Jonathan Wheatley, team principal of Stake/Sauber, sent a text message to Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, during the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday with a rather unusual request. “I asked him not to lap us,” the Brit admitted with a laugh.
At the Red Bull Ring, Stake rookie Gabriel Bortoleto was locked in a fierce battle for P7 with Fernando Alonso, while behind them, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were rapidly closing in as race leaders. The blue flags effectively ended the fight between Bortoleto and his Spanish mentor.
“I sent Zak a message asking him not to ‘lap’ us. Unfortunately, they did. The seventh place would have been the icing on the cake,” said Wheatley.
For Bortoleto, it was the first time in his young career that he scored World Championship points. According to Wheatley, this moment had been coming for a while. “I just felt it was inevitable. And I know there was a bit of a narrative going around in the paddock along the lines of: he’s the only one without points. But Gabriel has developed quickly and has a mature and professional approach. And the beautiful thing is that he can build on this milestone. His confidence is growing and growing. He has a very bright future ahead of him,” said Wheatley.
