"This was a tricky race to manage. Both Lance and Fernando drove faultlessly and maximised every opportunity – for Fernando, that resulted in a third-place finish and some valuable points; for Lance, it was difficult trying to cut through the traffic, but he pulled off some fantastic passes. It was frustrating to just miss out on a points-scoring position at the end." Tom briefly explains how the race played out, and highlighted the great effort by the drivers on the track.

"I had a bit of a lonely afternoon out there, but I enjoyed my race. There was nothing I could really do against Max [Verstappen] and Sergio [Perez] but, happily, there was no pressure today from behind, so we'll take this result." Fernando describes the race from his side, where once he had displaced Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, he was able to comfortably run at his own pace without trouble from behind.

 

"It was a tough race today and we found it difficult to make a huge amount of progress from 18th on the grid. The car felt good, but I was stuck in a DRS train with a lot of traffic around me." Lance explains how his race panned out. With lots of cars in front of him, he made up solid progress in the early stages before being in the middle of a train of cars which limited his progress.

"Fernando's race was all about managing the strategy from the Medium to the Hard tyre. It worked out well for him: Ferrari went for the undercut with Sainz but we elected to balance the stints and overtake him on track. After that, Fernando was able to consolidate third place and pull comfortably clear of the cars behind." Tom asseses Fernando's successful race. While Sainz initially got by Fernando in the pitstop phase, the two-time World Champion was able to get by his countryman on the track and pull away to a handy seven-second lead.

"We've taken four podium finishes from the first five races – and only missed out on a podium in Baku by eight tenths of a second – so it's been a fantastic start to our season." Fernando gives his assessment on the start of his time with AMF1 Team. He sits a comfortable third in the Drivers' Championship, with more F1 podiums than his last seven seasons combined.

 

"We opted for a long stint on the Hard tyres and managed those well; it was then just a case of deciding when to pit to make sure there were enough laps left to maximise the pace of the Medium compound." The gaps in the midfield were tight, meaning choosing when to make the pitstop to make the most of the middle compound of tyre was key to a result, as Lance explains.

"With no DNFs and no Safety Cars, it was difficult for Lance to make progress through the field. Add low degradation to the mix and it became even trickier – because a lot of cars were able to run at a similar pace. But he managed his race extremely well, was typically brave on the brakes and made up plenty of places to finish 12th." It was a challenging race overall for Lance, as Tom explains. He did not give up until the end though, and was just a couple of seconds away from the points-paying positions after making some bold overtakes, providing action right to the chequered flag.

"One day, when there's an opportunity to win, we need to make sure we're in the best position to capitalise. And that's exactly what we're doing right now." Fernando wants to continue to be ready to pounce when any chance of a strong result comes his way. He aims to carry this form forwards into the triple-header coming up soon, including his home race.

 

 

"I had some fun overtaking Alex [Albon] into Turn One but, in hindsight, we could have boxed a few laps earlier to try and catch 10th position. It's been a weekend to learn from – which we'll do – and I'm looking forward to getting back out in Imola." Of the many overtakes Lance made in the race, he picks out his one with Albon as his highlight. He also looks to take the lessons from this weekend forward, and aims to bounce back at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

"We conclude this double-header having scored 37 points and maintained second position in the Constructors' Championship. A huge thanks to the whole team for their incredible efforts over the past few weeks. We will regroup and come back just as strong for the triple-header, which kicks off later this month." The final word of the weekend comes from Tom, who credits the team for its incredible well-rewarded efforts and looks ahead to the triple-header beginning with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in two weeks' time.