Gabriel Bortoleto reflected on a frustrating conclusion to the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP. He narrowly missed out on adding to his points tally at the Hungaroring with a P11 finish.
The Brazilian believed a top-10 finish had been within reach after opting for a one-stop strategy that began on the soft compound. However, time lost behind Esteban Ocon during the opening stint prevented him from converting encouraging pace into points. Additionally, the poor performance of the hard tyre in the second stint made it difficult.
Following the 2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, Bortoleto reflected on the factors that shaped his race. He explained how early traffic and tyre degradation ultimately denied Audi a potential points finish with his car. Also, he discussed the effectiveness of the team’s strategy and expressed confidence in the progress Audi has made in recent races.
Bortoleto analyses Audi’s race after the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix
Audi elected to start Bortoleto on the soft tyre before switching to the hard compound in a one-stop strategy. While the opening phase of the race unfolded as expected, the performance difference between the two compounds became increasingly significant during the final stint.
Bortoleto admitted that he briefly believed eighth position was achievable before tyre degradation changed the complexion of his race. Liam Lawson and Nico Hülkenberg two stopped and came back through on softs.
“Interesting race, long one, one stop. Painful at the end, because at some point I thought we could get even P8. But yeah, the hard was a very bad compound, comparing to the soft, and I had to survive with it in the end, so a tough one.”
Although disappointed with the outcome, Bortoleto suggested that the strategy itself was not the primary issue. Instead, the hard compound proved significantly less competitive than the soft during the closing stages of the race.
Bortoleto: Early traffic compromised Audi’s strategy at 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Bortoleto explained that the opening stint proved decisive after he spent several laps behind Esteban Ocon. Running in dirty air prevented him from fully exploiting the pace of the soft tyre. As a result, he was left with a significant gap to recover after finally making the overtake.
“Well, there was not much opportunities to be done, to be honest. I started on the soft, that was the best compound. I got stuck behind Ocon for quite long.”
Once clear of Ocon, Bortoleto reduced the deficit to Nico Hülkenberg and the Racing Bulls drivers. However, recovering approximately ten seconds around the Hungaroring proved extremely difficult given the similar pace across the two teams.
“And then when I got rid of him, I caught quite a lot the Racing Bulls and Nico, but I was already 10 seconds behind them, you know. So to recover that, it’s very tough, especially when we have such similar pace.”
Despite closing in on the group ahead before the Kiwi and German boxed, Bortoleto was eventually overtaken by Liam Lawson and Nico Hülkenberg during the closing stages. This happened as tyre degradation increased.
At the chequered flag, he was less than a second behind Arvid Lindblad.
“At the end, I still managed to finish quite close to Arvid, and Lawson overtook me five laps to go.”
Looking back on the race, the Audi driver maintained that the team’s strategic approach had been the correct one. He believes reducing the time lost during the opening stint could have produced a different outcome.
“So, to be honest, it was quite a thing of a good strategy for me today to try that. Maybe if we had lost a little bit less time at the beginning, I could have capitalised on that.”
Bortoleto backs Formula 1’s new overtaking system
Bortoleto was also asked for his views on Formula 1’s new overtaking regulations. While acknowledging that some drivers have criticised the changes introduced for 2026, the Audi driver said he has not been among those questioning the new style of racing.
When asked whether the new boost system has struck the right balance compared to DRS, Bortoleto suggested overtaking at the Hungaroring has traditionally been challenging. This is regardless of the system in use.
“Well, I don’t remember us overtaking very easily people in Budapest. Actually, this year, I think we had probably more opportunities to overtake. But still, I think here in Budapest, DRS or boost would have been the same thing.”
Bortoleto encouraged by Audi’s recent progress in F1
Although he left Budapest without adding to its points tally, Bortoleto believes the team’s overall trajectory remains positive as Nico Hülkenberg finished in P9. He pointed to the consistent improvements made over recent race weekends. Furthermore, he expressed confidence that the upward trend can continue during the second half of the season.
“Yeah, I hope so. I think we have been showing strong pace. So, hopefully, we can keep going in the direction we are going.”
The Brazilian also acknowledged that there is still room for further improvement despite the team’s recent gains.
“I think the pace has been good. We have been improving in a lot of areas. So, why not to keep evolving like this? A bit better, but still a lot of work to be done in that sense as well.”
Bortoleto reflects on the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP as Audi continues to build momentum
While the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix did not deliver the points finish Audi had targeted on the car #5 side, the race offered further evidence of the team’s improving competitiveness. Early traffic and the limitations of the hard compound ultimately prevented Bortoleto from maximising the car’s potential around the Hungaroring.
Nevertheless, Gabriel Bortoleto believes Audi is moving in the right direction. With encouraging pace shown over recent race weekends and further improvements expected during the remainder of the season, the team will look to convert its growing competitiveness into regular points finishes in the coming rounds.
