Gabriel Bortoleto’s 2025 F1 Monaco GP started with promise but quickly turned into a frustrating race filled with contact, a broken front wing, and critical strategy calls from Sauber.
First-lap clash with Antonelli ruins strong start
Gabriel Bortoleto made a lovely move around the outside on Kimi Antonelli at Turn 6, overtaking the Mercedes rookie. Antonelli immediately tried to take the position back with what Bortoleto later described as “a risky divebomb” into Turn 8—a corner already notorious for accidents in the past.
Nonetheless, the Italian made it through without contact as the Brazilian ended up in the tyre barrier.
“I overtook him in Turn 6 and then he tried a divebomb move into Turn 8 where there was a lot of accidents already there,” Bortoleto explained.
Already committed to the corner, Bortoleto had no room to react.
“I ended up trying to stay on track and expecting he would give me a bit of room, but he didn’t, and I hit the wall to not hit him on the inside.”
The contact broke his front wing and forced him to pit early, putting him to the back.
Race compromised early, but Bortoleto fights back
Although the impact wasn’t severe, boxing to get a front wing came at a high cost.
“The hit was not hard… so I reversed and came back. But when you have a pit stop and you fall behind 20 seconds, the race is already compromised,” he said.
Despite the early setback, Bortoleto clawed his way back and completed a 45-lap stint on medium tyres, managing both his pace and his mental game to cross the line in P14.
Frustration over tire strategy
Tyre strategy only worsened the Brazilian’s frustration. Sauber put him on softs during a critical stage of the race, and Bortoleto voiced his anger on the radio. “These tires are insane!” he shouted, questioning the decision as rivals stretched longer stints on harder compounds.
“No one was pushing [on tyre degradation], because they were doing team play… if you are really pushing, it wouldn’t last that long,” he explained.
When asked about the soft compound decision, Bortoleto didn’t hold back: “I could not do the whole stint there. Because it was like 50 laps, so it was impossible.”
Positive signs amid the struggles
Even with the chaos, Bortoleto found reasons to feel encouraged by his F1 Monaco GP weekend.
“We missed Q2 by two hundredths, but we made good progress and stayed close to Nico [Hulkenberg] in quali. Just after the crash, I still managed to come back, complete the full race, and finish P14. So, yeah, not bad.”
Looking ahead to Spain, the 20-year-old remains optimistic.
“We are upgrading the car—hopefully it will be better and we can gain some positions.”
