Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto finished the 2026 F1 United States GP in P13 following a comeback drive from 21st on the grid.
Having cleared Valtteri Bottas quickly, the Brazilian had a battle with Franco Colapinto into Turn 11, where the Argentinian driver ran him wide. Ultimately, the driver of car #5 would get that position. He would go on to overtake Pérez, Sainz and Albon through the first stint as well.
The 22-year-old was then behind Alonso throughout the second stint before the Spanaird boxed, allowing the 2024 F2 champion to catch and pass Esteban Ocon.
Under the VSC, Bortoleto pitted for a second time, losing track position to Lindblad and the Frenchman. However, he did catch and overtake the Haas driver again on the penultimate lap for P13.
Gabriel Bortoleto left to ponder a missed opportunity at 2026 F1 United States GP
An 80-place grid penalty for all the component changes left the driver of car #5 on the last row at the start. Despite a very good recovery, points were never on the cards. Alongside that, he hurt his tyres trying to progress back to where the cars belongs on pace.
He believes fighting for P9 or P10 might have been possible with a normal qualifying position. The Brazilian was the fastest midfield driver in Q1, ending up in P7. Q2 saw him trying to help his teammate Nico Hülkenberg reach Q3.
“I mean, I think we have shown a strong pace the whole weekend. I think I’ve been inside the top 10 most of the sessions. Qualifying when I managed to put some laps out there in Q1, I was P7.
“Then, obviously, starting from last, you need to overtake so many cars, you need to use a lot of your tyres, and then when you get clean air is the moment you need to deploy the pace, but you don’t have that half a second that you had to destroy the tyres before.
“So yeah, definitely it was not an easy race. I did, I think, everything I could. You know, overtaking many cars.
“And yeah, looking forward to Mexico and, you know, moving on from this one because it is disappointing in the sense that when we get an opportunity to be on the points, I needed to start from last year’s Austin. It’s tough.”
The late stop was not planned
Running in P12 on Lap 49, Bortoleto pitted under the VSC at the 2026 F1 United States GP. It dropped him to P14, before recovering the aforementioned spot against Ocon.
The Audi driver says it is something they will need to review as there was a miscommunication between him and his race engineer.
“It was a little bit of a miscommunication.
“Anyway, it didn’t cost me much. It would cost me the position to Lindblad, and it’s something we need to review because I understood a bit wrong, you know. I spoke to my engineer about what [front wing] flap to put in case there is a Virtual Safety Car or Safety Car, but the windows were closed, and then I ended up pitting, and then I was not supposed to pit.
“It didn’t cost me much. I managed to overtake Esteban, but definitely it didn’t help because I lost the position to Arvid.”
A potential fight with Liam Lawson?
Gabriel Bortoleto believes the pace in Austin was as expected. While he was impressed by the speed Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls showed on Sunday, he wondered if Audi could have finished ahead had he qualified ahead of the New Zealander in a normal session.
“No, it wasn’t better than expected. I think it was expected to be fighting in the points.
“I didn’t expect Liam to be that quick. He was P9. He has been very quick the whole week.
“So yeah, a little bit too quick the whole weekend for us. But who knows? Maybe if I was there fighting with him in the race, everything can be different. You get a position, then the guy gets stuck behind you, everything can happen.”
Bortoleto on the strengths of the R26 in F1 2026
The Circuit of the Americas is a track that really tests every part of an F1 car with its various corner speeds and types. Audi showed up very well once again at the weekend, mixing it right up at the front of the midfield.
Alongside the PU, the Brazilian believes improving the low-speed is going to be key for 2027.
“We are very good at high-speed, looks like it. In low-speed, we need still to make some steps.
“I think we are similar to the others in the low-speed and better than the others in the high-speed, and then in the straights, we know where we lose.
“I think that’s where we need to improve for now.”
