#but it'll probably be in a little bit when i'm done with my conference

[oflights]

I really love yor drarry headcanons🤭❤️

ahhh thank you!! i kind of miss doing them, though eventually i would've run out of headcanons haha.

i'm glad people like how my brain works 🤷🏼‍♀️

[umgeorge]

george russell is interviewed during the press conference on media day, singapore - september 19, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "George, why don't we come to you now? Great result for you on Sunday, but it wasn't a straightforward race. We're now at another street track with the same tire compounds that we had in Baku. What learnings do you have from last week that you can apply here?" George: "Yeah, feels like every race we go to, at the moment, it's quite a unique circuit. Obviously Azerbaijan was very unique in its own way, Singapore's unique in its own way, and there's a lot of these types of tracks on the calender, and, as Oscar said, it's so competitive now at the front, and a tenth or two can be the difference between a front row start or P6 or 7 on the grid, which is very exciting. We were really strong here last year, the pace was really good in Singapore, so hopefully we can continue that good performance we had here last year and see where it takes us." Interviewer: "If your car performance is as good here as it was in the second stint in Baku, what's possible?" George: "I mean, yeah, we were really competitive in the second stint last week. Deifnitely surprised ourself there, but I think now this circuit with that extra DRS zone, I hope racing will be slightly better. It's not gonna make it worse, that's for sure, and maybe overtaking will be possible. So I think it'll still go down to qualifying. That's gonna be key, getting a good Saturday, and that'll set you up nicely for the race." Interviewer: "As you've already said, you were very competitive here last year. You qualified on the front row, you're going great guns, until the moment on the penultimate lap. Do you feel… I dunno. Do you feel that you have unfinished business in Singapore?" George: "No, not really. It's not really something I'm thinking about. It's part of racing, part of street circuits. If you're not a hundred percent focused every single lap, you're gonna get bitten, and it was a long old race. It was on the last lap, I thought the race was kind of done, and right behind Lando he kissed the wall, I touched the wall, and before I knew it I'm out of the race. But that's how the game goes, and it's not gonna change my approach one bit, how I go into this weekend. You learn from things like that." Interviewer: "How grueling is this grand prix? Is this still the toughest race for the drivers, physically?" George: "I mean, for sure it's top two with Qatar. Here and Qatar are by far the most physical races. I think here is challenging because there's so many corners; pretty relentless. Slightly easier now that we've got that straight at the back, versus what it was like a few years ago, but just with the humidity you're dripping with sweat as soon as you go outside, let alone when you're locked in a racecar for two hours." Interviewer: "Dripping with sweat. Dripping with rain, as well. You got caught in a rainstorm the other day, didn't you?" George: "Yes!" Interviewer: "Playing padel." George: "Yeah, padel is obviously the new big thing in Formula 1, so it was nice to take all of my mechanics and part of the team, and then just thunder and lightning and rain came from nowhere. So I think it's almost every year we see in Singapore there is bad weather around, so I think that was around race time, as well, that was eight PM when it poured down with rain, so if that happened on Sunday that'd probably mix things up a little bit."

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton during the press conference [part 1/2], japan - september 21, 2023 (transcription under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, coming to you now, I believe you've already had your first race of the weekend." Lewis: "Yeah." Interviewer: [laughs] "Tell us a little bit more about what you and Esteban have been doing." Lewis: "Yeah, so Eseteban and I had planned, obviously a while ago, that while we're here we'll get our remote control cars together and have a bit of a race in the pit lane. So for me it was very reminiscent of when I was a kid on Blue Peter, and it was really cool 'cause we all share more in common than we probably think, other than the fact that we're pure racers, but it's very rare that we all get to do things like that, so it was fun." Interviewer: "Tell us a little bit about the cars. I believe they were petrol?" Lewis: "Unfortunately, yeah. [laughs] I thought they were gonna be electric." Interviewer: "Hi-revving, as well." Lewis: "Yeah, but that's what I raced when I was a kid. I raced electric and petrol and it was Kyosho, which is basically an evolution of the car that you'll see Senna had, and I had the same car as Senna when I was younger, so yeah, and he's mega at it, so…" Interviewer: "Who won?" Esteban: "It was just a bit of fun." Lewis: "It was just fun. We were speeding it around, but I wasn't far off your pace." Esteban: "No, I was super impressed because he hasn't done it for years and he was like, 'Yeah, start slow' and all that. Because I practice a lot, like I'm constantly on it, and straight away, like first braking points, he nails it, so that's more than impressive." Lewis: "I flipped it a lot of times. [both laugh] But I think I had a softer setup." Esteban: "He had a softer setup." [laughs] Interviewer: "I love it. Proper racers." Look, Lewis, can we bring it onto the weekend, and can I get your reaction to something that Checo's just said? Do you and Mercedes believe that Redd Bull will be back this weekend?" Lewis: "I have no clue. I would think that if they're not thirty seconds ahead like they've done in the past, then something's up. [laughs] But no, I think that, as Checo said, it was obviously a difficult weekend, the last one, but their car should be phenomenal here. They've been phenomenal all year long, they've aced pretty much every circuit, and it's gonna be great to watch that car, in general. Normally you would come here and it's beautiful to watch the laps that they do, because the whole team and their drivers are doing an amazing job with the package they have, so it'll be interesting to see how the weekend goes. I hoe we'll be closer and I hope they're not as fast as the thirty second gap they've had in the past." Interviewer: "Well, what about your car? I think there's a strong argument that it was the fastest at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend in the race. How hopeful are you for here?" Lewis: "Mmm… I don't know whether that's really the case. I think Carlos was managing at the front. We were all relatively close, I would say, at the front, but what a great race it was, just to have us all that close up front, and I think this weekend, yeah, I don't anticipate having the performance we had in the last race, but we've worked very hard to… We're continuing to try and push the envelope that we have, so I'm hoping that we're not terribly far off this weekend." Interviewer: "Final one from me, Lewis: You often talk about this being your favorite race track. Just describe the anticipation you have ahead of jupming in a Formula 1 car around Suzuka Circuit." Lewis: "I've got a terrible memroy, but I don't remember saying it's my favorite. It's one of the favorites, I think, for all the drivers, for sure, just because it's that figure of eight, it's that historic circuit where you saw Ayrton and Alain racing on many years ago, and it is an incredible track to drive. And it's such a beautiful country, as well, so it's just overall a great trip. Great food, amazing hospitality, and then the track is just, yeah, it's one of the greatest layouts that we get to experience in the calender, and so I just hope that our car works on it."

[biromantic-nerd]

tag game!

tagged by @romanticism-is-maudlinism thanks! 💙

Rules: tell us the titles of all the WIPs you are currently working on right now and a little about them. Then tag five other writers.

1. You Don't Dare (You Say Love Is A Hell You Cannot Bear)

Merlin BBC. This is my Febuwhump fic. I'm basically done with it, so it's not super a wip, but I'm still going through and editing and might write more for it. Chapter 1 will be posted on uhh this Sunday, I believe.

It's Arthur pov. Set in early season 1. Sleeping Beauty themed events, minus any romance and more focused on Arthur's insecurity.

2. box

another Merlin BBC febuwhump fic, however I don't think I'll be finishing it in time. Merlin pov.

Basically Merlin hits his head and gets a teensy weensy bit held hostage.

3. somehow a SVSSS amnesia fic??

SVSSS. Okay I started writing it as a personal joke! But you know what, I might end up going for it.

So it's a canon divergence - a what if Shen Yuan really did have amnesia from the start type of plot when he wakes up. It's third person narrator, however it's heavily focused of the disciples (Ming Fan especially) losing their minds over this

4. Damian training?

DC. Damian pov. Set before he arrives at Gotham. (Maybe will add a chapter for after too??) A slight compare and contrast of what Damian's learned to be true and what is true, but mostly just a small outtake of a possible training scene.

5. The fabrication of the story is where divergent truths emerge

The Untamed. So this one is probably never going to see the light of day bc it's a massive project and I'm terrible at keeping track of timelines! especially in alternate canons where changing the timeline can have a huge ripple effect.

It's basically a canon divergence (set in the short span of post Core Transfer but pre Yiling Laozu) where Jiang Cheng politically, platonically marries Wei Wuxian to save him. No, really.

Political shenanigans ensue. Jiang Cheng, Wei Ying, and Jiang Yanli protect each other through it.

Somehow I think Lan Zhan suffers the most in this; but somehow incredulously Jin Zixuan is a close second.

(Yes this is Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji endgame.)

No clue who the main pov (bc all I have is the title and a very bad outline) but I suspect it'd be Jiang Cheng with the occasional WWX scene and one Jin Zixuan scene.

But I really do love the title for this actually. I think it sums up the future "misunderstandings" tag very well.

6. Clark Kent pov of Brucie Wayne and his new ward Dick Grayson

DC. So this one is mostly a practice run to see if I liked writing Clark's pov. So far, I'm not impressed with my characterization of him; which makes me delay working on it bc it doesn't vibe right yet to me.

Characterization is something I try hard to get how I want. It's usually not canon characterization, exactly, but I like to try and make characters feel like a real version of themself. So far, this Clark is very... imitation feeling.

Anyways, it's basically just a bunch of reporters at a press conference about Dick and Clark idly musing over it as he does his job.

7. chronic pain + chronic illness Eddie Brock

Venom. This one has been a long time coming. I had originally wanted to do this idea for Big Spoon, You Have So Much To Do but in order to make that one manageable to write, I didn't touch upon the idea of chronic pain+illness Eddie and focused more on figuring out boundaries involved when sharing a body.

So the original concept was far more serious in tone than the one scene I've now got drafted out so far. But it's basically at the core the same premise. Just... funnier and more light-hearted. We'll see how it goes! Who knows, maybe as I write it, it'll get heavier again. Either way is fine with me.

8. They'll speak of me (oh in whispered tones) and say my name like it shakes their bones

Merlin BBC again. Been shaking out the old cobwebs lately of fic ideas I used to have. Morgana pov. It's more of a character study warm up, like the Clark Kent wip. I have written Morgana before, but I've fallen out of practice in her vocal tics and characterization, and I wanted to spend a fic trying to to recapture that feeling of writing her again.

Plus, I really, really wanted to write a fic with these lyrics as a title. And Morgana suits them well.

Feel like I'm forgetting a bunch since I always just have a wide ongoing shuffle of wips I bounce around from.

tags: @daringyounggrayson and anyone who wants to. (yes I know this isn't five but)

[smilingperformer]

Discussing the good and bad of Pokémon Journeys: Part “Chloe”

Time to discuss about the character that is still keeping me on board with watching Pokémon (2019)/Journeys despite having, cough, some issues with it. Let's talk about Chloe, also known as Koharu.

TLDR; I like how Koharu is handled so far, even if I somewhat wish there was more of her, and I believe I know what the intention with her is, and that is to show that the journey to finding your dream goal can be an exciting one and with possible obstacles on the way towards it. More under the cut, Journeys abverted as JN.

So. Let's start with how I became to like her character the moment JN002 aired, but also how her debut in JN001 has become interesting part of how Koharu used to love Pokémon, but then grew out of it. Which to me, reminds of people who grew with playing Pokémon games, cards, etc, but then as they got older, they grew out of it.

Anyway, as we all probably remember, both Gou and Koharu attended the Okido Camp as kids, where BOTH of the eventually meet Mew. From the very beginning, we're let known that Koharu is a daughter of a promising Professor Sakuragi, who's acquainted with Okido.

And we're also let known that the two are friends from before the camp, and I assume their games at Sakuragi's Lab involved playing as Pokémon or other stuff. She most definitely loved Pokémon and her dad's work back then.

But then when we fastforward to the present day as Satoshi, Gou and Koharu are all 10 years old, we see that this attitude has changed in Koharu. She's no longer interested in Pokémon that much, and the only Pokémon she accepts near her is their family 'mon Wanpachi. For me, this was very interesting approach, even if the "not interested in Pokémon" was done before with May/Haruka back in Advanced Generation series.

Even with this interesting approach, she was a side/supporting cast instead of main cast, which honestly felt weird to me as she definitely had a story to tell. But as I've been watching other shows lately, I kinda came to realise her approach reminds me of mid-season additions to cast, even thou her appearances nowdays are just a BIT more frequent, when before her joining the Research Fellows, she appear very seldomly.

Anyway. In JN011 we finally learn that, she pretty much has issues with people's expectations and how everyone assumes her to be very much involved with Pokémon just because of her dad's work. Truly, this would end up affecting her affection towards Pokémon, thou it's possibly not the whole reason for losing interest. She even admits here she's not sure of what she truly wants to do yet.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of goal finding journeys, as they are very relatable to me as someone who took 20+ years to find out what I truly want to do for living, so Koharu wanting to find something instead of other people deciding it for her is very good lesson.

So what exactly is the approach with Koharu from this ep forward? Showing her see Pokémon in different, totally new lights, figuratively speaking. She's shown to take care of a Pidove who broke its wing in a runaway flight, helped her lil brother Sota's friend, Nami, attend to a small children's Contest, and went to a Fossil Exhibition with Satoshi and Gou to learn about fossils. And I feel like that, this fossil exhibition event is what truly rekindled Koharu's interest in Pokémon again. As we all remember, she truly enjoyed that trip, and she, for the first time, got to see Gou bond with a Pokémon, that was rampaging just moments ago. And this episode, accompanied with JN050, are why I am currently thinking Koharu's end goal will end up being related to fossils. It certainy would be an interesting approach for a female cast character, and I wouldn't mind her having a chat with some other character who's also involved in researching fossils... (cough Gary/Shigeru cough)

Anyway. All of this seemingly lead up to Koharu finally meeting her very apparent soul mate: Eevee. I know, that most people were somewhat (or even totally) annoyed by the fact that yet another pokegirl receives Eevee as their Pokémon, and that this is just boring. While I understand the sentiment, considering Koharu's character: Eevee is the only Pokémon that actually fits her. Koharu is out there still figuring out what she wants to be. What she wants to do. And Eevee is the most relatable Pokémon for that kind of character: Eevee can become eight, and I repeat, eight, different evolutions. That's pretty much the same as having different paths to choose from when deciding your goal. And this specific Eevee has also not yet decided what it wants to do. It refuses to evolve. While in-game one could say this is because of the g-max factor, I highly believe this is purely done for the purpose of making Koharu and Eevee relate on a very, very personal level. So instead of Eevee having the g-max factor disabling the evolution (because let's face it, it's only done so people won't accidentally evolve their Gigantamax Eevee), Eevee is kind of, constantly pressing the B button to prevent it.

Now: what has Eevee exactly given to Koharu's character? A lot actually. When before Koharu would try to deny interest in something or try to say she has something else to do instead of a trip, Eevee is there to push her forward to try things out.

Like in JN050, Koharu is trying to priotize her School instead of a Fossil trip to Galar, but thanks to Eevee, who wants to go, Koharu gets the needed push to go and try out new stuff. I very much adored this scene in this episode, due to encouraging the "try out new things" approach in life. From this point forward, we then see Koharu join in on other trips like the Diglett Farm (where she definitely shined in team leading and got to experience the farming and team leader approach) and the Glimwood Tangle trip, that Koharu herself prompted to her dad and the boys, instead of being asked to join. Which reminds me of something else btw.

While Gou is shown to be very knowledged with Pokémon, Koharu is shown to know more about other fields like how plants grows, and what kind of soil is good. This is from either school lessons or from her experience with taking care of the school flowers. She could possibly be considered a good student, and btw, I very much like the approach of not making her a school dropout once she started joining in on research trips, and instead takes homework to accomodate the fact that she's missing out on lessons. This isn't unusual in real life, so I'm glad JN is actually showcasing this approach with both Koharu and Gou. Thou with Gou, he's pretty much always absent, haha.

Now, her latest episode with Kikuna was an interesting one. While Koharu's main point in the episode was kind of to be the angel of love for Kikuna (which failed horribly, love you Kikuna <333 ), I'd say there was another reason for her being in that episode with Kikuna: it was to let her learn of the possibility of meeting possible pitfalls in one's dream goals. That lesson was in Kikuna's story about how she almost gave up in becoming a researcher due to a mess up with an important presentation for a conference, but found the strenght to try again. It's part of reaching your dream goal a lot of the time. Even Koharu's mom, Yoshino/Talia, gave her the story of how she originally wanted to be a mangaka, but gave up on the dream and instead approached something similar. These are all very important life lessons in how working toward one's goal can either fail, or come accoss obstacles. It depends on the person whether they'll end up switching the goal to something else, or strive to go forward to get past the obstacle. As someone who had exactly Koharu's mom's experience longside having to take a long while to find one, I appreciate that Koharu's journey has been about learning the good and bad experiences of working towards a dream goal.

Now: has this storyline been executed well? Imo, it has, but it ain't perfect, as there are some parts where I'd like to see some improvement on.

One of them is with how it's sometimes unclear as what kind of character she is counted as. Is the a main character alongside Gou and Satoshi now? Is the still supporting cast? Is she a lower tier main character that won't appear every episode still? The latest option would appear to be the case, but it's not often that simple to see.

There's also the case of Wanpachi seeming like it was teased to be eventually becoming Koharu's first partner, but instead it ended up being Eevee. I think for most, before JN049 aired, people assumed Wanpachi didn't belong to anyone exactly and thus was free reign. But, as JN049 confirmed, Wanpachi belonged to Sakuragi himself. Which is sorta funny, as Wanpachi clearly loves him the least, haha. So, what exactly do they intend with Wanpachi? I think, that in time it'll eventually switch owners to Koharu, as it clearly loves her the most, but the journey there is still on-going.

Now, here's something interest to think about: I think Koharu not being in every episode has actually been benefitial for her, as she never gives me the feeling that she's taking anyone's time for herself, and her involvements in stories fit quite well. My current favourites for her are definitely her team leading in Diglett episode, which is JN052, and the Galarian Ponyta episode (JN055) where she clearly showcased that she's able to handle herself in sticky situations. Which is quite a beautiful detail, at least to me.

Now to quiiickly note her dynamics quickly, let's talk a bit about how she is a big sister. Like, for real. She's got a baby brother in Sota/Parker, and the two do seem to have good relationship going on. However, I really want to see more of this! There's way too little of it going on right now, and it's mostly been typical siblinghood. I'm so glad there's still full on family aspects in JN, which is what I loved in Sun & Moon so so so much, but I want to see more. MORE! MORE-

I already talked about how I enjoy her dynamics with Gou and how their childhood friendship is showcased so well, and yet I still grave to see more. The two know each other well, and Gou always, ALWAYS respects Koharu, while Koharu ain't afraid to tell what's on her mind to Gou. Thou, she also knows that Gou would judge her if she were to ask about Pokémon bonding tips. Dyamn.

Now: I want more of Koharu and Satoshi. The two def seemed to have a bit of a "uugh who are you don't talk to me" approach, but it naturally faded as they went on their first trip to Nibi City's Fossil Exhibition. And they've been in good relations since I'd say.

Also to quickly note, I love how Koharu has been mentioned in couple scenes as being the character who's taught them first-aid or told about jealousy and how one should take Pokémon's feeling into consideration (even if this latter one should be obvious to Satoshi but, I digress, Satoshi was way too focused on Riolu and just assumed Pikachu would be fine since they've been buds since forever).

There's also so much more I still want to learn about: how exactly did she meet Gou and why she decided to be friends with him, does she have other friends besides him (because I would assume so but she's never shown with anyone else), give us an episode that's focused on Koharu & Sota, let her see Satoshi battle as well (afaik, she has NOT), let her meet Alola Squad + other past companions, and oooh there's so much I want her to do and I see so, so much potential in her character and I really really REALLY hope the writers don't screw her up.

Now is that all I wanted to talk about regarding Koharu... I guess so. As you might have figured out by now: I almost have no issues with how Koharu is written. She's enjoyable to watch and, suprisingly, I find the pace of her story-telling pleasant and not too fast nor way too slow. Could it do well with a bit faster pace? Possibly, but due to me seeing her as sort of a mid-season addition akin to how Precure or Digimon do them, I'm fine with this approach. Considering the current pace, I think she'll end up finding what she wants to end up working towards to by the end of this year, or early next year. And, despite how many might fear, I highly doubt it will be Contests. As it's pretty clear JN isn't out there to promote mainline games feature-to-feature, but instead cherry picks stuff it wants to do. I'm still quite certain, that she'll end up becoming a professor of her own fields, possibly of fossils (which, considering DP's Underground feature, could fit very well in promoting this feature of the remakes). Maybe even become a team leader of a fossil researching team, as she definitely showcases the skills for it, for knowing soil, fossil digging and again, team leading. And I totally didn't figure this out while writing this post. :'D (I totally did.)

So. I believe I'll end this post here, as this is already quite long by now and, honestly, there's not much left to talk about. It really feels good for me to talk so positively about a character in JN, as it's no secret that I ain't the biggest fan of the show. However, Koharu's approach speaks to me personally, very well, and I so, so look forward to seeing how her journey ends up going, and where it will lead her.

So who's up next on the list of discussions? I think you guys can guess it.

And it's gonna be a doozy one. Oh man oh man.

Thank you so much for reading if you came this far, have a fantastic evening/morning/whatever, and take good care of yourselves!

This was Smiling Performer aka Aleira, signing out! PEACE!

[umgeorge]

george russell is interviewed during the press conference, saudi arabia - march 6, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "George, why don't we start with you? Mercedes were difficult to read at the pre-season test, and it feels they were a little bit difficult to read at the first race weekend, as well. What conclusions did you draw from the Bahrain Grand Prix?" George: "I think the conclusions we drew were the car has potential. I think when we saw the pace on FP2, that was genuine. Lewis and I had P1 and P2. I think probably not everybody turned up, but we were genuinely fast. And then in the race we had some really big cooling issues that caught us by surprise, and we know there's at least a fifteen second loss just in the battery and the power, and probably more after you consider the effect it had on the tires. And just an extra couple of seconds in stint one, when I had Checo beind me, would have been pretty handy, so I think we'd have been in the fight for P2, for the podium, with Checo and Carlos, but definitely we didn't show our true potential." Interviewer: "Were those cooling issues a simple miscalculation, or something that actually needs a fix?" George: "I think it was definitely a miscalculation. It would have been quite straightforward to just open the bodywork very slightly and make things much easier, but we don't know how we fell into that place… Sorry, I'm just distracted by Charles walking in." [laughs] Interviewer: "Charles. Welcome!" Leclerc: "Sorry." George: "Yeah, lost my groove now. [laughs] No, but we don't really understand why, because we didn't change anything from testing-in FP2, as well-and it suddenly caught us out on Saturday, so I'm sure it'll be better this weekend." Interviewer: "I was gonna say, are you worried about it this weekend? George: "We need to get on top of it, and we've got some tests tomorrow to try and understand further what happened." Interviewer: "Alright. Thank you, George." [time jump] Journalist: "Nelson Valkenburg, Viaplay, for George: F1 media, everybody, is obsessed with the possibility of is Max going to Mercedes. How would you feel if a driver who had some choice words for you a year ago would join the team?" George: [laughs] "Yeah, I think… As I said last week in Bahrain, this is my third season now alongside Lewis, greatest driver of all time, and I feel like I've done a pretty good job alongside him, so whoever were to line up alongside me next year or the years to come, I welcome anybody, welcome the challenge. You always wanna go against the best, but ultimately, for me, just focused on myself. I believe in myself, I believe I can beat anybody on the grid, and you just got to have that mentality, so as I said, having Lewis as my benchmark for the last couple of years has been a pretty good benchmark, for sure." [time jump]

Journalist: "But what chance, George? What chance is Max Verstappen really going to Mercedes? From the inside, could you see it happening? 'Cause it would be perobably the biggest story since your current teammate signed for Ferrari." George: "I think any team want to have the best driver line-up possible and right now Max is the best driver on the grid, so if any team had a chance to sign Max they would 100% be taking it. So I think the question's more on the other side, on his side, and on Red Bull's side. Obviously so much going on there. We don't know what truly's going on behind closed doors and ultimately it's none of our business right now. Yeah, I guess it would be exciting." [time jump] (NOT SHOWN:) Journalist: "David Croft, Sky Sports F1. You all did 57 laps. Everyone did 57 laps, apart from those that were lapped, on Saturday in Bahrain. You all went into the race optimistic, I'm sure, because it was the first race of the season. How was your optimism levels at the checkered flag? That's to all of you." George: "I think after three days of testing everybody knows Bahrain pretty well. It all panned out as we probably expected, but obviously we all hope that the field tightens up a little bit right at the front. But the fight behind Max, I think, is really, really tight and it's gonna be quite exciting, between ourselves, Ferrari, Aston, and McLaren." [time jump] (NOT SHOWN:) Journalist: "Diego Mejia, Fox Sports Mexico. Both Charles and George, about the issues you had with the cooling, with the brakes and the power unit, is that a worry here? Was it probably the changing conditions in Bahrain that caused that, that we had probably the lowest temperature before the race started and then it was increasing over the race weekend?" George: "Yeah, similar to Charles, it was definitely a bit of an odd one for us, but we're confident we're on top of it and won't face the same issue this weekend."

[umgeorge]

george russell, p2, during the post-qualifying press conference [part 1/2], singapore - september 16, 2023 (transcription below the cut)

Interviewer: "George, coming to you now, your first front row start since Melbourne twelve races ago. You've been hooked up all weekend. Just how good was that final lap of Q3?" George: "Yeah, the car's been feeling amazing this whole weekend. Huge credit to the whole team. They've been working so hard, putting in a lot of effort to maximize the car we've got, understanding it. Looking ahead to next year, as well. Everybody's giving a hundred percent, so really pleased to translate that into a really solid result today. And, as I said, it was really, really enjoyable. To be honest, since the break I feel like I've been really hooked up with the car, setup's been in a great window, working really well with my engineers. Some say it's the new hair. I dunno. I think it's just good work and just enjoying it, having fun out there." Interviewer: "Were you expecting this performance from the car here?" George: "Yeah, to be honest I think we were. We know that on the higher downforce circuits we tend to go better. Ferrari always are fast on the street circuits, C5 tire, so we knew they would be quick. Red Bull are obviously a big surprise. Not too sure what's going on there. Their long run pace didn't seem stellar, either. So yeah, this is a great opportunity this weekend to get a victory, and we've got a different tire strategy to every other car on the grid out there. We've got two mediums, so we're the only team who've got the chance to do a one stop or a two stop, so that really gives us a great chance for tomorrow." Interviewer: "Tell us a little bit more about how you're viewing the race. You've got the strategic advantage, you could argue. How important is it that you get the lead of the race at the start?" George: "I'll definitely be going for it. I think that will make our life easier. I think we've got the pace of the Ferrari in the race but, as I said, we've got the strategic advantage over them so I'm pretty relaxed even if we're P2 after turn one, or even P3, because, as I said, we're the only team who can do a two stop race. Tire deg looks bad, and I hope we're gonna put them in a challenging position to fend us off, so I'm feeling good. I'm feeling excited." Interviewer: "Alright, well look, good luck tomorrow. Well done today. Thank you, George." [time jump] Journalist: "Frédéric Ferret, L'Equipe. Question for the three of you: How did you discover that Max was not in Q3, and how did your mind change when you discovered that?" George: "Nobody told me, so [laughing] it didn't really change my approach heading into Q3. Just focused on ourselves and maximizing the result. But it's definitely strange that they've been off the pace this weekend. Unusual, but, as Carlos said, can't discount them ahead of tomorrow even though it'll be tough." Interviewer: "George, so when did you find out?" George: "I think probably after the first run in Q3, but it was… You always tend to look at yourself and the guys you're fighting, and this weekend it's been the Ferraris, it's been Lando and Fernando, so it's not like you discount them ever, but you're just looking at the cars you're fighting, and just for whatever reason they've been off the pace all weekend."