Gabriel Bortoleto on uplifting talk with Nico Hulkenberg after poor F1 Brazil GP
Formula 1 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto revealed he received a heartwarming message from team-mate Nico Hulkenberg after a crash-filled home Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Sauber driver’s nightmare weekend started in the sprint race, as he spun violently into the pitwall after suddenly losing control just as he was lining up an overtake on Alex Albon at Turn 1.
Bortoleto missed qualifying due to the damage he sustained, but his car was repaired in time for Sunday’s race. In the grand prix, however, the 21-year-old didn’t even last a lap after Lance Stroll crowded him off at Turn 7.
That came after Bortoleto placed himself on the outside of the Aston Martin driver and a clip of Stroll’s rear left tyre caused the Sauber to spin into the wall and resulted in damaged suspension.
Although it wasn’t the weekend he would have hoped for, Bortoleto did take warmth in his conversation with veteran Hulkenberg, who has started 247 grands prix.
“He said one in 20, 20 years in Formula 1,” said Bortoleto. “You’re going to have a lot of good and bad moments. I’ve had a lot of moments like that. It’s just going to strengthen you. He’s proud of what I’ve done this year. I’m going to keep going strong and the good moments will come.”
It’s not just Hulkenberg who Bortoleto has impressed in his rookie campaign, because the Brazilian has shown a lot of promise with a superior qualifying record against his team-mate.
It’s for this reason that Bortoleto was upset at not being able to deliver such pace to his adoring home fans at Interlagos, who have been without a full-time Brazilian F1 driver since Felipe Massa in 2017.
Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber
Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Weekend to forget and move on,” said Bortoleto, who won last year’s F2 title. “I just take the positives that my whole country was here supporting me, the Brazilians.
“I’m just sad because I have not been able to race today and show a bit of the pace that I believe we had. It comes from me, from my incident in a sprint race that caused me to not do quali. So I’m going to be the first one harsh on myself here.
“I believe it’s a consequence of things that happened earlier in the weekend. But anyway, obviously it’s more painful because it’s my home race, but it’s just another weekend. We had so many good ones, we had bad ones as well.
“And there’s nothing I can do about it. I just need to move on, analyse things and learn from my mistakes and go for the next one.”
Bortoleto was then pressed on what he could do better next time, to which he replied: “I think just risk management. I’m happy that I’ve been trying to do different things this week and being more aggressive and trying things.
“But, like sprint race, it’s not probably the best moment to try a risky thing when you can break your car and not do qualifying, like I did. So that’s for sure learning.”
Additional reporting by Andrei Gobbo and Federico Faturos
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