Gabriel Bortoleto started the 2026 Formula 1 season on the right foot. In the Australian GP held this Sunday (8) in Melbourne, the Brazilian maintained a good pace throughout the race and crossed the finish line in ninth place, scoring points.
Read more Brazil starts Formula 1 season in the points for the first time since 2017
On the starting grid, the driver of car #5 lined up in tenth position, one position ahead of teammate Nico Hülkenberg. The competitor shared the fifth row of the start at Albert Park with Arvid Lindblad, the only rookie of 2026.
With the new cars and new regulations for this year, the starting procedure has changed. Now, after the formation lap, the competitors stop on the grid and a blue light flashes five times before the five red lights turn on and off, authorizing the start of the race.
Start authorized and Gabriel ended up losing a position, falling to 11th place. Meanwhile, his German colleague went straight to the pits and was stopped, indicating a retirement. On the fourth lap, however, he was already in the top 10 once again.
With five laps completed at Albert Park, the Audi driver was chasing Pierre Gasly to try to take ninth place. The gap between the pair, both on medium tires, was just over 0s5.
As the race progressed and on the tenth of 58 laps completed, the Brazilian was in 12th place, having been overtaken by Oliver Bearman and Max Verstappen. At this moment, he was lapping faster than the Haas Briton – 1min25s561 against 1min25s668 on the last lap.
On lap 12, a virtual safety car was triggered by a problem with Isack Hadjar, with the Frenchman’s car emitting a lot of smoke. At this point, several drivers took the opportunity to pit, but Bortoleto was one of those who stayed on track.
Two laps later, green flag and race restarted. With the round of pit stops and Gabriel staying on track, he now appeared in eighth place between Bearman and Lando Norris.
It didn’t take long and once again the virtual safety car was deployed, this time due to a retirement by Valtteri Bottas. At that moment, then, Bortoleto went to the pits.
Read more Check the 2026 F1 championship standings after the Australian GP
Race restarted and after having stopped, Gabriel returned to the track in ninth, but was in tenth because he had been overtaken by Esteban Ocon.
Using the hard tire, Bortoleto was maintaining ninth place, 45s3 behind George Russel, the current leader, and 4s892 behind Bearman, the driver immediately in front of him.
New virtual safety car, the reason now was a piece of Sergio Pérez’s car that came loose. At this moment, the competitor in car #5 went to the pits once again, put on hard tires and returned in 11th place, 6s9 behind Ocon, who was tenth.
With 37 laps, the engineer came on Gabriel’s radio to say that the driver could push to the maximum, as he had enough tire to make it to the checkered flag. On the last lap, he had lapped more than 1s faster than the Haas Frenchman in front of him. Shortly after, he managed to return to the points zone.
On the following lap, then, Bortoleto continued advancing through the field and now it was time to leave another Frenchman behind, Gasly in the Alpine. The driver of car #5 was in ninth, just under 13s behind Lindblad in the Formula 1 Australian GP.
With 47 of the 58 laps completed, the engineer spoke to the Brazilian on the radio again. This time, he warned of the prediction that he would reach Arvid in seven laps – therefore, on lap 54, with four remaining until the checkered flag.
And the Audi driver really caught up to the Racing Bulls opponent. With a set of tires 15 laps newer, the Brazilian approached the Briton and closed the gap to less than 1s.
In the end, Bortoleto finished ninth, a result within the points zone. With this, Audi’s first race in Formula 1 ends in the points zone.
Read more F1: Check out the full result of the 2026 Australian GP
