00:00And now I think it's time we brought two very familiar faces to the stage. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give
00:06a big collision cheer for our Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
00:19Hello. Hello. There's a lot of microphones.
00:27George, Kimi, it's great to have you both here back in Kuala Lumpur. I know our media fans have plenty
00:31of questions to ask for you, so let's get straight into it. Who would like to kick us off?
00:48Oh, hi. First off, I guess Walker, George, and Kimi, and Toto, the home Mercedes team. I'm Verstappen from Tarmac
00:57Sports. And my question is, how was Malaysia?
01:02That's why we went to Langkawi. Yes. You went to Splash Mania? Waterpark? Yeah. How was it? Yeah. What is
01:08Splash Mania?
01:09It's a waterpark, yeah. Oh, wow. You missed out. I did, I did. I didn't get the invite to Splash
01:15Mania. Langkawi was incredible. I love coming to Malaysia.
01:20You know, we, we come numerous times per year and everywhere at Petronas. Many times have recommended to go and
01:27visit the beautiful island of Langkawi.
01:30So we went with six other drivers and we had a really amazing time. Such a beautiful, beautiful place. The
01:39people are so friendly and it's just, it felt like I'm a different world being there.
01:44So I really, I really enjoyed that. It was the perfect way to prepare for, for this week. Yeah. How
01:51was, how was Splash Mania?
01:52It was good. It was good. Yeah. Yeah. Had a lot of fun. Um, was also, you know, very few
01:59people, so I could go on the slide, um, repeatedly, you know, I did the same slide, uh, five times
02:06in, in like, uh, three minutes.
02:08So I was just running up and down, um, but it was good. And then other than that, I've been
02:14here in Malaysia, I've been going around the city. Uh, it was really cool to see, you know, uh, KL
02:20in general and, uh, didn't try any traditional food. Um, because yeah, maybe after the weekend, uh, just wanna.
02:30Have you tried roti?
02:31No.
02:32I had some roti.
02:33Yeah.
02:33I need to go to Chennai.
02:35Is it good?
02:35Very good.
02:36I like to.
02:36Okay. So I gotta try that. And, um, um, but that's it. I've been enjoying my time here and, uh,
02:42getting, you know, getting up to speed as well with the weather and, uh, humidity.
02:47Yeah. Thank you.
02:49Thank you. Can we have our next question, please?
02:54Behind.
02:54Sure.
02:56Hello.
02:59Hello.
03:00I'm Artika from Newswave. So, uh, I have two questions. Uh, first one is, uh, how are you doing
03:06with, uh, any concerns regarding power clipping or tire degradation due to the demanding nature
03:12of support track? And my second question is, uh, any preparation for unpredictable weather that
03:20might come during the weekend? Thank you.
03:24Yeah. I mean, um, um, on energy wise, it's not going to be too bad, um, actually. Um, but definitely
03:34on tires is going to be a big challenge. Uh, the, the, the tarmac is very, it's very old.
03:39It's very aggressive on, on tires. So it's going to be interesting to see, but definitely
03:43it's going to be very high deck and weather wise. Yeah. It's going to be unpredictable. Uh, for sure.
03:50There's some rain on the radar and, uh, um, but yeah, it was meant to rain also in the past
03:57two days and it doesn't rain. So we're going to see in the moment, but, uh, for sure from
04:02what I've heard when it rains here, it's quite heavy. So we're trying to be ready for anything.
04:07Uh, but also it will be the first time, uh, we'll be on track with, uh, you know, with the
04:13wet tires. Uh, so, you know, if that happens, uh, it's going to be a big challenge for everyone
04:18because all of us have such a little, um, experience on the wet with these cars.
04:25So, uh, yeah, it's going to be interesting if that happens.
04:31He's had a plan for me.
04:33Okay. Can we have the next one, please?
04:35How are you guys working, uh, with the heat situations right now?
04:41Yeah, I mean, it's, um, yeah, it's the same for everybody, I guess. And there's always
04:48the, the challenge of the heat and humidity in, in Malaysia, but, you know, that's part
04:54of the excitement racing here and part of the challenge is, it's the same for all.
04:59Uh, next question, please. Uh, hi. I'm Zoom from Dama. Uh, a question from Kimi. Uh, Kimi, at your age,
05:08most drivers are still trying to establish themselves. Uh, but you're already carrying a huge
05:16expectation, uh, and fighting at the front in the Formula One. How will you separate yourself
05:23from all that pressure and still enjoy the racing?
05:27Yeah, it's, uh, it's not easy. I mean, obviously, um, especially when you're at the highest level
05:34fighting for, for the top, um, it's easy sometimes to get carried away from, from the moment and
05:41forget, uh, the basics, uh, which is to enjoy and do the best you can, uh, because at the end
05:47of the day, you know, uh, we have to remind ourselves that, uh, we're very lucky to do
05:53what we love, um, you know, what we dream of since we were kids. Of course, uh, we work
06:01really hard for it and we do our best, uh, but, uh, yeah, it's, in this kind of situation,
06:07it's not, it's not easy. It's really easy to, um, just get carried away and, uh, uh, just
06:13forget, uh, to also enjoy and, uh, maybe you take things sometimes a bit too seriously. Also,
06:20you have the wrong mindset, the wrong approach. Um, but, uh, you know, once you find your
06:25way to, to approach things and to, to live through the moment, uh, then everything becomes,
06:31uh, easier and you just, you know, you realize that you enjoy also much more the experience.
06:39Perhaps we have time for two more questions. Yeah. Hello. Hi guys. Um, so this will be your,
06:48both of you for your first time, uh, driving in Zapang, right? But there are other drivers
06:52like Alonso and Lewis Hamilton who have finished podiums multiple times in Zapang. So how do you
06:58guys feel about going up against more skis in the, uh, drivers? Well, I think, you know,
07:06this is our first time racing here in, in Zapang and it was actually my, my favorite circuit
07:11as a kid when I used to drive on the PlayStation. So I'm sort of really looking forward to coming
07:16back and hopefully those experiences under control and will help me go a bit faster this
07:20weekend. But, you know, compared to the drivers who have raced here in the past, I think we're
07:26very fortunate that we have the best chassis and power unit beneath us, which should give
07:31us the advantage over these drivers who have been here before. Um, but of course the competition
07:37is always very tough and we, you know, we saw it in the last race, our competitors were
07:43close, but I think we have a great opportunity to fight for, for the pole and the win this weekend.
07:50Yeah. One last question from this time, please. Uh, first of all, welcome
07:54to Malaysia Gaming Jobs. Uh, I'm CK from Tarnas Works. Uh, so my question is, uh, Mercedes reportedly
08:01bringing you a new update and as well as the Aerodermy update. What is the significance of bringing
08:09the new update in, especially when we haven't raised in like nine years?
08:14Well, I think for us, um, when you're bringing so few upgrades per year, you need to be strategic
08:22of when you bring them and when it's going to have the biggest impact for the rest of
08:28the season. Of course you could bring the upgrade a few races earlier, but then you're missing
08:33out maybe on some extra performance. So we felt, uh, initially it was planned for, for Singapore.
08:40Then we pushed it forward one week for Malaysia because we thought the, the improvements would
08:46be very beneficial here. And of course, you know, this is almost like a home race for us
08:51as well with, with Petronas that we wanted to, uh, give our very best, uh, to have a great weekend.
08:57Yeah, I mean, they said it's all.
09:01Okay, media friends, ladies and gentlemen, that's all the time we have for questions today.
09:05So we will grant a thank you for a great session and please provide a few pieces to your seats
09:10down there while they set up the stage for our tutorial.
