TEAM REPRESENTATIVES Tim GOSS (Racing Bulls), Frédéric VASSEUR (Ferrari), Andrea STELLA (McLaren)
 
Q: Andrea, why don't we start with you? It's not a home race for McLaren, but it is a home race for you. You must have great memories of Emilia, and I'm thinking of battles when you were at Ferrari between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Just tell us how special this one is for you.
Andrea STELLA: Oh yeah, definitely a special venue. I work in Formula 1, but I also have quite a lot of passion for Formula 1, and Imola resonates with this passion. Let me say, first of all, from a circuit point of view – the layout, the fast, flowing and narrow track – you don't find many like it. Suzuka is another one. Quite unforgiving; as soon as you make a mistake, it can be quite penalising. The going up and downhill. I think it's great for the drivers, it's great for the fans, and we do hope that this venue will stay as part of the calendar for the future because this would be fantastic for Formula 1. You talked about memories, and you mentioned the battles with Fernando Alonso. Yes, they were very interesting and, interestingly, they were opposite sides in 2005 and 2006. So, it goes back in the years, but I would like to take this opportunity – especially for the younger fans – to go and take a look at those two races, 2005 and 2006, because that was, I think in both cases, one of the closest races we have had in dry conditions. For me, a couple of additional memories – 2003, this Imola, I'm particularly attached to that race, because it was the season changer in the championship with Michael Schumacher. After a difficult start, we won here in Imola. I do remember that weekend very well, like it was yesterday, and then the season changed after that success. The final one is the winter testing of 2004. At the time, you could still take two cars of different seasons, and we had the 2003 and 2004 cars here in Imola, and they were going around at the same time – one driven by Michael and one driven by Rubens – and we realised that we had a super car in hand for 2004 because the lap time and the consistency of that car was great. So, a lot attached to this circuit, definitely from me. I would like to take advantage, if you allow me – and hopefully I'm not abusing all my time – as we talked about memories, to pay tribute to Fabrizio Borra. Fabrizio, I got to know him as Fernando Alonso’s physio in 2010. Since then, we have shared a journey in Formula 1. He has always been, since then, a great friend to me. Fabrizio was a person of dedication and generosity – a person that applied this dedication and generosity to the people, but also to the subject that he was the expert on. For me, I remember all the chats with Fabrizio – I learned a lot from him. He has been not only the physio and the reference for Fernando Alonso but also Gianmarco Tamberi, a gold medallist in high jump, and Marco Pantani in cycling – just to say the versatility of this individual. So, it's a big, big loss. We are all very sad. All our thoughts are with the family, and definitely I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to pay tribute to Fabrizio.
 
Q: Thank you for those kind words. Quick performance question now. You talked about a supercar in the 2004 Ferrari. Clearly the 2025 McLaren can be talked about in a similar vein. Talk to us about Miami and the dominance you had there. Do you understand why you were so far ahead?
AS: Talking about Miami, I think we are understanding the strengths of the MCL39, which overall is a competitive car, but in some conditions it seems to have a certain advantage over the rest of the field. These conditions materialised very well in Miami with the track layout, the speed range, the ambient temperatures. But we know very well that in some other kinds of circuits like Saudi or Japan, it's a different story. Everything gets quite a lot tighter. So, hopefully we will be able to retain this characteristic and this advantage over the course of the season. But I think this will require the car to be developed, to be upgraded, because we see that no one is waiting, no one is standing still. We see upgrades being brought trackside by our competitors. We do plan to upgrade the MCL39 and try and, if anything, possibly make the car even more suitable for a wider range of conditions and cornering speed.
 
Q: Final one from me: Oscar Piastri was sitting where you are yesterday. He talked about marginal gains and the improvements he's made since last year. He said he's looked in every column of performance but gave no more specifics than that. Where have you seen Oscar improve?
AS: Well, I think the most important improvement, if anything, is that Oscar has become a faster driver. I think when you are a faster driver then you have more opportunity, more time to process, more bandwidth to process things. And this is true when you are in the car, and this is also true when you are outside the car. Because the speed is there – let's process all the other marginal gains that will then then, at the end of the weekend, constitute the performance that you need to have the kind of results that he's having at the moment. In addition to that, over the winter, there's been a very specific amount of work that has gone – has paid attention to different areas. It's been quite holistic. While Oscar is definitely the main one to praise for these developments, I would like to mention the team around Oscar – his engineers and all the support from the factory with all the analysis – and even the team, Mark Webber, that works with Oscar. He's definitely a great source of thoughts, insight and identification of opportunities. So, there's quite a lot of work behind this progress. But ultimately, hats off to Oscar who has been able to capitalise.
 
Q: Fred, let's come to you next. Definitely a home race for Ferrari. Can we start with that? How much of a shot in the arm is it for the team just to see the tifosi in their thousands?
Frédéric VASSEUR: Yeah, but it's always a special one. A bit like Monza. This one is different because it's even closer to the factory. A lot of people of the team live in Bologna or even closer to the track, and this is a special place for sure. But at the end of the day, we have to approach the race in the same way as the others and try to do the best job that we can. It’s perhaps an extra pressure, but we have to take this as a positive – as a push more than something else. And to see all the fans and the tifosi in the grandstands is, for sure, an extra motivation.
 
Q: Has Lewis commented about it? Is he feeding off the support?
FV: Yeah. Even this week, you know, from the factory – from Monday onwards – we had people outside the factory in front of the gate. This is a huge push for the drivers also. They were there in the morning when the drivers arrived, and they were there waiting until the evening. That means... I want to take it – and I think the driver is doing the same – to take it as extra motivation and a good push.
 
Q: Let's talk performance now. You said yesterday that there have been occasions this year where you've left the Grand Prix feeling you haven't extracted the maximum from the car. Just how much potential does it have and why is it proving so difficult to get that performance?
FV: I think except McLaren, who are flying, we are all in the same situation – sometimes we are in a more or less good shape, and sometimes not. If you have a look at our performance, I think in Jeddah in the race we were in a very strong position – we did a very strong race – and in Miami, it was not the case at all. It means we have to understand this and make better usage of the car and the tyres if we want to be more consistent and try to catch up a little bit with McLaren.
 
Q: You mentioned Miami. It was a frustrating race for the team on many levels. You've had a bit of distance from it now. Let's start with the radio traffic. What lessons were learned about that?
FV: We don’t have to learn something. I took a decision – I think it was a good one – and then we explained the decision to the drivers. We checked the end and the chapter was closed. The chapter is still open for you, but not for me.
 
Q: Alright, well, let’s throw it forward to Monaco. Charles dominated that race last year. How much confidence do you go to the principality with next week?
FV: It’s not a matter of being confident when you go somewhere, it’s a matter of doing a good job and to prepare very well the event. We know that Monaco is a one-off, a special one. But the situation is a bit different compared to last year. We have to do the best for Monaco, but exactly the same way we’re trying to do the best in Imola. Everybody will push for Monaco – not because it’s a special one that we have to do more or better. We are all trying to push at every single event of the season. For Charles, it’s a bit different because he’s at home. But I think now 85% of the drivers are at home in Monaco. It’s not anymore the case of the past. But for Charles, it’s a special one – for sure it is – but we don’t have to pay too much attention to this. We just have to prepare the event in the best way.
 
Q: Tim, let's come to you now. Welcome to the FIA press conference. Nice to be back at a team having done a stint at the FIA?
Tim GOSS: Thank you very much. Yeah... No, no, don’t laugh, Fred! My time at the FIA was fantastic, to be honest. You know, it was a real pleasure and an honour actually to be helping, with the teams, to run the sport, as well as shaping the future of the sport. And it’s a fantastic place to be. You get to learn a lot of what's going on. You feel that you're giving a lot back in terms of the direction of the sport. But you miss the passion and the competitiveness, and ultimately that draws you back into a team. There's nothing that beats being there – designing, developing a car, competing, building a team and an organisation that can work across disciplines, across locations in our case. So, no – ultimately, it's the excitement and the passion. When the red lights go out, there’s something that you’re invested in, as opposed to just watching.
 
Q: You use the word competitiveness. This year's car is clearly a very good one. How much potential do you think it has?
TG: Certainly, we learned a lot from last year's upgrades – what worked and what didn’t – learned a lot about how we worked together, how we made those choices, what characteristics were important, and we went about the 2025 car in a slightly different way. We also recognised during 2024 that our race pace wasn’t good enough. We were qualifying well but spent our races defending rather than consolidating our position. We built on those learnings over the winter and concentrated on providing a car that not only had load improvement but had a platform the race engineers could access more effectively – in terms of set-up and controllability from the car – and that allowed the drivers to get more out of the operating envelope. That in itself is not news to any Formula 1 team, but you have to try to get the balance of getting those characteristics right against ultimate load. I think we learned a lot out of 2024 and early 2025 and reaped the rewards with this car.
 
Q: Quick one on Isack Hadjar. You've worked with many drivers in your career. How impressed are you by what he's done so far this year?
TG: Yeah, very impressed. We’ve got two very young drivers – two rookies. Clearly, they’re very capable coming out of Formula 2, but they have a lot to learn – both in terms of the practicalities of going racing and how to get the most out of these cars. You don’t just go and drive them. You have to manage out-laps in terms of preparing the car, the tyres. You have to manage tyres during a race.
I’d like to say we’re experts at training rookies, but essentially that’s one of our roles here in the Red Bull family. We take a lot of care in trying to get it right and put a lot of effort into it. Isaac has really impressed us. Right from the start, he’s picked up things quickly. He’s been on the case from the start. And he’s been quick. Put him up against Yuki, who at the beginning of the season was really on it – had a really good winter, was focused, driving particularly well, which is obviously why he got the call-up, and Isack was there with him right from the start. So, very impressed.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (Ian Parkes – Racing News 365) Question for you, Andrea. Since McLaren pushed its way to the front, started winning races, won the Constructors’ Championship last year, various rivals have made claims against the team as to why the performance is so strong – wing flexing, water cooling of the tyres, for example. But you’ve always been cleared. Do you draw any satisfaction from the fact that those rivals have yet to unlock the secrets of this year’s McLaren?
AS: Let’s say I would like to adapt the angle of your question in trying to answer on this topic, which can be answered in different ways. For us, it’s good news when our rivals get their focus – rather than on themselves – onto some of the aspects that allegedly are present in our car, and that effectively are not even present. And certainly, even if they were – let’s say, flexi-wings like a front wing deflection, like everyone else – it has nothing to do with the reason why McLaren is very competitive. So, I hope that in the future there will be more of these kinds of sagas because it means that our rivals keep focusing on the wrong things, and this is, for us, just good news. It’s just helping our quest.
 
Q: (Diletta Colobo – Automoto.it) A question for the three of you. What do you think of Carlos Sainz Senior’s potential bid for the FIA presidency?
FV: I have huge respect for Carlos Senior – and Carlos Junior also – but Carlos Senior, I worked with him a couple of times in my life. But then I don’t want to enter into any position – it’s not my job to take a position on the election. I have due respect for him, but it’s another matter.
AS: To be honest, I don’t have much to comment. I think it’s a matter that has a lot of subtleties. What’s important for me is that we have a good process, and that this will lead to the best interests of the FIA and F1. It’s very, very important that we have proper governance and great leadership from the institution that leads this sport.
TG: Yeah, from my side – I mean obviously I’ve got recent experience at the FIA. Everything I was involved with was mainly outside of the presidential activities and the Senate. What I can say is that from my experience there, the governance side of it under Nicolas and Tim Malyon in Sporting, and François Sicard and now Yann [Monchaux] replacing me… that’s a great team. And it is a very difficult job, but they do a really fantastic job of it. Not just going on their own – sometimes you actually have to force things through – but most of the time we tried to work very collaboratively with the teams. But on Carlos Sainz, I’m afraid I don’t know him particularly well, so I can’t really comment.
 
Q: (Umberto Zapelloni – Gazetta dello Sport) Question for Andrea Stella. Andrea, is there a moment in which you will give a team order to Oscar and Lando, or will they always be free to fight each other?
AS: The matter of the internal competition between our two drivers is a matter that we face using our racing principles and approach. These principles have been put together not only by the team itself, but also with the contribution of the drivers. It’s very much based on several good conversations we’ve had as we’ve been going through this journey together. These principles and this approach – which I’m not going to disclose, just for a matter of protecting our IP – so far have worked very well. They would not be working so well if we didn’t have two drivers like Oscar and Lando who, not only are they very fast on track, but they’re also two great individuals. I’ve seen this several times. I see it in the way they race. There may be situations in which we are challenged as a team, in which the internal competition gets very tight. We might have to give some direction from the pit wall. And actually, internally we don’t even say “if,” we say “when,” because the business is so complex – Formula 1 is so difficult – that you will have this situation. But for me, what’s important is that we stick with these principles and this approach, and that we react as a team in the most constructive way – something that, having Lando and Oscar on board, makes me quite confident will be the case.
 
Q: (Leovid Kliuev – GrandePrêmio.com.br) Question for Andrea. McLaren has a good chance of winning both championships this year, but how do you plan to manage the performance as others – probably yourself too – will switch more and more to the 2026 car?
AS: I think the way we are managing this – to be honest, I don’t expect it to be very different from what’s happening in the other nine teams. We are still definitely keeping interest and momentum on this year’s car because, like I said before, we are not giving anything for granted. We need to improve the car, especially in some conditions, and we are planning to do so with some upgrades.
At the same time, there’s so much to do on the 2026 car that, pretty much from the second of January, we were working on the 2026 car. At the moment, we’ve been trying to use the resources we have in the most logical and efficient way. At some stage, we will shift our focus entirely to 2026. But definitely, even if the championships are in a good position, we have not given up attention on this year’s car.
 
Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Andrea, you remembered the 2004 test when you realised how big the step forward was compared to the previous year. Did you have a similar feeling this year in any particular situation?
AS: You know, we need to go back to 2004. That car won 12 of the first 13 races with Michael, and the only one we lost was because Michael crashed with Montoya under the tunnel in Monaco, while Montoya was actually one lap down during a safety car. Otherwise, likely we would have won 13 out of 13. That’s a reference that I actually often use even to motivate myself – like, that’s where we want to be. But I don’t think this will happen this year. So, there is hard work ahead of us to make sure this happens in the years to come. I think we are a few steps behind compared to those kinds of references.
 
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Andrea, another one for you – Tim or Fred if you want to chip in by all means. Monaco is going to mandatory two stops from next week. How much extra effort has had to go into preparations for that? How much of a change do you think it's actually going to make on the race, and how many curveballs do you think it could provide for the field?
AS: In fairness, you approach it in the same way, with the same tools, with the same kind of thought process compared to how you would approach an event. Let’s say simply, you just have more constraints, so you have to make some adaptations in terms of how you approach this. But in itself, I think it's interesting. After the race we had last year, a little bit of change is an interesting aspect. So, I welcome these kinds of changes. Actually, I think it will be trickier in wet conditions. So, for dry conditions, I think it's just interesting. For wet, it could create some situations that may be a little awkward. But we look forward to it and, like I say, I welcome the change.
TG: Yeah, I’d probably echo that. It’s going to change things, but we just work through it with our normal strategy tools. For us, it’s just another constraint. Hopefully, the main purpose of it is to make the race more exciting. What we don’t want is one-stops and processions. And I welcome the effort that went into it. There were lots and lots of things that were suggested. We’ve been talking about it for many, many years, and I think really, if it does work out as a success, then congratulations to the teams, the FIA and Formula 1 that worked together to come up with the package and the idea.
 
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) To Andrea – on the advantage your team’s got in terms of managing tyre temperatures. There seems to be a kind of obsession with people finding a magic bullet solution, but would it be fair to say there are lots of elements that combine on this – downforce, suspension kinematics, all that sort of thing? And if that is the case, does that mean it will take your rivals quite a while to catch up because they’ve got to deal with many, many aspects?
AS: I would like to give the wrong answer here so that I put all our rivals down the wrong route. The only thing I can say is that for me, over the years in Formula 1, I’ve learned that you have to focus on yourself and focus on the fundamentals. I think when you get too distracted by what the others are doing, it's normally an alarm bell that you ring in your factory and should remind you to go back to the basics. So, I’m afraid I’ve given the right answer, so I’ve helped now my competitors. But you know, I’m intellectually honest, so I can’t really give the wrong answer tactically.
 
Q: (Adam Cooper – Adamcooperf1.com) For all three of you – on the Monaco tyre rule again. If it works, would you like to see it introduced at other circuits in the future? Maybe a bit like a ‘joker’, maybe six times a year, like we have six sprint races? Or is it purely a one-off for that track?
FV: So far, it's a one-off. On the other hand, I didn’t feel that last year the race was not exciting. For me, it was a good one. Let’s see after Monaco, because strategy in Monaco is very difficult – it's also driven by the Safety Car. So, it will be two times more difficult for this. The downside could be also that if you have an early Safety Car, I think everybody will jump into the pit lane, and the pit lane is very narrow – it can be an issue. But let’s do Monaco like this. I think we were clever enough to do the experimentation, and we’ll see after Monaco what we can do and where we can improve the situation.
TG: I think the important thing here is to keep it on the cusp of a two-stop. What we want is varied strategies. As soon as you force it and everyone’s doing a two-stop, then it’s going to take away a lot of excitement. Some of the best races we’ve had are where someone is hanging out on a one-stop, someone else goes for the two-stop and is reeling them in over the final 15 laps – at a second a lap or more – and then their tyre deg goes, and you get to the final 2-3 laps with two cars going head-to-head for the win. So, I think if you force it on the two-stop, it's not going to work.
 
Q: (Giles Richards – The Guardian) This question is for Fred. Fred, I’ve just been out in the fan zone talking to Ferrari fans, all of whom are terribly excited about seeing Lewis for the first time in a Ferrari. You mentioned the pressure. I’m just wondering – there’s the enthusiasm and a huge amount of expectation for the first time seeing him in a home race. Is this something he’s thriving on? Is he aware of it? Is it something that he’s enjoying? I mean, you say you treat it like any other race, but it’s quite hard to do that I would have thought. 
FV: For sure, we want to have the same approach this weekend as any other one because the motivation is always the same. But we can also see – even from the garage or from the factory – the tifosi in front of us, and the fact that they are all mega motivated, committed on Formula 1 and the project. And they can be sure that we will push until the end to get the best, to do the best. We are all convinced of this. It’s not absolutely an issue. I think Andrea was in the same position in the past. You can feel it from – I told you before – from the factory the week before, you already have a lot of people around the factory. It was like this all week. It was like this yesterday in the fan forum, as you said. Let’s take it as extra motivation and the positive side of this. And my personal feeling on Lewis’ position today is that he’s taking it as a huge opportunity – I don’t want to say a dream – but it’s a huge opportunity if you think about this: to race in front of this enthusiasm and honesty. We are all taking it like this.
  
ENDS