Gabriel Bortoleto completed the last free practice of the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 in tenth place. This Saturday (12), the Audi driver recorded 1min34s288 to stay within the top 10 in a session ended by a red flag caused by Ollie Bearman.
Read more F1: Hamilton ignores Ferrari order and may be punished in Madrid
Countdown timer started, but things remained calm in the first minutes. Unlike Friday, the drivers did not rush to accelerate on the track, Bortoleto included.
In the two practice sessions held in Madring, the Brazilian Audi driver managed an 11th place in the first session and a 13th place in the second.
Then, with almost six minutes completed in Spain, the first car took to the track: precisely Bortoleto. The competitor was on medium tires at this moment and was followed by his teammate Nico Hülkenberg.
When he completed his first lap, Gabriel recorded a time of 1min35s777. However, the German colleague beat him by just 0.056 seconds. Gradually, more names followed onto the track.
As the laps were completed, the driver of car #5 was dropping down the standings. All other rivals, except Liam Lawson on hard tires, were on softs, while the Audi duo was on mediums.
Read more F1: Check the full result of TL3 of the 2026 Spanish GP
With 37 minutes remaining to the grid, Lewis Hamilton ended up hitting the barrier and caused first a yellow and then a red flag. At that moment, Bortoleto was in ninth position.
The clock kept running in Madring and then, with just over 15min30s to go, the race direction decided to stop the timer, as there was still no forecast for resuming activities.
At this moment, Bortoleto was in ninth place in the classification with a time of 1min35s513.
After more than half an hour of interruption, the practice finally resumed in Madring. Gabriel did not take long to leave the pits and after five minutes, completed a new fast lap and placed himself eighth, 1.588 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, first.
In a new attempt with the soft tire, the Brazilian on the grid recorded 1min34s288 and was in tenth position. However, with less than a minute to the checkered flag, Oliver Bearman caused another red flag, ending the session.
Read more F1: Antonelli leads chaotic TL3 in Madring; Bortoleto finishes in top 10
