Gabriel Bortoleto finished the first day of Formula 1 Monaco GP activities with reasons to celebrate. The Brazilian placed Audi among the top ten in both free practice sessions this Friday (5) and highlighted the evolution achieved throughout the sessions held on the streets of Monte Carlo.
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In FP1, Bortoleto completed 31 laps and recorded the ninth best time, with 1min15s750. Later, in FP2, he repeated the ninth position by clocking 1min14s359 in 35 laps.
The team used the day to carry out setup work and evaluations over longer lap sequences. Feedback from the Brazilian and his teammate Nico Hülkenberg indicated improvements in the car’s balance. After the session, Bortoleto explained that some setbacks marked the start of the first practice, but highlighted the team’s recovery and the progress achieved throughout the day:
“It was a reasonable day overall. Despite some setbacks at the start of FP1, we managed to put the car in the top ten, which is quite encouraging. FP2 was smooth and clean, and I was able to consistently improve throughout the session. It took a bit of time to put together a strong lap because of traffic on track, but I’m happy with what we achieved in the end. We learned more about the car’s balance and where our limitations are, which gives us a good direction for tomorrow. There’s still a lot of room for improvement and we’ll work hard tonight to find those extra gains.”
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With the learning gained from the free practice sessions, Bortoleto believes the team has a clear direction to seek new performance gains before qualifying. The focus now is on analyzing the collected data and preparing for one of the most important sessions of the entire Monaco weekend.
On Saturday, F1 continues its schedule in Monaco with another free practice session at 7:30 AM. Qualifying is scheduled for 11 AM. The F1MANIA.NET covers all sessions in REAL TIME.
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