Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto left the F1 Spanish GP with his best qualifying and finishing position of 12th. In the process, he outqualified his veteran teammate Nico Hülkenberg on Saturday. While he ultimately finished outside the points, Bortoleto was full of praise for the upgrades on his car.
Complicated yet an enjoyable race
With intense sunlight and the maximum expected temperature of 30°C, Bortoleto felt it was the hottest race of the year. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix officially held the title. Despite the hot temperature, the Brazilian enjoyed the “complicated” Spanish GP.
“Yeah, definitely. I think it was the hottest this year we had, at least it felt like [it’s the hottest]. I know Jeddah is known for being a very hot race, but this one, I don’t know, with the sun and everything, day race, it’s very complicated, but honestly, it was OK.
“It was a nice race to enjoy, enjoyable because there were overtakes until the last moment, so it was very tough, very demanding, but also mentally.“
Bortoleto’s take on Hülkenberg’s rapid start
Hülkenberg’s rapid start surprised Bortoleto. Nonetheless the 20-year-old knew the recipe behind his teammate’s Spanish GP lightning as having three new sets of soft tyres was key to his charge following that Q1 exit.
The Brazilian started on used softs as both took to the escape road on lap 1 to avoid picking up damage. Bortoleto praised Hülkenberg for the job he did.
“I didn’t see him in the escape road. But definitely, I was surprised to see him so fast like that. I think definitely I have an idea why that happened. You know, that he was so fast compared to many guys around us.
“I believe this is a lot from the new tyres as well. But you know, it doesn’t matter; you can have new tyres, but if you’re not a good driver, you need to place your car in the right places, and he did everything perfect and managed to gain so many positions there. It was an amazing job from him.“
The upgrades are a good step
Bortoleto found pace in his C45 car and reflected his teammate’s positive assessment of the upgrades at the Spanish GP.
“Definitely, yes. I think it was a good step. I believe the result of today showed this, and hopefully I can be the one scoring points next time.“
The main objective of the upgrades was to provide a drivable car for the Spanish GP. The C45 often found itself at the back of the grid due to dirty air.
“The team says it’s targeted at getting a drivable car that you can use more than the start of the season, where it’s affected badly by dirty air and all that.“
Bortoleto said yes when asked whether addressing the dirty air problem was the biggest improvement. He added that it was a step in the right direction.
“Yes, I would say so. Today I’ve been able to follow much closer to other cars and try some overtakes. So definitely it was a step in the right direction.”
Lessons from the F1 Spanish GP for Gabriel Bortoleto
Bortoleto said there were lots of lessons to take from the F1 Spanish GP. He cannot wait to analyse the data where he can improve as the Brazilian continues to search for his first points in Formula 1.
He did a long stint on mediums like teammates Hülkenberg but a lack of new soft tyres certainly worked against him following his strong qualifying performance.
“A lot of learnings I think, but now we need to go back and analyse everything. Now I understand some stuff that I could have done probably a bit better, and things that I did well.
“But now it’s time to analyse. That’s the best thing you can do after a race like this, is sit down with your engineers and study every single thing you did, check the tyre management that is happening.“
