Sauber had a mixed result in F1 Belgian GP sprint qualifying at Spa on Friday. Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued to impress by making it into SQ3, and will start Saturday’s sprint race in 10th with a lap of 1:42.176. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg, meanwhile, missed the first cut by about four tenths of a second and will start in 17th after a lap of 1:43.217.
”Very solid” car for Bortoleto…
Bortoleto said after the session that the car “felt like Quali was very solid all the way to SQ3. I feel like in SQ3, [I] didn’t nail everything, but still, you know, managed to get there. I’m happy. I feel like putting the car in the top ten already.”
He did lose a quarter of a second from his SQ2 time, which was good enough for fifth in that round.
…but Hulkenberg unhappy with his SQ1 tyres
Of his two flying laps, Hulkenberg said that the first “from a tyre point of view wasn’t good enough, and then the second one[… I] stumbled on some traffic just at the end of, or starting the lap, and then following[…] Liam [Lawson] quite closely around the lap. But like I said, the tyre already didn’t feel[…] in great shape for the second lap.”
Both Sauber drivers positive for Saturday
Coming off his long-awaited first podium, at Silverstone, and four straight points finishes, Hulkenberg was optimistic that Sauber will be able to improve from sprint qualifying to the rest of the F1 Belgian GP weekend.
“We’ll see what we get tomorrow and then[…] we have another crack at it once the parc ferme opens after the sprint race.”
Bortoleto was likewise confident that he has a car that will hold its own on Saturday and Sunday, and get the Brazilian rookie his second points finish in three races.
“It looks like it’s not a bad car. I think we can be fighting for the positions we were in Quali more or less, you know, in the top ten[…].”
