Gabriel Bortoleto was one of the highlights of the qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix of Formula 1, by placing Audi in Q3 and securing ninth position on the starting grid, which will turn into P8 due to Lando Norris of McLaren’s ten-place penalty. The result exceeded the team’s expectations at Spa-Francorchamps, a circuit that, according to the team itself, was not among the most favorable for the car.
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The Brazilian’s performance gained even more relevance due to the contrast with the other side of the garage. Nico Hulkenberg faced a series of technical problems and ended his participation without being able to show the full potential of the Audi package.
“I am very happy with today. I think we maximized everything we had and even managed to extract a little more, so I am very satisfied with our performance,” said Bortoleto. The Brazilian driver also highlighted that the race promises to be challenging, especially due to the presence of the Racing Bulls cars ahead of him.
“The Racing Bulls cars are ahead of us, and I expect a tough fight because they are very fast. But I will give everything I have and see what we can build from there,” said the young driver, who also thanked the support received from the team members.
Audi’s racing director, Allan McNish, did not hide his satisfaction with the result achieved by Bortoleto: “Gabriel delivered an exceptional performance in today’s qualifying session. Reaching Q3 exceeded our initial expectations, and the laps he did were impressive,” he said.
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McNish highlighted that the Brazilian’s performance represents a reward for the work done by the team: “It is a great reward for everyone’s effort and shows what we are capable of when everything comes together,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hulkenberg experienced a complicated session. The German reported difficulties with the gearbox from the start of qualifying, with gear shift failures, before being instructed to stop the car on the track after Q2 due to a hydraulic problem.
“It is disappointing because there are definitely some encouraging signs in the performance, but we did not have a clean session on my side of the garage, with technical problems holding us back,” Hulkenberg concluded.
Even with the setbacks faced by the German, Audi left Spa satisfied with the overall outlook. With Bortoleto in ninth and Hulkenberg lined up in 13th on the grid, the team believes it has found a level of competitiveness above expectations for the weekend in Belgium and hopes to turn this performance into a consistent result in Sunday’s race.
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