Gabriel Bortoleto was just 0.001 seconds away from advancing to Q3 in qualifying for the Italian GP this Saturday (5) in Monza. The Brazilian Audi driver finished the session in 11th place, after being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton on the last attempt of Q2, but he assessed that the performance was above expectations for the weekend.
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In an interview with SporTV after qualifying, Bortoleto highlighted Audi’s difficulty on the Italian circuit, mainly due to the long straights: “It’s much better than we expected for this weekend. We know it’s very difficult for us because of the straights, so just being so close to Q3 and challenging the two Ferraris is something incredible,” he said.
Despite the positive assessment, Gabriel did not hide his frustration at being so close to advancing to the final phase. He revealed that he made a small mistake on the last lap: “Obviously I’m frustrated because when it’s a thousandth you think that, especially on my last lap I got a rear slide exiting turn 8. But everything was on the limit anyway, these things happen. It was a good lap overall and we came close,” he explained.
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Now, Bortoleto aims for a good start to try to gain positions and stay close to the rivals during the race. He should start 10th, since Kimi Antonelli, from Mercedes, advanced to Q3 but has a penalty to serve and will start at the back of the grid this Sunday.
“The thing is to try to make a good start tomorrow, be aggressive, do something different to try to stay there and run our own race. If we manage to do a solo race, that’s the best race for us, to be honest,” Bortoleto added.
Read more F1: Check out the images from the qualifying of the 2026 Italian GP
