The F1 Dutch GP was marked by several incidents that kept fans on edge from start to finish. For Sauber, the weekend proved to be both challenging, as drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hülkenberg shared their experiences. Both reflected on how the team managed adversity and what lessons they are taking forward in the season.
Safety Cars were not good for everyone
During the Dutch GP, there were two safety cars, which proved beneficial for some teams. Nevertheless, as Nico Hülkenberg stated, for Sauber it wasn’t. The driver ended up stuck in traffic with the first one.
“It was not great, it put me last basically, and then with traffic you can do nothing. Save the tyres and then the second safety car today unfortunately where I think for others it was very helpful and beneficial so yeah a bit a bit frustrating.”
As the race resumed, Nico Hülkenberg was not falling behind the new tyres, but it was hard to maintain his position. His teammate was the one dropping back, as fighting with old tyres was inevitable when surrounded by new ones.
“No I was not falling behind but it’s difficult to make gains I think when Gabi stayed out on the old tyres he was falling back obviously being surrounded by new tyres that’s very difficult.”
P13 to last: bad news for Bortoleto
Gabriel Bortoleto admitted that something had happened during the race start that the team still needed to analyse in detail. He mentioned he needed an explanation of why he experienced a moment of bogging down, which cost him valuable positions.
Reflecting on the outcome, Bortoleto pointed out that it was a shame, especially considering Isack Hadjar’s impressive third place. According to him, Hadjar’s result demonstrated how many opportunities had arisen throughout the race and how decisive they could be.
“Something happened there that we need to understand exactly what it was. I didn’t have time to speak to the engineers yet, why I had that bogged down. Yeah, shame because today was as, you see, Hadjar P3, an amazing job from his side and it means that when a guy like him with the car he has, you know, finishes in P3, a lot of things happen in the race too and a lot of opportunities were made.”
Potential opportunities were lost
Gabriel Bortoleto got caught in traffic during the race, struggling with tyre strategy as others around him were on different compounds. At one point, he stayed out on 30-lap-old tyres while the rest of the field had fresher ones.
In the end, with new tyres, the race still felt messy, and he admitted his team, Sauber, lacked pace throughout the weekend.
“I got stuck behind the guys in the back, so everyone got stuck behind everyone. You know, there was people with older tyres ahead and people with newer tyres and then I was at some point the guy that didn’t pit in the safety car and stayed with a 30 lap tyre in the track when everyone was on you behind, so it’s difficult to understand what we were capable of there. And at the end I had the new tyre and, you know, it’s just a messy race.
“I feel like, honestly, we didn’t have the best pace this weekend.”
Difficult situations during the race
As for the incident with Lance Stroll in turn 11 early in the race, Bortoleto recalled the close battle in the tight corner, where a light touch between them was enough to damage his front wing. He stressed it wasn’t Stroll’s fault, describing it as hard racing and noting how sensitive the car is. The incident, however, cost him some performance for the rest of the race.
“No, nothing. I mean, we were fighting, me and Lance, you know, in such a tight corner. He went in the outside, I tried to keep it in.
“We touched lightly, but it was enough to break my front wing. You know, not his fault. I feel like we were just racing hard.”
“I spoke to him as well and it’s racing, unfortunately, very sensitive front wings and we broke it and lost some performance on the car there.”
