How do you feel after winning your first grand prix of the year?
"I’m overjoyed because it’s been a long time coming. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said it was the best victory of my career. To win a grand prix from pole position is challenging enough, but to win one from absolutely the back of the field - that’s something else. It still feels incredible.
"It’s been a real emotional rollercoaster. We were so close to the win at Monaco and it looked like it was all coming together, but it just didn’t come off. And then to come to Canada and only be able to qualify seventh was frustrating as well. When it rained on race day, I knew there was always going to be a chance, but, even then, the race went away from us before it came back into our hands. I’ve always enjoyed racing on a wet track, having to improvise and find the grip.
"There was the incident with Lewis. You never want to collide with your own team-mate, and this was a complete accident - I just didn’t see him, so I took up the line for the corner - but when I felt the bang and realised what had happened, I thought we were both out of the race.
"When the race was red-flagged we had to sit around for ages waiting to go again. That was just a surreal moment. But, once we restarted, the team called the strategy right and the car was really strong when I needed it to be. It’s amazingly satisfying to be able to chase and pass your rivals, to put one over them. The closing laps were just frantic. I couldn’t stop smiling afterwards."
What effect do you think this has had on team morale?
"Well, these guys are in it to win it, not to come second. They put their heart and soul into building a quick car, so, if another team has a technical edge on us, or we as drivers don’t extract the maximum performance during a race, or even if we’re just unlucky not to get a good result, they’re inevitably disappointed.
"We’re under 24/7 scrutiny these days, and all it takes is one disappointing practice or qualifying session and it sometimes feel like you’re being left behind. So I think this is a really satisfying result because it demonstrates the pace of the MP4-26 and the quality of the people behind it. They’ve done an incredible job to get us right up at the front - and, don’t forget, we’re the only team this year that’s won with both its drivers. That tells you something about the strength in depth at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
"As we saw in China, when Lewis had a last-minute issue on his car just before we went out to the grid, the guys in the pits just don’t give in. What’s equally important is the way the strategy guys called the race. We had a little bit of luck with the Safety Car working for us, but we’ll take that because we’ve had some bad luck in the past. They did a fantastic job and they can be proud of that.
"And of course, this is my first win with Dave Robson as my race engineer, and I know he can be proud of that. I am."
How demanding was this race?
"You can’t underestimate how tough it was. Like I said, it was all quite emotional in the run up to the restart, and then we had further setbacks like the drive-through and the puncture.
"To work your way up through the field, fighting as hard as you can, and then be pushed back down again and lose those positions is tough to deal with. You have to pick yourself up and go at it again. But I never lost belief.
"Fighting through the field and passing people gives you a real lift. As we got towards the end and I was catching Seb, I knew time was running out and that I’d have to find a way past him. When he ran wide, I just grabbed the opportunity and went past.
"Whatever else happens in a race, it’s the last lap you want to be leading."
Source: Nextgen
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