In Hungary, Gabriel Bortoleto achieved his best qualifying result ever; the Brazilian rookie will start from the seventh position on Sunday. This was the third time this season that he managed to break into Q3. Notably, Bortoleto managed to stay ahead of four-time world champion Max Verstappen. The young driver is gearing up for a ‘great battle’ from the fourth row of the grid.
“It’s always difficult to keep Max (Verstappen, ed.) behind you, but if he wants to overtake, it will certainly be a great battle,” Bortoleto responded after the qualification. “I don’t know how good the pace of his car is, but ours looked reasonably competitive,” he added hopefully. “In any case, I look forward to sparring with him, as he is a good friend of mine and I have been learning a lot from him lately. Perhaps we can treat the people to some beautiful overtaking maneuvers tomorrow.”
Qualification Stunt
Bortoleto’s qualification stunt followed a volatile weekend in Budapest. “Friday was terrible,” he admitted. “I didn’t feel comfortable in the car at all. I struggled with the balance and really lacked speed. But we kept working and stayed optimistic – we were at the circuit until midnight with the engineers and mechanics to analyze everything and improve the car,” he proudly explained. “And that paid off, because today it finally felt good, allowing me to maximize in the qualification.”
However, Bortoleto was significantly tested, partly due to changing weather conditions. In particular, the gusts of wind in Q3 plagued several drivers. “It was particularly difficult,” acknowledged the 20-year-old Sauber driver. “You have to adjust the car constantly, just like your driving style. I don’t think I even went faster in Q3 than in Q1. That shows how treacherous it was.” From the seventh starting position, Bortoleto hopes to score good points again, although he is cautious about a potential rain race. “If it pours, you never know in Formula 1,” he concluded. “But I think we will be fighting for points.”
