Zach Brown: Pole position is crucial on this track.

      Commenting on Saturday's results, Zach Brown, executive director of McLaren Racing, noted not only Oscar Piastri's pole position, the first in the Australian driver's career, but also George Russell's successful performance, as well as Lewis Hamilton's first victory behind the wheel of a Ferrari.

      Question: Congratulations! Oscar won the qualification for the first time, so I assume you're happy?Zach Brown: Yes, it's wonderful! He was close to winning pole more than once, started from the front row more than once, but now he has completed a great lap in the final of qualifying. I think only he and George Russell managed to improve the time in the second sector, as the wind direction changed, but Oscar drove the third sector perfectly.

      Question: How important is it for him to show such a result right now, after the stage in Australia, where he clearly could have achieved more, but it didn't work out?Zach Brown: Of course it's important, especially since the weekend is not going so smoothly for us. We know that we have the pace, we know that we have fast riders, and although Oscar had a great sprint, the same cannot be said about Lando. He's still in a bit of a grumpy mood due to the fact that he couldn't break into the first starting row, although he lost quite a bit to his teammate.

      I think this confirms what we said before the start of the season: the results promise to be very solid. It's enough to make a mistake in one of the sectors or block the brakes once, and you're not the first, but the third or sixth. But I am very happy for Oscar, who won his first pole, and I can only repeat once again: McLaren has the strongest squad, and this can be seen from the results.

      Q: Are you surprised that George Russell's Mercedes is wedged between two McLaren cars?Zach Brown: Well done, George, he managed to do a great lap, and I just told Toto Wolff that it would be great if Mercedes-powered cars took the top three positions at the start of the race! We expected Max Verstappen to probably make it to the front row, but George did it, and we like him.

      Q: Before you took over McLaren Racing, you were very successful in marketing. As an expert in this field, what would you say about Lewis Hamilton's victory at the wheel of a Ferrari in today's sprint?Zach Brown: I was very pleased with his victory. And even if he's not our driver, he used to drive for McLaren. He's joined Ferrari now, but he's our ex, and he's always welcome in the McLaren family. We love fighting with Ferrari on the track, and it's especially nice to see that Lewis has adapted quickly to his new team and has already started winning. But that's exactly what we expect from him!

      Q: How important is it for Oscar that he starts from pole position and the track opens up in front of him? We saw today that many riders had very serious problems with tires.…Zach Brown: It's critically important on the Shanghai circuit. When Oscar overtook Max during the sprint, we expected him to catch up with Lewis, but he did not succeed. In general, it is especially important here that the track in front of you is clear, and we hope that Oscar will be able to start well and keep the lead.