F1 Pre Race Drivers Press Conference | Spanish Grand Prix 2026 | PART 2

Joining us now, left to right, Gabriel Bortoletto, Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas. Warm welcome to you all. Carlos, let's come to you first because this must be a very special moment for you. Just talk us through what it's like to have a Grand Prix here on your doorstep in Madrid. Yeah, very special. Well, first of all, welcome all to Madrid. Happy to have you all here in my home city, the city where I grew up, the city where I did my first steps as a little 10-year-old karting driver wanting one day to be a Formula One driver. And yeah, almost 20-something years later, here I am being a Formula One driver in this city, which is crazy to think and something that I'm incredibly proud of and something that I'm for sure going to enjoy a lot. It's going to be busy, but also emotional. And yeah, I'm going to try and enjoy it as much as possible. You've done a few laps in a road car. Just what kind of challenge does the track present? Yeah, the laps in the road car, to be honest, the track was not completed. So nowhere as representative as the laps that I did in the simulator the other day. I think those were proper laps. And then a few onboard laps that we're watching from the F3 test and some data that we've been on to try and prepare as much as possible. But realistically speaking, it's going to be now, tomorrow in FP1, when we really know what this track is all about. And I'm going to say it looks different. It looks that the track has character that is charismatic with a lot of different kind of corners. And at least we can take that away that that is going to be a different track to what we're used to. And from a performance point of view, from a Williams point of view, how do you see this weekend? I think it's no secret that it's still going to be a struggle for us. If you look at the layout, I couldn't think about the layout that is probably more difficult for our car. But it's okay. I'm just going to work extremely hard to make sure this is the last year that I come here to Madrid without a chance of fighting for something bigger. At the same time, it will give me a chance to have a bit of an aperitivo of what Madrid is like. So I can prepare for when I have a more competitive package next year and hopefully years after to enjoy giving the crowd a better result than probably what we're going to get this year. And Carlos, mentally, are you just holding out for the upgraded chassis that's coming to Baku, the next race? Yeah, I think that upgrade is going to definitely help us to get ourselves closer to potentially fighting for something. But realistically speaking, that's nowhere near where we wanted to be this year, nowhere near what we promised. So it's still not enough and it's still not where we want to be. So it's an upgrade that will help a bit the motivation of the team and just to look into the weekend with something to look forward to. Maybe to potentially get a point or two when we were like we were at the beginning of the year. But it's nowhere near where we want to be. And I think our biggest hope is putting all the eggs on next year's basket. OK, thank you for that. Valtteri, let's come to you next. You've contested 13 Grands Prix in Spain. Just how excited are you about the new venue here in Madrid? 13? Well, I'm excited. It's like Carlos said, I think the track really has character. It's something different to any other track for me. It's a bit of a combination of Saudi and Baku in a way. You know, it seems a difficult track, technical and a challenge for every team, every driver. So that's why I'm excited. Looks cool. It's a new track for all the teams, not only Cadillac. Does that level the playing field somewhat? Probably in the beginning of the weekend, yes. But yeah, I would say the biggest opportunity for us is I'm expecting it to be a bit messier weekend for all, you know, finding the setup. Drivers will make some mistakes. So yeah, if we can have a clean run, that's when we can have a bit better chance here. And yeah, for me, when I think about Sunday already, I think it's going to be quite an interesting race and that can be an opportunity. And Valtteri, in terms of performance, where are you at with this car? I mean, both you and Checo saw the chequered flag at Monza and given the reliability issues you've had with this car, how important was that? Was it a milestone? Yeah, for me, it was actually almost a couple of months that I finished the race. So it was good to finish with both cars. We didn't suffer with really any issues in Monza. So that gives me more confidence here. But it is a different layout. The weather is again getting warmer for Sunday. So we are aware that we've got to keep an eye on things. OK, Valtteri, thanks for that. And Gabi, let's come to you now. Before we talk about the Madring, can we throw it back to Monza last weekend? Audi's appealing the results of the race. Can you explain the rationale behind that? I think it's quite straightforward in the rules. When a driver causes the next reformation lap, he must start from the pit lane. And in that case, Yuki didn't. So I think that's the reason why Audi is appealing. We are appealing the results. For us, it counts as a point if we get the position. So every point counts. And what's right is right at the end of the day. And you've had a few too many P11s this year, right? A bit too many, yeah. More than what I would like to. What about the Madring then? We've heard from the other two. Just give us your thoughts on the track. What have you learned? What's the feel you've got in the simulator? As both of them said, I think it's a very challenging track. Lots of blind corners and banking up and down. I think it's going to be quite interesting to see how we're going to, as a driver, adapt to it. But at the same time, set up our car. But I'm optimistic. I think it's going to be a good weekend. I think the track, at least in the simulator, was very cool to drive. Lots of combined braking. That's the type of track I like as well. So yeah, looking forward to heading to the track tomorrow. And in terms of your car, are you now at a place where you think you can be competitive in every kind of racetrack? Well, when I was saying that we were not going to be competitive in tracks, we had a lot of straight lines, like Bonza ended up that. We almost went to Q3 and fighting again for points, being P11. I would say there's tracks that obviously put us in a better position. Probably like tracks literally that have less straights here, Zandvoort, Budapest. But even tracks like Silverstone that we expected with the long straights, we were going to struggle, we were scoring points. So I would say we have now a package that we can be basically fighting every weekend. Okay, Gabi, thank you very much for that. Let's now open this to the floor. We will start with the broadcasters, please. Who's first? Hi, Gabriel, Mariana Becker from TV Globo. Gabi, I believe that all of you have been studying at the simulator, this track, before I hit it on. Where do you think is the pleasure? Where is the part or the section that you can have more pleasure on driving here? I think basically all the corners are very challenging, but probably T5 and T6 are going to be very challenging with lots of curb usage there. And then going a bit uphill and then downhill and then having some high-speed corners just after. I think that's the typical type of track that you finish a lap and you can really feel your breathing, because it's very mentally exhausting through the lap. And to nail a perfect lap is also difficult, but when you do it, it's very, very promising. Okay, thank you. Next. David Croft, Sky Sports F1. Carlos, a question for you. I know things aren't great on the track at the moment, but you've signed a new contract with Williams. What guarantees have you been given by the team? And what's the timescale for things to get better? And what would you be happy with within that timescale? Yeah, I still, obviously, if I sign that contract, it's because I still believe in the team. I still believe that this is just a bump on the road on where we are and the capability that this team has to turn it around. I think we are, honestly, what we've learned this year is so many lessons and so many things that we got wrong or that we believe we were at a certain standard and we are clearly not, that I think this bump that we just hit is going to help the team massively to change fundamental things that we were doing wrong to become a better team in the future. Having said that, I think it's extremely important that we bounce back next year already and that we show a promising sign of bounce back next year because I think it's very important to make sure this is just a small bump on the road rather than a prolonged time in the year. I think we've taken a lot of conclusions, a lot of things that we have to change as a team and this is going to help us to become a better team in the future. Having said that, it's been a bigger bump than expected and for sure it's not what we all wanted. But yeah, I'm hoping that next year we will already look a lot better. Carlos, firstly, thank you for the very warm welcome to Madrid. It's a very beautiful, infectious and vibrant city. With that being said, this is home for you, you know it best. Which part of the city's personality do you think the circuit captured? I don't know because there's not much of the nightlife at the track and I can tell you the nightlife in Madrid is fun. But yeah, apart from that, I don't know, just the whole atmosphere. I think anyone that gets to experience Madrid for the first time this weekend, bear with me because it's a Madrid with so many people that Madrid I don't think has had so many people in the city as this week. So maybe the traffic will be a bit worse than what it normally is and everything. But I mean, it's such a great city. I've always recommended it to anyone that wants to visit a European capital that maybe is not as well known as Madrid to come and visit it. The city has been growing a lot in the last few years. Every time we have the chance to throw a big event, I feel like the city does a great job at running it. And yeah, don't get me wrong, for sure we can do much better. And this year we will learn a lot about how to do a Formula One race better. It happened to Miami, to Vegas, to Mexico. The first times are always difficult. I'll make sure this room next year has better aircon. You can be sure of that. But all those things, Madrid will be extremely open-minded and we'll make sure that we deliver and make this Grand Prix a classic for Formula One and that we deliver and make this Grand Prix a classic for Formula One and for all of you guys who want to come back to this city yearly. Thank you, Carlos. Next. Hello, Panos Itanidis from Antena TV Greece. Again, a question for Carlos, of course. I know that the competitiveness of the team is not what you wanted this year for the first race in your country, but you will still have thousands of Spanish people cheering for you, eager for seeing your race. What is the promise you can give to all the fans out there that are going to cheer up for you? Well, I can only promise them that I will give it my best. Whatever that result brings me or brings us, I will be flat out and trying to do the best I can for them to have fun. And then if not, I just hope the city and the event runs well, that people that come to the track have fun, enjoy the track, they enjoy the event around it and all the events that there is around the city. And thanks to that, that they just get to enjoy the weekend. Apart from that, you have my promise that I'll be giving that extra time to all the fans, to all my family that's coming, to all my friends that are coming, to have a bit of extra time for them, which will be relatively draining for me, but at the same time, for sure, it will give me a lot of good, positive energy. Carlos, how big is the entourage this weekend? How many people have you got coming? Well, I can tell you in my grandstand, the Team 55 grandstand, I saved 100 passes or 100 tickets for me and my family. And they were gone in two days. So next year, I'm probably going to need to save a few more. And then everyone has been extremely kind with the paddock passes. For my friends and my family, I have plenty of passes. And also it's difficult to get. I have just a full logistics team working out how all these passes are going to work and how everything is going to work. But it's been fun also, and I can see how excited everyone that is Madrid-based, that is all my friends, all my family, how excited everyone is just to join, come, support, get to see the paddock or the grandstand or the circuit up close. And we've all been seeing for the last two years the whole circuit grow and being put together. And now that everything is completed, everyone wants to come and check it out. Thank you. Next one. Hello, Carlos. Rui Chagas for Das on Portugal. I was about to give you a break and ask a question to Gabi, but eventually I have to go back to you. Obviously, this is your real home Grand Prix, Madrid, but you already had Barcelona. And next year you will also have Madrid and Portugal. We will have Portimão back. With all the complaints that people have that the Grand Prix are going away from Europe and so on, how special is it for you having two Grand Prix in Iberia for two years in a row? I think it's going to be super interesting, and I think it shows that everyone also is valuing Europe and still keeping faith in Europe as an event. And I think the Iberian Peninsula, like you call it, is more than with the weather that we have here and the facilities that we get. It's an ideal scenario for Formula One. I think F1 tracks here in Europe also need to take a step into promoting the event and making the event as appealing and as competitive as the ones in the US and the ones in Latin America are doing. And this is something that Madrid has taken very personally. They want to bring that culture of Mexico, the vibes of Mexico, Miami, that we are all enjoying when the Grand Prix is happening. They want to bring this to a European track for the first time, and that's why you will see so many jamón stands, so many tapas stands in the paddock. We want to make sure there's plenty of concerts around the Grand Prix, so we want to make sure the whole four days is a whole event and people get to enjoy the Grand Prix and the weekend, and the whole weekend, not just the racing. I love those. I love those. They're the best. Hello, everyone. We are on with the second part of the press conference. We continue with three more drivers, but the discussion shifts slightly more towards performance pressure and expectations for the weekend. As I was saying, the first major topic was how teams prepare for circuits they have never raced on before. The drivers explained that simulator work has helped build a basic understanding of the layout, just as the first three drivers said, but the setup choices will remain very flexible until Friday running begins. On a circuit like Madrid, finding the correct compromise could be difficult. Teams need enough straight-line speed for the faster sections, but they also need stability under braking and confidence through the more technical corners. Also, we need to mention that there is no gravel, there is a straight wall on this particular track. That balance could become one of the key technical battles of the weekend. The drivers were also asked how quickly they expect the track to evolve. With Formula 1 cars running competently here for the first time, grip levels could change significantly from session to session. That means a setup that feels good on Friday morning may no longer be ideal by Saturday afternoon. Another important subject was qualifying. Several drivers suggested that qualifying could play a particularly important role this weekend because nobody yet knows exactly how easy overtaking will be during the race. If following becomes difficult, starting position could become even more valuable. That put extra pressure on the Saturday day. The conversation then moved towards the championship and the recent race in Monza. There was recognition that momentum can change very quickly in Formula 1. One strong weekend can completely shift confidence. One poor weekend can turn a comfortable situation into pressure. The drivers were also asked whether they pay attention to championship gaps at this stage of the season. The general response was that while points are always in the back of their mind, the immediate focus remains execution. There is no value in thinking about Sunday before Friday practice has even started. The Spanish crowd was another major theme. The drivers spoke about the energy around the city and the excitement of bringing Formula 1 to a brand new venue. For some, the challenge is purely competitive. For others, the atmosphere and home support add another emotional layer to the weekend. But, in general, all three drivers agreed on one thing. The circuit will reward adaptation. The teams that understand measuring fastest will have an advantage. The drivers who build confidence quickest will find the lap time. And the smallest mistakes could become very expensive. So, after both parts of the Thursday's press conference, the message from the drivers is clear. Nobody knows exactly what measuring will give them yet. By the end of the Friday, the picture should start becoming much clearer. And by Saturday, there will be nowhere left to hide. So, it's gonna be really, really... How do I say this? It's gonna be tricky. It's gonna be unknowingly. It's gonna be something that the drivers will have to learn corner by corner, straight by straight. And they need to do the blueprint of that map, of that circuit, on their head. So, they can know where to push, what corner to take first, on what kind of particular speed they should go in. All of the three drivers, or all of the six drivers in part one and this part, they talked about that particular fear. They don't know if they should push or will the car be in that condition to push. What degradation will be, what will be the level or the percentage of the degradation of the tires. A lot of things, a lot of things. But in general, it's really exciting to have a new track that is really interesting for me. I love the layout. So, hopefully we will have a beautiful race weekend. Thank you everyone for watching this video with us. Please don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel. If you have something to add up, comment down below. We'll see you in the next one.