Gabriel Bortoleto managed to advance once again to Q3 in the 2026 Formula 1 season. In the qualifying for the Dutch GP this Saturday (22), the Brazilian set a time of 1min12s079 to secure ninth position on the grid.
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The Audi competitor advanced for the fourth time in the championship to the final phase of qualifying. In Zandvoort, he lines up in the fifth row of the pack alongside Arvid Lindblad, who is tenth.
The start of the Dutch GP of Formula 1 takes place on Sunday, 23, at 10 am Brasília time.
Q1
Qualifying followed the same weather as the other weekend activities with little sun and low temperature. The thermometer showed 18ºC, the asphalt reached 32ºC, and humidity was at 55%.
Qualifying was authorized and the first drivers were released onto the track. Bortoleto was one who did not take long to leave the pits, using soft tires at this first moment of the session.
After his first lap, but it was not an attack lap, the competitor did only 1min34s703, but still with plenty of room to improve. At that moment, he was back in the Audi garage.
With eight minutes remaining for the end of the first phase of qualifying in Zandvoort, Gabriel was back on the track. The team asked him to do one more warm-up lap.
When he completed his new fast lap, the competitor was only in 17th place, being 1.131 seconds behind Oscar Piastri, first, and 0.006 seconds behind Carlos Sainz, 16th.
With just over 2 minutes to the end of Q1 qualifying for the Dutch GP of Formula 1, Gabriel leaves the pits once again. The driver was on an attempt at a fast lap – at the moment, he was 19th, but when he finished, he was tenth.
With a time of 1min13s142, the competitor advanced to Q2, one position ahead of Nico Hülkenberg.
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Q2
Timer started in Zandvoort, but in these first minutes, the Brazilian stayed in the pits – Hülkenberg had already gone out on track.
With six minutes remaining to end this second phase, the Brazilian completed a fast lap and placed himself in eighth position, with a time of 1min12s562, 0.728 seconds slower than Piastri – at this moment, all were on soft tires.
Almost at the end of this second phase, the Brazilian was on the edge of the elimination zone in tenth – among the five eliminated, Pierre Gasly was 11th and had the potential to place in the top 10.
When he finished his last attempt, he placed ninth, but the Alpine Frenchman was 11th. With that, Gabriel managed to advance once again to Q3, the fourth time in the championship.
Q3
The last part of qualifying started in Zandvoort with 12 more minutes for the drivers to run. At that moment, George Russell asked if there was a chance of rain, as the sky was quite overcast – the radar indicated precipitation in 5 minutes.
When he completed his first lap using soft tires, Bortoleto placed himself in seventh position, but was soon pushed to eighth, 1.6 seconds behind Lando Norris, the provisional pole.
With just over 6 minutes to the checkered flag, it started to drizzle in the Netherlands, which would bring another factor to qualifying. At that moment, the drivers were leaving the pits to attempt their last laps.
Bortoleto was in eighth with 1min12s079, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, ninth, and Arvid Lindblad, completing the top 10.
With the rain worsening track conditions, the drivers would not leave the pits anymore. Thus, Bortoleto will start from the fifth row, ninth position, at the Dutch GP of Formula 1.
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