Gabriel Bortoleto storms home to finish P8 at the Austrian GP, marking the best finish of his F1 career. After making his first Q3 appearance on Saturday and placing in the top 10 for all sessions this weekend, the Red Bull Ring has certainly been a memorable track for the rookie driver. Not only was he able to score the first points of his debut season, but the young Brazilian also received the fans vote for Driver of the Day, capping off a standout weekend.
Weekend to remember
Reflecting on his impressive performance, Bortoleto was buzzing with his P8 finish, however, he was quick to praise the team effort, highlighting their critical role in securing his first points of the year.
“It’s great, it’s great to be driver of the day, but also to give these points for the team is very important, you know, for everyone’s confidence.”
He further expanded on the teams hard work, acknowledging the challenges they faced during the race and how they worked around them.
“Yeah, the blue flags didn’t help, you know, but that’s something that is very difficult to predict, it depends on everyone’s pace, especially when it’s so tight like this. I feel like we did everything that was in our hands.
“I think the team did an amazing job today. Every time, you know, the pace was starting to drop, they pit me, they put me on a better tyre and gave me other possibilities to fight for the points today.”
Battle with Alonso
After an intense on-track battle, Bortoleto spoke on his brief fight with mentor Fernando Alonso towards the final laps of the race. Detailing the experience, he reflected on the close but respectful racing.
“It was fun, yeah, especially because he raced very hard and I had a lot of fun. Luckily, we didn’t crash.”
Despite his advisory role, it seems Alonso remained every bit the fierce competitor under the helmet, doing everything possible to keep Bortoleto behind.
“He did everything possible. He was fighting for the World Championship, it looks like. No, it was nice, it was nice.”
Ultimately keeping the rookie at bay Alonso’s experience shone through. Describing his racecraft, Bortoleto took his hat off to the two-time world champion.
“He has a lot of experience, you know, he knew how to play perfectly with the blue flags and everything…he knew exactly how to place the car and get the DRS.
“Even with very bad tyres, he managed to stay like one millimetre from his car and not crash and still keep me behind.”
While the Brazilian driver lost out to the battle for P7, he admitted that Alonso was deserving of the position, appreciating the opportunity to race alongside him as a legend of the sport. In the end, he disclosed how there was no change in their mentoring dynamic, recounting how Alonso congratulated him for his milestone result.
“He was like: ‘I’m very happy for you, you know, for your first points and everything, you did a great job.'”
Sauber’s tentative steps forward
With teammate Nico Hulkenberg also having a great race after going from last and to 9th, it seems Sauber is not the same Sauber as it was at the beginning of the year. However, while the team showed strong performance here in Austria, it’s difficult to determine whether the upgrades alone brought in the results or if the track and a bit of luck also played a significant role. Expanding on this Bortoleto voiced how we will have to wait and see how the C45 performs at Silverstone next week.
“I feel like we have gone a step in the right direction, but I don’t know, it’s difficult to say. I feel like at this track we have been stronger than normal, but Silverstone, you know, it’s not that different in terms of high speed, low speed, so let’s see.”
Either way, he went on to explain how the team still has work to do in order to catch up with the front runners. Describing how they are always chasing the next target at each race.
“But the biggest target here is one day to win races and to be fighting for championships, so we have it very clear what we need to do.”
Final thoughts
Overall, following his breakthrough performance, the young Brazilian is optimistic about continuing to improve and is looking forward see what he can achieve as the season unfolds.
“Yeah, it was a great weekend and a very fun one, also fighting, you know, with Fernando at the end of the race was amazing. Yeah, I just had a lot of fun and finally it’s good to be in a position that you have a good car and you have a good pace to be fighting for points.”
