Gabriel Bortoleto made a good recovery race at the Miami GP of Formula 1. This Sunday (3), the Brazilian started from the back of the pack, took advantage of opportunities, and received the checkered flag in 12th place.
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The Audi driver had a very difficult qualifying and without enough time to set a competitive lap, he only managed 22nd place on the grid. However, Isack Hadjar was penalized and had to start from the pits, with Bortoleto then not being the last in the pack.
Moments before the start of the race, the chance of rain at race time, with 57 laps scheduled, was 40%.
Lights out in Miami and while chaos unfolded at the front of the pack and even Max Verstappen spun, Gabriel began his climb through the field. At the end of the first lap, he was already in 18th place.
The Brazilian was in 19th, but things started to change on the track. First, the broadcast showed a crash involving Hadjar and, shortly after, a collision of Pierre Gasly against the protective wall, causing a safety car. In this, Bortoleto was moving up the pack and appeared in 15th place.
Ten laps completed and Gabriel had not yet gone to the pits. At this moment, four drivers had retired, including Nico Hülkenberg, and the Brazilian was in 14th place.
Race restarted on lap 11 and Gabriel managed to maintain his position, being 0.5 seconds behind Sergio Pérez, but also needing to defend against Max, who went to the pits to put on hard tires. Without major surprises, the Dutchman completed the pass, but with #5 leaving the Mexican behind shortly after.
With 15 laps completed, Bortoleto reported on the radio that he believed there was minor damage to the front wing, and the team confirmed to the driver that there was indeed a small break – the cause was a touch with Pérez.
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A few laps later, the competitor managed to close in on Arvid Lindblad, 13th. Bortoleto was already less than 1 second behind and could activate overtaking mode and after some battle, managed to leave the Racing Bulls driver behind.
With 26 laps completed of the Miami GP of Formula 1, the rain was starting to get closer and closer to the circuit. In fact, on Verstappen’s camera on the main straight, the first drops were already visible. On the radio, Gabriel’s engineer said, “we think this light rain should last five laps.”
Finally, on lap 34, Audi called Bortoleto to the pits when he was in ninth. Only the Brazilian and Fernando Alonso had not yet made a pit stop in the race – a 3.1-second stop and fitted hard tires, returning 13th to the track.
As the race progressed, with 16 laps to the checkered flag, Bortoleto was gradually closing in on Esteban Ocon, 12th. The Audi driver was just over 2 seconds behind the Frenchman from Haas, already reducing more than 3 seconds from the previous gap.
The driver approached Ocon several times but could not complete the overtaking. Then, finally, with ten laps to go, Gabriel managed to leave his opponent behind, taking 12th place.
Checkered flag and Bortoleto managed to make a good recovery race with Audi, finishing close to Oliver Bearman, 11th, just over 2 seconds behind the British Haas driver.
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