and, unfortunately, I got stuck in a DRS train once the Safety Car came out. My race was compromised from that moment onwards, and there wasn't much more we could do. Today just hasn't been our day, but I think we can achieve much more as a team going forward. We get a new chance in a few weeks in Melbourne, where we will be bringing some upgrades to our car: hopefully they'll allow us to make the step forward we need to continue fighting for points. We're have shown we can do it and that we can fight towards the front, and I am confident we can achieve that again in Australia."
Lance Stroll:
"It was disappointing to retire from the Grand Prix after such a promising weekend. I had a great start and really enjoyed overtaking Carlos [Sainz] around the outside of Turn 13. We were in a good position on track and I was having fun pushing, but then I started experiencing reduced power and got the call to stop the car. It is not the result we wanted, but we leave Saudi Arabia knowing that we have a very competitive car and we will pick up the fight next time out in Australia."
Fernando Alonso:
"I am happy in the end with the result tonight and our second podium. We showed that we can be the second fastest team and we had good pace throughout the race. It was my mistake at the start with the position on the grid, but we pushed to make up that time. Coming into this weekend we were not sure exactly where we would be, so this is good news for us going into the next few races. I am looking forward to Australia next."
Kevin Magnussen:
"A point means a lot. We didn't start the weekend on the right foot but it seemed like we really turned things around and found a groove for qualifying. Unfortunately, we had this issue with the gearbox that we didn't have today, which was really nice. We were able to have a good race, get a good start, manage the tires well - especially on the hard compound when I was on older tires than Tsunoda and actually had less degradation. I was then able to get past him at the end, and we managed to get a point."
Nico Hulkenberg:
"It was eventful. It's always a massive challenge here on this track and it was tight. On one hand I'm disappointed I missed out on a point, but on the other hand I'm very pleased that I completed the race and we've learned a lot. The underlying positive news is that we're competitive. It was difficult to judge in Bahrain with damage, but here today we're definitely competitive in the midfield and that makes me happy."
Yuki Tsunoda:
"I ended the race in P11, it's frustrating to lose the position with only four laps to go. The team did a really great job, everything went perfectly. The pace on the medium tyre was very strong and it improved compared to qualifying. I'm happy with what the team and I achieved together, but at the same time, I'm disappointed we didn't reach the points in the end. We'll come back stronger with updates in Melbourne, so we are already fully focussed on the next race, where we will do our best to maximise our performance. We'll continue to work hard to be able to fight at the top of the midfield and start scoring points consistently."
Nyck de Vries:
"I didn't do a good enough job today. I lost most of my momentum at the start and restart, so I got stuck in traffic. It's difficult to regain that rhythm and make up the positions, especially when you're caught in a DRS train. I didn't attack enough and struggled to find the balance between managing the tyres well and pushing, so I was unable to get them to the right temperature. In the end, when I was in clean air chasing Zhou, my pace was very strong and consistent. Generally, it was a step up from Bahrain, so that's a positive. We definitely need to keep going and continue to push."
Alex Albon:
It was a frustrating day, as this weekend we felt really strong as a team and I've been really impressed with where the car is compared to where we were last year. It's been such a pleasure getting to drive the car and unfortunately when it mattered in qualifying, we couldn't quite execute, followed by the issue in the race, so it's frustrating as we could have scored points this weekend. I'd much rather be disappointed, knowing the car has got pace than just finishing at the back, so it's a different kind of disappointment with lots of positives and the opportunity to turn it around and come back fighting.
Logan Sargeant:
Today I struggled a bit more than yesterday. The first 30 laps or so were pretty good and then I just struggled there at the end to keep a hold of the tyres, we were losing a lot of grip. Nevertheless, we made it through another one and learned a lot. I definitely feel more confident ahead of the next race. I showed this weekend that on a difficult track I can be really quick, so I can take that going into Melbourne and hopefully replicate and keep improving. Over the past two races I've learned an enormous amount; I feel like everything is becoming more natural and I'm trying to get things to become second nature and keep implementing them. It's not going to happen all at once, it's more a case of constantly building and understanding better.
