DRIVERS
 
1 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren) 
2 – Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
3 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)

TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jenson Button) 
 
Q: Oscar, You came to Monaco obviously for the win. You go away with the podium. You must be pretty happy with that.
Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah. Obviously, the win would have been better, but it's been a bit of a tricky weekend. Practice was messy all the way through, and I felt like I got into qualifying with not a lot of confidence with how the weekend was going. I got close, but not quite close enough. And, you know, around here, where you qualify is pretty much where you're going to finish. So, pretty happy with that overall. Obviously, some things to look out for when we come back next year, but some more points on the board, another trip to the podium in Monaco, so not all bad.
 
Q: In practice, you obviously put it into the wall at Sainte Devote, front end in. So, to come back with a podium, such a good team effort. And for this to be a bad weekend for you and still be on the podium, I think you've got a lot to be happy with.
OP: Yeah, exactly. The margins are so fine and, like you said, if this is a bad weekend, then it's not going too badly at all. So, yeah, some things to work on. We'll go again next week and try and come back stronger. But well done to Lando. He's had a great weekend. Well done to Charles as well. He's been quick as usual. So, yeah, happy, and see you on the podium.
 
Q: Congrats, and still our championship leader.
OP: Thank you. Cheers.
 
Q: Charles, your home Grand Prix. We stood here one year ago celebrating your win. Today, not quite the win, but considering how you felt the car was leading up to this race, reasonably happy?
Charles LECLERC: Not really. But at the end of the day, we lost the race yesterday and we should have done a better job. Lando did a better job this weekend and he deserves the win. On my side, yeah, I realised a childhood dream last year. Not this year, but considering everything, I think it's a lot above our expectations coming here. I thought that being in the top 10 would be a challenge. At the end, we are second, very close to P1. So, it's been a good weekend overall. But, yeah, I wish I won.
 
Q: With all the traffic out there today with the two-stop strategies, it must have put you on edge a little bit more than normal. And then the last few laps, you were able to really put Lando under that big pressure. It was great for us watching. How was it from inside the car?
CL: Oh, it was good as well from inside the car because before that, it was a little bit boring. I had to leave a gap to Lando because otherwise I would overheat everything, so I couldn't be so close. Then when I saw Max was playing the long game, I guess he was waiting for a red flag. That helped me a little bit to put a bit more pressure on Lando, but it wasn't enough.
 
Q: Lastly, have you got a message for your supporters, the Monegasque crowd?
CL: Yeah. As I always say, as a Ferrari driver, we are very lucky. We get support everywhere. But being born here and seeing all the Monegasques behind me is something very special. We are not many Monegasques, but it warms my heart very much to be at home and to have so much support. So, yeah, I wish I had given them the first place, but hopefully next year.
 
Q: Lando Norris, you just won the Monaco Grand Prix! How good does that feel?
Lando NORRIS: It feels amazing. It's a long race. It's a long, rolling race. But good fun. You know, we could push for quite a lot of the race. The last quarter was a little bit nervous, with Charles close behind and Max ahead, but we won in Monaco. So, it doesn't matter how you win, I guess. But an amazing weekend with pole, with today – this is what I dream of. This is what I did dream of when I was a kid. So, I achieved one of my dreams. I think it was you – I saw you in front of my car before the start, and I was like, “if JB is here now, then I'll always take that. It's my good luck charm”.
 
Q: And you also said, "Monaco baby," which I thought I owned, but obviously not!
LN: Oh is it yours? I apologise!
 
Q: But, you know, most people say that you win Monaco on the Saturday in qualifying. Such an exceptional job, but you’ve still got to get it done on the Sunday. Lovely start. And then the pressure you're put under and all of those cars you had to overtake during the race, it must have been quite tense. 
LN: It is. I mean, the worst bit, really, was just the end. I felt quite under control the whole race. But Max was ahead, and Max was kind of backing it up a little bit. And I knew then that's when Charles had the opportunity. So, I had to manage it quite a lot. I tried to back off of Max, so I could push when I needed to and chill when I needed to. I still had to manage. It was still a well-fought race. But I'm very happy. My team are very happy. And therefore, we're going to have a wonderful night.
 
PRESS CONFERENCE 
 
Q: Lando, very well done. You've won the Monaco Grand Prix. Just how sweet was the view from the top of this very unique podium?
LN: Well, all I saw was camera lenses. So, I can dream of better, but it was… I mean, it’s the feelings. Of course, the view of the team and seeing everyone, my mum and dad down below… Yeah, it’s the feelings inside, which are really the special ones. Seeing the chequered flag and, yeah, winning in Monaco is something I dreamed of when I was a kid. There are many things that I think everyone dreams of – it’s getting to Formula 1, winning a race in Formula 1, and winning a race in Monaco. And we achieved it today. So yeah, proud of the whole team, of myself, and big accomplishment for all of us. The team haven't won since, what, 2008 or something. So not just a good one for me, but a good one for McLaren too.
 
Q: From the outside, it looks like it's been the dream weekend for you, winning the race from pole position. Were there any dramas in the race for you?
LN: No dramas. I think there were definitely some more tense moments in the race when I needed to push, and Charles was never that far behind. Especially at the end with Max ahead, there were some tense moments trying not to get too close to Max, otherwise that’s when Charles had opportunities. But I think we managed it well with the strategy. It’s always hard to know what we could have done better. I'm sure we can review things and look back on it. But in the end, the result was the perfect one. Tricky at times, with the amount of cars, there were big bunches of cars, so getting through them without making mistakes, without any silly things happening was always the most nerve-wracking bit. Otherwise, I felt good. I felt good with the tyres, with the management of tyres and stints and all of those things. So, yeah, I was happy.
 
Q: And Lando, how much confidence does a weekend like this give you going forward?
LN: I think yesterday gave me confidence. Today… Yeah, nothing new in the sense of I’ve had confidence in every Sunday we've had this year. I've not needed the confidence on Sundays, but yesterday was a bigger day for me. I was more proud of yesterday than I almost was of today. Not just because a pole in Monaco sets up a win, but the accomplishment of doing it, no matter what the track would have been, was something I'm more proud about. So yeah, a good weekend for me, not just in terms of result but personally, to kind of give myself that momentum, that boost, definitely makes me feel better going into Barcelona next week.
 
Q: And Lando, can we get your thoughts on the mandatory two stops?
LN: Hated it.
 
Q: Why?
LN: Because it made it a lot more scary for me. I wish it was a one-stop, it would have been a lot more chilled. It’s not for me. The rules are not made for me. They're not made for us to enjoy it more or whatever. They're made for the fans. They’re made to provide more entertainment for the viewers. I don’t know if that was the case. So maybe it's a question I should ask you. Was the two-stop better than the one-stop?
 
Q: Well, can I throw it back to you? 
LN: Oh, we’re playing Uno!
 
Q: Would you like to see it again next year or do you think they need to change it?
LN: Depends where I start.
 
Q: Charles, great race, great weekend by you and Ferrari. Given the season you've had so far, just how much pleasure does this P2 give you?
CL: I don't know. I'm never really happy with second place. Then if you do a step back and you look at our season, I think this is a very positive result for the whole team. Especially coming here, we had very low expectations, just because our low-speed performance has been very bad all season. However, I think here, it's a very specific track because there are a lot of bumps, a lot of kerb riding, and I think our car is pretty good on that. That helped us to close the gap. So, yeah, I think we did a really good job, and 18 points plus the 10 of Lewis are very valuable points for the situation we are in. On that, I think we should be proud. Am I over the moon for a second place? Not really, but it's been a very positive weekend anyway.
 
Q: Where were the main opportunities for you in the race? I mean, if the driver in front doesn't make a mistake, it’s nigh on impossible to pass, even with a mandatory two-stop race and strategy comes into it. 
CL: It's very difficult. When Max at the end was in front, I really believed in it until the very end. I thought about it all night, the two or three places where I could try something on Lando, and I was willing to take all the risks possible to try and get that win. But, unfortunately, these opportunities never came. Or at least I had maybe two or three laps where I was like, “OK, maybe I go for it,” but Lando straight away saw those and defended very well. So I basically couldn't really go and try something. At the end, there were no opportunities for me.
 
Q: Where were those main opportunities?
CL: I think there were maybe two laps in Rascasse, which was the place where I was trying, and maybe one in Fairmont. But the Fairmont one was very optimistic, maybe.
 
Q: Charles, can we get your thoughts on the mandatory two stops as well? Would you like to see it back at Monaco next year?
CL: I think being second today, I was pretty happy that this was the case because it at least gives you a little bit more hope that something is possible. Honestly, it was quite interesting because with the traffic and everything, there was lots of things happening, or at least you had to push through traffic, which is a very tricky thing to do, especially here in Monaco. So I think it gives more opportunities. I’ve heard also there were quite a lot of team games behind us. Whether this is the kind of action we want to see going ahead, I don’t know. I haven’t looked at the race yet. But, yeah, it’s always been a bit like that in Monaco. It's special for that, especially on the Saturday when you're pushing to the limit. That’s why it’s so important and tense for drivers to go into qualifying in Monaco because we know that then on Sunday you don’t have as many opportunities. That is part of the magic of Monaco. Then I understand we need to try and find a way to make it a bit more exciting, and maybe that’s the way to go. But I haven’t checked the race to really judge.
 
Q: Oscar, coming to you now. Very well done as well. Did the race pan out pretty much as you expected?
OP: Yep. Pretty much exactly how I expected. I think there was a lot of action behind, so maybe that was a bit different. But from where I was at, it panned out pretty much how I thought. It definitely made the pace of the race a bit higher, certainly compared to last year. So from the cockpit, it was a little bit more intense. We’re still not pushing flat out, but it just made certain points of the race a bit more tense.
 
Q: Were you happier with the car today than you have been on Friday or yesterday?
 
OP: Everything felt okay, but you're not really pushing it to the limit in the race. I was pretty happy with it in qualifying. I think we got there eventually. It was more just struggling to get into a rhythm before qualifying. And around here, you pay the price for not having that clean run into quali. So that’s where I think our weekend got away from us a little bit. But the pace was still good, just trying to get everything out of it. Every single lap was tough yesterday. And today, we tried a few things to get higher than third, but it didn’t work.
 
Q: And what about those mandatory two stops? Can we get your thoughts as well?
OP: It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points. You had to push more at certain points to kind of recover the safety car windows to other cars around you or put yourself outside of someone else's safety car window. So there were some strategic elements involved. But ultimately, at the front, I don’t think it changed a whole lot. It would have been quite a different story if there was a red flag with five laps to go and Max would have won. I’m sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result like that will happen. Is that what we want to see? I don't know. But at the front, I don't think it changed a huge amount this weekend.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
 
Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Lando, picking up on Oscar's point about the red flag. How nervous were you when you realised what Max was doing going all the way to the end and had it been red flagged, they would effectively have won the race? Were you kind of accepting it's out of my control?
LN: Yeah. What can I do? Nothing. It’s out of my control. No real point thinking about it. If it happened, it happened. He wins Monaco, well done. Yeah. I was happy. I’m just focusing on my own race. Of course, praying that it didn’t happen, but I didn’t think of the rest.
 
Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) Lando, question for you. Congratulations. Standing on the top step at Melbourne must have felt like quite a long time ago, you know, given it’s been two months. A lot’s been written about that spell since then, but you’re leaving here still just three points behind Oscar. Does this feel like a bit of a kind of just hitting the reset button a little bit on the championship? Because, given everything that’s been written about you, it’s nowhere near as bad as people have been making out – championship over and all that stuff. You’re leaving right in touching distance.
LN: Yeah. I mean, people can write what they want. It’s not up to me. People have their own opinions, they can do all of those things. Thing is, none of them are true, 99% of the time. So, it’s all crap. I don’t mind what people write as long as I know the truth and my team know the truth, and that’s fine. I’ve been working hard over the last few months to get back to having that momentum that I had in Australia, that confidence. What I felt this weekend was a small step forward, but it’s not it. It’s not like I’ve nailed it now and everything’s back. There are still things that I need to work on, there are still things that – as a team – them giving me the equipment – and I don’t mean just making a quicker car, because the car’s quick enough – but giving me the things I need from the car in order to excel and maximise results, and the differences from last year to this year. So, still things from both sides, but I’m very proud of yesterday. I’m happier with yesterday’s result than I am of today’s. I mean, today is incredible, but I was more emotional yesterday than I was today. That’s how much yesterday meant to me, to kind of get my groove back in qualifying, because it’s something I’ve just had my whole life. It’s just always been good, until this year. And I’ve had to work hard to try and get it back. For no other reason apart from a couple of things that I’ve clearly struggled with and also just having tough competition. Having Oscar, Charles, Max, I’m against the best guys in the world. And if you’re not performing at the highest level, you’re not going to compete against them. So, yeah, no one knows the amount of work and effort that goes into things apart from me and my team. And that’s the only people who need to know what goes into everything and know the truth of everything. And that’s the way it will stay.
 
Q: (Martin Businaro – La Dernière Heure des Sports). Question for Charles. Next year, F1 cars will be smaller. If it was already the case this year, do you think you could have passed Lando during the last stage of the race?
CL: Oh, that’s a very difficult question to answer because honestly, I don’t even know how much smaller they will be. I think Monaco is always going to be tricky, and I think you just adapt the way you defend to the width of the car you have behind. So, yeah, I don’t have the answer, but I hope that next year overtaking will be a little bit easier here in Monaco.
 
Q: (Niharika Ghorpade – Sportskeeda) Charles, you mentioned that Ferrari still need to improve. So, what are the key areas that you think they need to improve? And how steep is that development curve at the moment to catch up to the boys next to you or even Red Bull?
CL: By far, the slow-speed corners. I think this is our biggest weakness by far. That’s why also I came here very pessimistic and saying that I thought top 10 would already be a challenge. Our low-speed performance is very poor. I think on a track like this, with so many bumps and kerbs, our car is actually performing very well. This is helping us, but unfortunately, it’s only going to help us on such an extreme track like here. So yeah, we’ve got to work on our low-speed performance.
 
Q: (Jack Smith – Motorsport Monday) Lando, congratulations. Regardless of what happens for the remainder of this season and in your career, where do you think mastering Monaco this weekend will rank in the list of all the things you’ve achieved?
LN: Well, I think the best bit is that my kids one day will be able to tell everyone that I won in Monaco. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud about. I think it would be up there for sure, especially because of the weekend that it’s been – with pole and with the race. It wasn’t just a pole or just the race. It was both together, and I think that’s perfect. Regardless, I think that’s something to be very proud about for the rest of my life. But I think it’s a cooler thing to say, also from my lap time yesterday – the 1:09 – that’s very unlikely to be beaten for a very long time unless the track changes or whatever. The cars next year are nowhere near going to be as quick as this year. Hopefully, that lap time lasts for a very, very long time. So, it’s cool. It’s definitely just the saying more than anything, but also the meaning, the history, the people that have won here in the past. They don’t always go on to be champions, but most of them have. And just to know in 30 years’ time, I can say, “I mastered Monaco that one year” – or hopefully a few more – but that one year is something I look forward to saying.
 
Q: (Tom Guerde – Pole Position Magazine) Question for Oscar. When you first pitted, they told you it was to overtake Charles, but there was a slow pit stop. Do you think if the pit stop was quicker you could have overtaken Charles, or do you think it wouldn’t have worked?
OP: No. I don’t think so. We were too far back. I think we tried to make something happen, but I don’t think it was ever going to change our result.
 
Q: (Giuseppe Marino – Motorionline.com) For all drivers: Do you think the double pit stop rule can be a permanent rule for all the races?
LN: I don’t know. Ask the people who make the rules. We just have to abide by them, but it depends what you want. Do you want to manufacture races? There hasn’t been any more overtaking here. I thought that was what was wanted. Now you just give people opportunity by luck – by waiting for a red flag, waiting for a Safety Car. You’re not getting a more deserved winner in the end of things, which I don’t entirely agree with. I think it should be the person who drives the best race and deserves to win. Of course, I’m probably slightly biased in my opinion, but I think it needs to be improved in different ways – like, overtaking has never been good in Monaco, ever. So, I don’t know why people have such a high expectation. But I also think Formula 1 should not turn into just a show to entertain people. It’s a sport. It’s who can race the best, who can qualify the best. Like Charles said, everything was about yesterday. That’s the way it’s been since whatever the first year – 50, 60 years ago. So, the last thing I want is manufactured racing, and I think we definitely need to stay away from that and do a better job with cars, with tyres. Then you might start to see more racing, but not by just introducing so many pit stops.
 
Q: (Leovid Kliuev – GrandePremio.com.br) Question for Lando. Do you think Max was intentionally backing you off into the hands of Charles so that Charles could pass you more easily?
LN: Did you ask Max?
Q: Yes.
LN: What did he say?
Q: He said no, and that his tyres were just not there.
LN: I have no idea. So that’s all I’ll say.
 
Q: (Lorenza Binkele – The Economist) Question to all three of you. How does the new rule impact team collaboration? Does it add additional stress when you’re collaborating with the engineering team, etcetera, and between the drivers as well?
CL: I think as we said, it just adds a lot of randomness. You can either get lucky or very unlucky, and it’s a bit out of your hands. But it’s always been a little bit the case in Monaco, probably even more so now with two stops. But there was not any more tension on my side.
 
Q: (Nate Saunders – ESPN) Just a question to Lando and Oscar. McLaren’s second part of the weekend, I guess, kicks off in a couple of hours. What are your plans tonight to watch that? And Charles, is the Indy 500 part of your usual Sunday evening plans? I know last year you probably had better things to be doing. Yeah, just a question to all of you – where are you going to be watching it and what do you think of that spectacle as well? 
LN: I will probably be watching on my couch at home, unless I get an invite. Or, yeah, I mean, you’re welcome to come, if you want. But, yeah, probably on my couch. And I’ll keep my answer short because I want to go watch it.
CL: When is it starting exactly?
LN: About one hour. One and a half hours.
CL: OK. I won’t be on my couch. Thanks for the invite. I think I’ll still be in a meeting. We are very late with Ferrari. We always leave late. But yeah, it’s a crazy race. We were just speaking with Oscar before. I don’t think I will ever do it. I think it’s a different level of craziness. I’m happy in F1, I love F1, and I’m fully focused on that, first and foremost. And then when this will end, another thing I want to tick, is doing Le Mans with my brother. So, these are probably the two things I really want to do. Indy 500 – I’m not sure. But I have a lot of respect for these guys, and I’ll try to follow as much as I can tonight.
LN: Ditto. I would love to do Le Mans with my brother, but he’s been out of it for a little bit. I just have a lot of respect for these guys. I mean, congrats to Robert Shwartzman for pole – it was pretty impressive. I was his team-mate back in 2015 or 2016 in Formula Renault. So to see him go on to do something like that is pretty cool. But it is something I’ll never do. I can say it right now. I’m not doing it. Just have no interest in doing it. Not my thing. It’s not what I enjoy. Even though I’ve done it on the sim and that was quite fun – but I got taken out. So, well, it didn’t hurt. I could just press escape and I was good. I have a lot of respect for these guys. There are a lot of incredibly talented drivers over there in America, and some of them could do very well in Formula 1. But, yeah, I like turning right as well. So, that’s the main thing.
 
Q: Lando, you’ve won Monaco. The lure of the Triple Crown wouldn’t change your mind about Indy?
LN: Nope.
 
ENDS