Belgian Grand Prix: Post-Race Comments

      Pirelli

      Dario Marrafruschi, director of Pirelli Motorsport: "All three compounds played their role in teams' strategy choices for the Belgian Grand Prix. Tire wear turned out to be lower than in previous days, as the asphalt temperature, partly due to a few drops of rain, decreased slightly compared to the beginning of the weekend. This allowed drivers to extend their stint.

      Only Ferrari decided to slightly deviate from the strategy of their direct competitors, extending the opening stint on Medium in hopes of a real or virtual safety car deployment, which eventually happened. This allowed the team to reduce pit stop time and change tires for both drivers on the same lap.

      Only Sainz and Bottas chose to start on Soft tires. In our opinion, this strategy would have worked better in the second half of the race to fight against competitors through an "undercut". From a strategic point of view, despite the safety car deployment and the announcement of the VSC mode, the race turned out to be quite straightforward."

      Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team

      Toto Wolff, team principal: "I am very happy for Kimi Antonelli; he truly deserved this victory! He should have won in Silverstone if it weren't for car issues. But in Spa, he conducted the entire weekend very confidently, making no mistakes. Even when he was unlucky, as the virtual safety car was deployed at an unfortunate moment for him, and he lost the lead, he was still able to recover and bring the race to victory. This is a well-deserved success.

      Regarding George Russell, we need to focus on two points. Firstly, we regret the incident on the first lap, which cost him and the team a lot of points. But all Mercedes engines have the same issue – we lack speed on the straights. Because of this, George faced serious difficulties, and the responsibility lies entirely with us.

      The team is making every effort to resolve the issue. We have the most powerful power units, the car is fast, and it allows us to fight for victories. Everyone is trying to make fewer mistakes, but it still happens because we are all human. In Silverstone, we let Kimi down, and there George ended up on the podium, probably achieving a higher result than expected.

      We had retirements in Montreal and Barcelona, and these stories also reflect on the course of our season. But Formula 1 is a technical sport. We have created an excellent power unit, and I prefer to focus on improving its reliability rather than trying to increase its power or speed.

      In that incident, George was trying to overtake Lewis on the outside line, braked very late, and should have gone ahead at Turn 5, but a racing incident occurred. They can happen regardless of whether you are fighting in the front rows, in the middle, or at the back of the pack.

      Russell's difficulties this weekend are probably half related to the power unit, which was not performing as it should, but it is also possible that they are partly related to driving. However, we all make mistakes, and today the team did not act in the best way. Next time, it could be the driver's turn to make a mistake, but we just have to try to minimize errors and support each other."

      Kimi Antonelli (1st): "It's great to be back on the top of the podium after a few challenging races this season. But I had to fight for the race win! We lost the lead due to the virtual safety car being deployed, but then we managed to recover.

      It was a tough victory, as Charles Leclerc was driving very fast, and we had to really push to overtake Ferrari. We had speed at all stages of the season, but we didn't always achieve the desired results. But speaking about the championship situation, we were a bit lucky today.

      That's why we need to try to seize every opportunity, you know? Because we see that the situation can change easily, and the task is to continue showing high results. And we'll see what happens at the end of the year. But we will try to continue in the same vein."

      George Russell (retirement): "I lost three positions on the straight before Turn 5, and what happened there was just a racing incident. Maybe I could have taken the corner on a wider line, maybe Lewis could have braked more aggressively. But if my car had higher speed on the straight, the crash could have been avoided. So I'm very upset.

      As for the championship situation, I currently have no words to comment on it. I appreciate the team's efforts to find the causes of the problems with my car, as I felt I was starting from a good position and had chances to fight for the lead at Turn 1, but first it turned out that the car lacked power, and then I retired from the race..."

      Scuderia Ferrari

      Charles Leclerc (2nd): "I believed in victory until the very finish. Of course, I was a bit lucky that the virtual safety car was deployed at a very convenient moment for us. But the race pace itself was quite high.

      There were about five or six laps on Hard tires during which I had issues with the front tires, but then the situation improved somewhat, and I started to feel more confident behind the wheel.

      We have a lot of work ahead, but there is no doubt that we have made a step forward."

      Lewis Hamilton (4th): "I can't say that I was unlucky today. I'm thinking about the mistake I made yesterday, and I fully take responsibility for finishing in fourth place.

      On Saturday, I crashed the car, and when it was being repaired, something was missed in the suspension, which changed the balance. Because of this, I was slower in qualifying than I could have been – by a few tenths. I ended up behind, became involved in an incident, and received a five-second penalty. It turned into a sort of 'domino effect' that started with my decision, or rather, my mistake.

      The team did a great job with strategy and pit stops; we continue to improve the car. I think if it weren't for the damage to the car, we could have fought for victory today.

      The incident at the pit stop? I don't even know. I just acted according to the situation – first, the green light came on, and then I went. I was looking one way and not the other. Ultimately, that's a question for the team.

      I immediately noticed the mechanic and stopped. At that moment, I remembered the incident with Kimi Raikkonen when he broke a mechanic's leg – my heart sank for a second. But I'm very happy and very grateful that the mechanic is okay."

      Red Bull Racing

      Max Verstappen (3rd): "I'm quite satisfied with the result. In the race, I did everything I could, and the first stint was decent. The second stint was more challenging, but at the same time, both Kimi Antonelli and I were unlucky with the timing of the virtual safety car deployment.

      Considering everything that happened, finishing on the podium can be considered a very good result. I did everything I could for that. Third place is good, as the team earned a lot of points."

      Isaac Hadjar (6th): "From the very beginning of the weekend, we knew I would start from one of the last positions, so we worked hard on this during practice. We didn't aim to show good pace on a single lap, and today that approach paid off.

      I'm glad we focused so much on long-distance speed, as it really helped in the race. Perhaps in the future, we will slightly adjust our approach, as today's worked excellently.

      I think today I had my best race. In terms of pace, I was one of the leaders, and I'm very pleased with how the first ten races have gone.

      Now I'm looking forward to the continuation of the season. My team and I still have a lot to work on and improve, but I think success awaits us ahead."

      McLaren Formula 1 Team

      Oscar Piastri (5th): "Due to contact with Charles Leclerc's car on the first lap, my car was damaged; I lost one of the aerodynamic components, but it's hard for me to say how I should have acted in that episode to avoid the incident.

      I was surprised that there were no penalties for it. The contact between the cars was minor, but the consequences for me were serious. Moreover, it could have ended much worse for both of us, but it is what it is.

      I believe that because of this, I faced more difficulties during the race, that's for sure. The balance worsened sharply in the first stint. In the second stint, we managed to compensate for it a bit, and it seems that the pace improved. But the race was challenging.

      I hope the updates the team is preparing for the Hungarian Grand Prix will help us improve, but the competitors are not going to stand still and will continue to upgrade their cars as well. Undoubtedly, we still lack stability.

      However, this weekend we looked better already. In the final qualifying session, there was a failure in the power unit, although I had a decent lap. But there are just many things that somewhat distort the picture.

      I hope we will sort out all these difficulties, and of course, the technical updates will help us improve. On days like today, the car can be fast, but unlocking its speed potential is quite difficult."

      Lando Norris (7th): "I need to talk to the team to understand what logic we were following when making certain tactical decisions. But the biggest