What a journey to reach this 1st podium in F1! Does it taste like revenge?
What a journey, as you say! So many sacrifices since the early days (his parents mortgaged their house to finance his career), not easy to get to F1 (in 2016), then a stoppage season last year, not easy to come back to this year, in a new team, with a very strong teammate (Daniel Ricciardo)… We saw the progress, we knew it was coming, but it hadn’t really paid off before today. It was not far but we were unlucky. And finally, we made it happen. I am very happy about it. It was a very fun race. And the emotions that came across the line, incredible! I had never really cried for anything before, but today the tears came for a good reason. (…) It’s great to finally have this result. Things weren’t going in our favor so far, which was frustrating. But we’ve always believed in it, that’s the most important. When you are not at your best in this sport it is the most difficult because you get criticized, but the important people around you continue to support you and that has helped me a lot. The team also helped me believe in myself and keep pushing. It pays today.
Did you expect such a result starting only 11th on the grid?
We had a lot of hopes. We knew what we could expect from our strategy with the free choice of our tires. It was interesting in terms of a race like this. The graphics showed that we could get into the top 5, come back really strong and the guys who made more than one pit stop were going to have a hard time, but we didn’t think we were that close to victory itself. It’s awesome ! “
You didn’t have a steering wheel last season. Tonight’s winner, Mexican Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), could experience the same thing next year. What do you think ?
It’s a difficult position, I am in a good position to know that… I am happy that Sergio has results which prove he deserves to be in F1. He’s one of the best! He must not end up outside, that would not be normal. But this sport is sometimes like that and you can find yourself in bad situations. In my case, it was a difficult year but I was in good hands, very supported, and it allowed me to come back after a year and be there today. It took a little while to get going but it’s done.
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