“This victory has been a long time coming. How does it feel to stand on the top step of the podium?
It was an incredible moment, with this beautiful audience and the whole team together. There were a lot of smiles, a lot of applause. It’s just happiness, I smile, which is not always the case. We sometimes dream of these kinds of moments without ever knowing when they will arrive and finally, it was for today (Sunday).
Do you feel relieved of a weight?
Even if I want to say no, it’s obvious. Getting your first victory is always incredible. Of course, there were times when I came very close but I was never able to convert those opportunities. I wasn’t worried though. Even though many people doubted that I would be able to do everything possible to win a race, for my part I wasn’t worried. And I was more confident than ever this year because I knew I had the ability and that the team had done what it took to get there. You just had to be patient.
I focused on what I had to do to do it the best and I knew my time would come. I even announced it (Sunday) morning, it’s not often that I’m optimistic. But we were in it since the start of the weekend, there was this little spark that we perhaps lost a little in qualifying but which came back in the race and turned into a fire. It was an incredible race.
“Sometimes you have to have a little luck on your side”
You were sixth at the end of the first lap. Did you still have this flame, this conviction that you could win at that moment?
No. It died out very quickly! I had a little flashback of Saturday’s sprint race when I saw Sergio (Perez) inside. I said to myself : ”OK, let’s try to get through turn 1 for once.” So I took it slowly. I knew we had good pace. I was behind Checo for the entire first stint, but my pace at the end of the first stint was the best on track. And I could still see Max (Verstappen). And when you can see Max, there is hope. And it’s not often that you get to see Max on the track.
So I knew from the beginning, even when I was back in sixth position, that there would be opportunities, whether there was a safety car or something would go my way. I kept my head down, kept pushing. Everyone pitted in front of me, and I was able to use all the pace I had and being able to ride that long on the first stint turned into a bit of luck, which I I readily admit. Sometimes you have to have a little luck on your side, and things have to go the right way, and that’s what happened today (Sunday). After the safety car, I was able to continue my momentum and I was confident for the future.
As you said, the car was really fast on Sunday. You improved it this weekend. Do you think you can fight for victory regularly?
I said at the start of the year that we could win races. A lot of people smiled at that and doubted whether we could win races. But deep down, I knew our time had come. The team did an extraordinary job. We weren’t even in Q2 here last year.
Now that we’re at the top, having won a race, the team has done an incredible job of getting from where we were to where we are now. We have made progress, especially in the last two months. There was a lot of work. And every time you make an improvement, it’s not easy to translate it into results on the track. But the little things come together and when all those little things come together, the day becomes perfect, like today (Sunday). So, of course, I have to say a big thank you to McLaren, to everyone at the factory, to everyone here, because I don’t think I could have won today without these improvements and without the hard work they put into this. This is just the beginning. Now I want more. »
