GP3 Series: Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the press conference following GP3 Race 1 in Hockenheim. Joining us today is race winner Antonio Fuoco from Trident, in second Nyck de Vries from ART Grand Prix and in third Matthew Parry from Koiranen GP.
GP3 Series: Congratulations Antonio on a strong win, you made a great re-start after the VSC, It looked quite easy after that, how was it?
Antonio Fuoco: First of all thank you. It was a really good race. When the VSC period ended, me and Nyck had begun to close the gap to Alex. When I got into the lead of the race, the pace of the car was really good. I expected a bit more tyre degradation so I was managing everything but it went really well. The team did a really good job. They were on the radio with me when the VSC was about to end so I would like to say thank you to all of the team and that's why we won the race.
GP3 Series: Were you surprised by the pace you had as you built up a very big lead over these guys?
Antonio: When you go in front its always easier to manage everything. We know from Budapest if you're in the front you can do your pace, but when you're at the back there's a lot more to manage. If I had been fighting with Charles, Nyck and Matty then maybe I would have had some more tyre degradation. I was at the front alone and did my job and nothing special.
GP3 Series: You're closer in the title battle now...did you think about that when you were racing?
Antonio: No I didn't think about the standings, I just think about race-by-race. We're already thinking about tomorrow. We know we need to score some good points and be strong. Charles and Alex will start ahead of me so we will need to work hard.
GP3 Series: Great job Antonio. Nyck, good job for P2 today. There was a lot going on in the race but I guess it all came down to that last lap...
Nyck de Vries: Yes it was pretty good. I think if we hadn't have the VSC then I could have challenged Alex towards the end of the race but obviously it didn't happen. I was really surprised by Antonio's re-start, as all of the VSC boards switched to green at the same time and I assumed we were looking at the same thing. But clearly Antonio managed to be well in front of us. I don't understand how he did it. Mid-race I was conserving my tyres a bit more than Charles. In the final laps, I was clearly a lot stronger than him and was being a bit held up by him as it was difficult to get pass. I managed to put him under a lot of pressure so he finally made a mistake and I gained the position.
GP3 Series: To summarise, another podium for you and a good race...
Nyck: Yeah exactly. We've deserved this for a much longer time. We haven't been able to put it together for many, many reasons. Our pace has been really strong since Silverstone as that's when we made a step up. Fortunately, we've been really competitive. On paper it wasn't always noticed but we are finally getting what we deserve.
GP3 Series: Thanks Nyck, well done. Matt, P3 today, I guess you were in the right place to take advantage of the battles on the last lap?
Matthew Parry: I think we optimised the position and we had incredible race pace. We were able to catch up with Alex (Albon) at the end of the race as we had been saving our tyres in the middle phase. I got a little bit lucky with Nyck and Charles fighting so I was able to catch up with them. I felt if I had been with Antonio I could have challenged for the lead. I don't know that for sure but I felt we had a similar pace to him. I think the team did a fantastic job. I'm actually a little bit disappointed with the result, I think we could have got second place quite early on, or at least third when I was battling with Nyck. But I wasn't shown the respect by him that we're meant to show each other. I felt like I was pushed out by Nyck quite a lot and I'm quite disappointed with it. I don't expect that from him. Maybe we will see with the stewards what will happen. We will see what happens in race 2 and hopefully we can challenge for the win.
GP3 Series: Most of the overtaking was done on the final lap, why do you think there wasn't more overtaking?
Matthew: It was just so hard to get a good run on the main straight that goes down to P6. We had great traction and I was able to get close enough to Alex but I just could't get to a respectable distance to have made a move. I could have maybe dived up the inside but it was very risky. To be honest we were biding our time, we knew how many laps we had left. I could see Alex was struggling a little bit in front so we just managed ours and did our own race. We had some tyres left at the end of the race to make a move on the outside of Turn 6 and to hold it. I want to thank Koiranen GP for a fantastic job in the race. We struggled a bit in qualifying but we definitely pulled it out of the bag. It was a nice last lap!
GP3 Series: What can we expect from you in Race 2 tomorrow?
Matthew: Well for sure with our pace we can challenge for the win. I'm sure these guys feel they can do. Obviously they are starting behind me so if I can keep them there that will be good. Nyck's definitely not coming past me that's for sure.
