Allan McNish joked about Gabriel Bortoleto’s ‘new job’ as Pirelli’s official tire test driver after a good performance in a long stint at the Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1.
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In the race at Madring, the Brazilian took on the role of keeping the cars behind busy while his teammate Nico Hülkenberg climbed the field into the top 10 – during this, Gabi stayed for many laps on the same set of compounds.
The plan worked, the German finished tenth and scored a point, with Audi now eighth in the Constructors’ Championship with 17 points. Therefore, when asked if Bortoleto was considered to help Hülk, McNish said “no, it wasn’t necessarily a matter of using him to block, although, clearly, the strategy was that.”
“It wasn’t necessarily about using him to block. That’s not our racing style; and I think you saw that with Bortoleto: when Colapinto gained momentum, there was free and open space on the left side,” he continued.
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“There was nothing there. But certainly, the two cars work together and, you know, he actually has a new role now. He is working on the development of long-lasting tires for Pirelli, to check if they can withstand two race distances, and not just one,” he said.
“But as far as the two cars, the strategy and working as a unit, then, without a doubt, we resort to that,” he added.
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