How important is F1 in Latin America?
“It is huge even in Colombia, but it is hard to make it. Ask Franco Colapinto how much sponsorship he had before he made it.
“Ask me how much sponsorship I had before I made it. Ask my kid how much sponsorship we get out of Colombia before he makes it. Not much. But the day he makes it, everybody will be happy to write a cheque bigger than you ever needed.
“Nobody (possible sponsors) wants to be part of the journey. But everybody wants success. That’s very Latin. When you make it, everybody wants you there. Everybody's proud of you.”
What is it about Latin America that produces so many great drivers?
“It's just that things were and are never given to us.
“Things were harder, and when you have to work for things harder than the next guy next to you and it's going to cost you blood to get there and you have to sacrifice everything to get there. When you do make it you appreciate it more.
“It was either make it or go back to a school and be a mechanic or something.”
What do you make of F1 currently?
“I think F1 is in an amazing place. Next year F1 is going to be unbelievable.
“Drive to Survive has been a real game changer. Liberty taking over the sport has made a huge difference. When I was driving, the paddock wasn't a fun place to be.
“Now people are smiling, and people are talking to each other and it’s a much nicer atmosphere. It's a much better place to be.”
What do you make of Max Verstappen and his swearing?
“Being at Red Bull has been a huge thing for Max. He can be himself and Red Bull is OK with that.
“The FIA over-reacted. After what happened in the press conference Max should just have been given a warning.”
Why do you need to make a statement and punish him straight away?
“It's petty as hell. And why?
“The way he managed it, I think it's classic. At the end of day the F1 at some point is going to tell the FIA to leave him alone because they need him.
“At some point, the FIA has to go, ‘Oh, we screwed up.’. But at the same time they have to go, they will feel that they need to stand by their decision as well.
“So, what do you do? Do you stand by your decision and play the long game? Or do you sit down with him and say, we’ve punished you but we’ll make it easy for you but we need to set the standard, so we don't take the penalties away, but we're going to come up with a solution that it's amicable for both parties.
“For example, they could get some kids to the track as a special event and they’ll say to Max they’ll need him for 20 minutes there and then we'll call a truce while reminding him he has to watch his language. And the problem would be solved.
“But if he becomes an ego thing and escalates, when does F1 step in and say to the FIA this is not good for the sport. If it was another driver. it probably wouldn't be an issue, but they tried to make an issue of it. Max is outspoken.
“They say they want drivers to be nice (and not swear) so why are they happy to publicise when they're screaming on the radio? And nobody talks about that because they know they want to build the sport and create that atmosphere. That is great. But you can’t have it both ways.”
How about this season’s title race?
“Talking of this season and Max and Lando, it's unfolding. We're entering a really crucial phase in the USA and Mexico and Vegas. Have McLaren made a mistake in not making Lando number one sooner? Or can Max hang on and just finish second and accumulate enough points?
“The hard thing for McLaren is Max keeps finishing the podium. But McLaren had the opportunity to close that gap and put more pressure on Max, but it’s maybe now too late.
“McLaren should have made the decision about who is number one earlier. It’s a good lesson for all the teams. They should say that halfway through the season whoever is ahead becomes number one for the second half of the season.
“If somebody is clearly ahead, more than 10% or 20% of points, then that person would become number one. I think they need to do something.
“Hopefully McLaren don't get to Abu Dhabi and think, ‘You know those four points here and six points there we missed out on, we would have been world champions.’
“So, the question is, is the Constructors’ Championship more important for them? I know, for Lando, the drivers’ championship is the priority. But for McLaren as a whole, winning the constructors championship would be a huge deal.
“Maybe they’ve looked at it and thought the chance of winning the drivers is too slim and decided to keep focusing on the Constructors’ Championship.
“You don't want to lose Oscar’s interest. Because if you lose interest in the second part of the season, and he goes from winning races and finishing second to finishing fifth then that’s a problem.”
Are Red Bull back now after the FIA’s ruling on McLaren’s rear wing?
“Red Bull, I think, have started to solve their problems with the car. If the Red Bull gets fixed, and I think there's a package coming for the US Grand Prix and if all of a sudden Perez starts beating Oscar and Max returns to winning races the Constructor’s title can flip back again in a heartbeat.
“Because how much is McLaren going to lose with the rear wing? That’s the million dollar question, and I think they're going to go after their front wing as well. If you look at the front wing of every team, it stays in the same place except the McLaren and the Mercedes; it's the two wings that roll back.
“So the way the wings were working, I think they were skipping the balance of the car. I think the balance of the car is going to go away a little bit, because now the front wing keeps giving up and the rear one doesn't. Now, when you go into the high speed corners, the aero balance is going to start shifting back, because now the rear wing is not losing the performance.
“McLaren’s speed is not astonishing, but it's their consistency and how well they look after the tyres.”
What do you make of Sergio Perez’s situation at Red Bull?
“When Perez was signed to a two year deal, Christian Horner supposedly said it was actually a year plus an option for another year.
“If they signed that deal, I would assume, unless something major happens, that he would stay one more year.
“The rumours going round at the last race was that Red Bull were thinking about announcing that Perez was going to retire at the end of next year.
“But Perez for Red Bull is huge in terms of value for money, for Red Bull itself, selling Red Bull in Latin America, in Mexico and in the US. Look at the numbers. Ask around and you'll see the numbers. It’s tens of millions of dollars that he has brought to Red Bull. So that is a huge consideration.”
If you put Liam Lawson from New Zealand in the car, how many more rentals are you going to sell in New Zealand?
“Supposedly before Red Bull went for Perez they had a factory in Mexico which they were even thinking about closing.
“Now with Sergio I think they’ve had to open a second one. Having him really transformed what Red Bull was in Mexico and Central America and Latin America. It's a big number. So it's not as simple as who is the better driver.
“Most of the time Perez has pulled his weight. His problem is when Red Bull struggles, their whole focus is making sure Max is comfortable.
“What Max wants out of the car and what Perez wants out of the car are two different things. When Perez was comfortable, as we saw in Baku he can perform really well.
“I don't know if he's got the right people around him. When he’s in the right frame of mind and trusts the care he can deliver better than most.”
Do you feel sorry for Checo with all this speculation?
“The question is would he rather be in the situation he is at Red Bull or driving right now for Aston Martin and finishing 15th every week?
“It’s a double edged sword. You know, you have to be happy with what it gives you, but the tough part about being Max's teammate is that the team is biassed in favour of Max.
“Lawson has come in for Daniel Ricciardo. As you have shown, there is life after F1. What do you think he'll do?
“So the question is, does he enjoy driving enough, or does he like the social side of becoming a Red Bull ambassador?
“Come to races and do events and things and enjoy that without the pressure of driving. Or maybe he just walks away and says thank you to everybody, because if for him, driving is enough and what it is really all about for him he could find a seat in anything.
“There's life after F1 if you want it. The best example is Mick Schumacher. Mick had F1 trouble big time and it didn't look like he would ever have another job. Now he’s an ambassador for Mercedes and he's racing in the World Endurance Championship for Alpine.
“Danny could do that. He has such a big personality, and he's got a huge following and he is very popular.
“If you think about me, everybody thinks I'm an asshole. If you think of Daniel, oh, he's such a lovely guy. Maybe I need to do some more Instagram!”
Aston Martin have signed Adrian Newey on a mega deal. You’ve worked with him. What makes him so special?
“He's one of those guys that is very good at thinking outside the box. What Lawrence Stroll has done is amazing, he’s got the Honda deal that Red Bull has, and now he’s got Newey. He's got the two main elements that probably made Red Bull have so much success.
“The question is, is next year going to make a huge difference with Adrian? I don't see it. What Adrian's doing is going to be about what happens in 2026.
“I think in the medium term, the prospects for Aston Martin are good. They're going to be in an amazing place.”
What is the missing ingredient?
“To get the right driver, a driver to get the job done. Fernando is amazing. How long can he go on? I don't think Lance is going anywhere.
“Fernando is not a long term option. When do they make that decision and go, ‘Hey, we’ve got the Honda, we’ve got Newey. Why not go after Max? That would involve offering Max the same kind of deal that Newey got but a better one to do.
“Because then it's a long term project. Then you have one of the best drivers in the world, if not the best, the current best driver in the championship and the better he does, the more money he's going to make long term. Because the company is going to be worth even more.”
How do you think Hamilton will get on at Ferrari?
“I think we’ll see the Lewis of old. He's going to be out with a revenge to prove everybody wrong and show everybody they were wrong about him. I think if everything lines up, I think Lewis can be a huge threat for a championship.
“If Ferrari really wants to succeed, they really need to listen to what Lewis needs and build a car around him that Lewis wants.”
Talking of signings, Carlos Sainz, he's big news for Williams, but what does he bring? And are you surprised others didn't go for him particularly?
“I think he took the best thing. I think Williams is on the same path as McLaren but maybe one or two years behind McLaren.
“They're getting better. They're like their structure now. I think Williams has a pretty bright future ahead of them. They have realised they’ve got to rebuild from the ground up and not just patch things up.
“They’re thinking that even if it takes a little longer, they’re going to do it the right way.
“There might be fireworks in the team between the drivers Carlos and Alex! Alex is going to be under pressure to outperform Carlos.”
Would you like to be driving today and would you like to race Max?
“It's very different from what I was used to. Today is so much about managing the tyres and controlling the tyres.
“I think I left at the right time. Like, I had enough and it was perfect. And I really enjoyed my time at NASCAR. I enjoyed my time back at Indy. I really enjoyed my career and my life, to be honest. I can't look back at it and say, ‘Oh, I could have done this. I should have done that.’”
What are your memories of Michael Schumacher as a rival?
“He was tough. He was a tough guy to beat and everybody had so much respect for him that he was. For me personally, it was really annoying!
“It's like nobody wanted to race him. It's like, oh, no, you're Michael, go ahead, after you! I was the other way. I'm like, screw you. I'm not going to give you an inch.”
“The rivalry was all on the track. We never really spoke to each other much. Every opportunity he could screw me over, he would, and every opportunity I could screw him over, I would. It was fun”
What was he, ruthless?
“Yes he was ruthless, and I was the same way. It wasn't about being ruthless, about doing your job.
“You can’t be friends in F1. How can you be so friendly to somebody that in the next race you might need to drive off the track to win the race. Are you comfortable?
“The problem is, once the feelings for somebody come and you like the person enough, it makes it harder.
“But put it this way; if it was Lewis, Max would go in and take him out no questions asked. But if it’s Lando, is he going to do the same? No, you don't, because he's your friend and you respect him.
“As soon as you start respecting him as a friend then you might lose that edge of being comfortable, putting them upside down.”
And do you remember you and Ralph had team orders, didn't you, back at Williams in the day?
“We never had team orders. That was the biggest problem we had. I think Williams wanted to keep, like, McLaren, the two as number ones, and it was a fiasco.
“For Ralph it would have been even harder because the guy that we were going against was his brother.”
Your son Sebastien has followed you into racing. How is he doing?
“We did F3 this year, and the plan is to do F2 next year. This year was hard because we changed teams and he was really good.
“His race-craft, tyre management and everything was really good, but we were missing out a lot in qualifying. And he didn't understand the car well enough. He was really struggling to understand where the pace needed to come from.
“I knew there was something wrong, so we sat down on the simulator at home and told him to try a different approach. We changed a couple things. And from there, we were the quickest guy on the team.
“Every weekend, we were miles ahead of our teammates. It was really cool to see. So, every weekend now we're qualifying in the top ten. But it was just too late; there is too much to do.
“The next two years for us are key. He needs to deliver, and if we deliver enough and the opportunity comes, we're there.
“And if we don't, then I think you have a good opportunity to jump to America for Indycar or for something. But our target is F2 which is really important for the career of a young guy.
South America spawns a lot of talent, the latest being Franco Colapinto. What do you make of him?
“We raced against Colapinto last year in F3. He's come into a difficult situation at Williams and done an amazing job.
“He's done an amazing job for the team, and the team is looking at it, you know, they're looking at themselves going like, what the hell? Yeah, you know what I mean?
“If Colapinto has been that good, then you would look at Gabriel Bortoleto and everybody else that came up with him that have beaten Colapinto in F2 and you realise how good the young talent is in F1 at the moment.
“I am surprised Logan Sergeant didn't do better. He was pretty good in F2 but struggled in F1. Colapinto was kind of the other way around. Colapinto's done a couple of decent races in F2 but he hasn't set the world on fire.
“I think he's done a really good job and he probably deserves a seat somewhere because he's proven himself.
“But are Williams going to fully release him or are they going to lend to someone for two years? I don't see Williams saying to him: ‘go your way’.”
