Gabriel Bortoleto finished the Formula 1 Chinese GP Sprint qualifying in 14th position, after a Friday that the Brazilian driver described as complicated.
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According to Bortoleto, Audi faced difficulties since the start of activities at the Shanghai circuit, with problems that arose during free practice and reappeared during the session that defined the grid for the Sprint race.
“It was a bit of a complicated Friday for us. We had some problems during free practice that appeared again during Sprint qualifying, keeping us on the defensive,” he stated.
The Brazilian also highlighted that the layout of the Shanghai circuit presents different characteristics compared to the tracks visited earlier this season, in the collective shakedown in Barcelona, the pre-season tests in Bahrain, and the Australian GP last week, which requires an additional process of adaptation by the team to the car’s behavior.
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“Of course, it’s a different type of track than what we’ve had so far, with different corner ranges, and we are discovering once again how our car is behaving,” he added.
Thinking about the Sprint race, Bortoleto maintains a cautious stance but hopes to extract the best possible from the car before the qualifying session for the GP: “Looking at tomorrow’s Sprint race, let’s see what we can achieve. It’s a very short race, obviously, and after that, we’ll make sure we resolve any issues happening behind the scenes, to enter the qualifying session for Sunday’s GP and give our best,” concluded the young Audi driver.
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