Gabriel Bortoleto will start from 14th place in the Sprint race of the Formula 1 Chinese GP. In the qualifying held this Friday (13), the Brazilian set a time of 1min33s774 and failed to advance to SQ3.
Read more F1: Check out the full result of the Chinese GP Sprint qualifying
Clock running at the Shanghai circuit and obviously, the Audi driver didn’t take long to leave the German team’s garage. Using medium tires, he was soon on track doing the first installation laps in China.
When he completed his first timed lap of the session, Gabriel placed himself in sixth position, but soon dropped to seventh, with a mark of xx, 0s916 slower than Lewis Hamilton, the fastest at the moment.
Near the end of SQ1, in the final minutes, the Brazilian started a fast lap and was on a good time, but ended up at the last corner, braking for 16, went straight and finished only in 14th place. But there was still a chance to start one more fast lap.
The time to beat was Carlos Sainz’s, the 17th and the driver who was on the limit for the cut-off zone in China. At the checkered flag, Gabriel was in 16th place, but managed to improve his time, setting 1min34s291 and comfortably advancing to Q2.
Read more F1: Bortoleto regrets problems in Sprint qualifying in China, but says: «It’s part of it»
SQ2 started and Hülkenberg was the first to go out, with Bortoleto, who had a somewhat complicated SQ1, following right after his Audi teammate. It’s worth remembering that the medium tire was still mandatory.
With three minutes left in SQ2, Bortoleto was outside the zone to advance to the final phase and fight for pole position. The Brazilian held 12th place with 1min33s774, just over 0s1 behind Hülkenberg, his teammate who was in tenth place, the last one to advance.
Checkered flag and without improving his time, Gabriel takes 14th place on the starting grid for the Formula 1 Chinese GP Sprint race, without reaching SQ3. His teammate also falls by the wayside.
Read more F1: Check out the images from the first day of the 2026 Chinese GP
