Gabriel Bortoleto had a positive start to the Formula 1 Italian GP weekend and finished TL1 in 8th, but dropped to 15th in TL2. Nico Hulkenberg faced a Friday with limited progress, ending both sessions in 13th position.
Read more F1: Ferrari identifies weaknesses after Friday in Monza
Bortoleto’s performance in the first free practice was one of Audi’s highlights, although the Brazilian acknowledged that he was not able to make much use of the soft tires. Even so, he considered the work done productive and already pointed out an important factor for the qualifying session.
“It was a consistent first day on track. We reviewed our entire program for the day, especially in TL1, and I am overall satisfied with the work we did,” said Bortoleto. The Brazilian added: “It will be necessary to do very good laps and make the most of the slipstream in the qualifying session,” he concluded.
Hulkenberg had a similar assessment of the work done but drew attention to the drop in performance between sessions. According to the German, the first part of the day was positive, while the car lost performance in TL2.
Read more F1: Mercedes gets excited in Monza, but Russell remains cautious
“TL1 was quite positive and we went through the program without major problems, but in TL2 we seemed to lose a bit of pace compared to the start of the day,” explained Hulkenberg. The team now intends to analyze the data to understand the cause of the loss and define the necessary adjustments for Saturday.
The German also highlighted that the goal of Friday was to gather information for the rest of the weekend: “We will review the data tonight and make sure we draw the right conclusions from today,” he added.
Read more F1: Williams sees car improvement, but Albon admits lack of pace in Monza
