Excerpts from 2026 F1 Belgian GP Post-Race Conference:
Q: Very well done today. Thank you for that. Charles, letās come to you now. Weāve just had Kimiās analysis of Ferrariās pace. Just how close did you think you were to him today?
š:Ā Again, on Thursday, I think we kind of expected to be very far back, maybe to the extent of four or five tenths. In qualifying, that was true, but in the race we were a bit closer than we thought. So, itās been positive. I think on two tracks which, on paper, were quite bad for us, we won and we finished second, with a little bit of luck, but still, I think it was a good effort from the team. On two tracks that didnāt fit our car particularly well, weāve scored good points.
Q: How much confidence do you take from these last two races? You said after the win at Silverstone, āIām taking it one race at a time.ā Given whatās happened here at Spa, do you think youāve cracked it? Do you think youāve now got the car where you want it and can be quick everywhere?
š:Ā Iām confident in saying that I made a step forward. Whether Iām at the level where I want to perform, not yet. There are still things in the car that I need to drive around. I cannot drive completely naturally, and that is slowing me down in some parts of the race. So, there are still things that Iāve got to work on in order to be better. But surely it was a step forward, and for that Iām happy. Iāll continue with the one-race-at-a-time approach because, with these cars, itās very difficult to be confident that if one race weekend goes well, the other one will, because it relies on such small details. With what you do with your driving, itās never a given that you get the same deployment from one lap to the other, and thatās maybe the frustrating bit about these cars.
Q: There was a lot of good wheel-to-wheel racing today. Kimi talked about lap one. Can I ask you about lap eight? It got pretty close between you and Oscar Piastri. Just your version, please.
š:Ā Well, I would prefer to speak about lap one, to be honest, but lap eight was too close. Luckily, it didnāt have any consequences for either my race or his race, so thatās good.
Q: A lot of people think Ferrari could be very strong in Hungary. Whatās your take?
š:Ā We could be, but we could also not be, and weāll never know until we go there. I think itās very difficult to predict the level of performance of every team. I recall very well what the overall feeling was before Monaco, and we arrived in Monaco and were underperforming compared to what everybody thought we would. So, I think we need to be cautious. We just need to do our homework, just like we do at every different track. I think what we did particularly well over these last two weekends was to really make sure that we maximised our package, and thatās the mentality we should keep for Budapest, without thinking about expectations.
Q: (Valentin Khorounzhiy ā The Race) Congratulations to all three. A question to all three, but primarily to Kimi. Kimi, George and Toto have been speaking this weekend about a loss of deployment in various parts of the track that they canāt explain through his driving, battery wear or anything like that. It may just be something that happens somewhere in the algorithm. The question to everybody is: have you had that this season? Charles, I think you just referenced doing the same thing every lap and getting a completely different result in terms of deployment. Is that a similar type of thing?
KA:Ā Yeah, it can happen. Being honest, with George this weekend there was a slight loss, and sometimes you just donāt understand. I had the same in Australia, for example. It can be a little bit down to driving, but sometimes the system just does something a little bit different. Itās very complicated, and for the team, you have to appreciate the work, because the system is very complicated. Of course, theyāre trying to make things a bit easier, but sometimes itās hard to get it perfect. Also, with the driving, sometimes, especially on tracks like this that are very energy-demanding, if you start driving differently, then for the system itās a bit crazy. So, it is tricky. But I have to agree that this weekend, for George, there was a slight issue. Iām sure it will be fixed for Budapest.
š:Ā I donāt know what Georgeās issue was, obviously, but the only thing I can say is that it happens. These power units are so complex that there are some days when you scratch your head trying to understand why you are losing so much on the straights. That was a bit the case for me on Friday and in FP3. Then, in qualifying, things went well again by slightly fine-tuning things. Itās just very difficult, but also very frustrating sometimes for a driver because, even when you are doing your best, there are things in the background that change constantly, and thatās not so nice.
MV:Ā Yeah, I mean, welcome to F1 2026. Sometimes it can be a jungle.
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