Gabriel Bortoleto impresses in Shanghai Sprint Quali, while Nico Hülkenberg struggles to find pace and exits early in SQ1.
Sauber F1 showed some promise in Shanghai as Gabriel Bortoleto made it into SQ2 and secured 14th place on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint. While the Brazilian rookie didn’t expect to challenge for SQ3, he was pleased with a performance that matched the car’s current potential.
“It was a positive start to the weekend and overall, Sprint Qualifying went well,” Bortoleto said. “SQ1 was strong, and in SQ2 I pushed hard. Closing a six-tenth gap to SQ3 was always going to be tough.”
Windy conditions added an extra layer of challenge, but Bortoleto remained upbeat. “It wasn’t easy out there, but we made good progress throughout the day. I’m happy with the direction we’re heading.”
With both the Sprint race and main qualifying session coming up on Saturday, the rookie is staying focused: “We’ll keep pushing to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way.”
Meanwhile, it was a frustrating day for Nico Hülkenberg, who ended Sprint Qualifying in 19th place.
“Unfortunately, it was a short session for me,” said the Haas driver. “The first run felt promising, but on the second push lap, other drivers found improvements — we didn’t.”
He pointed to Free Practice as a sign that the pace was there, even if it didn’t translate later in the day. “My lap this morning looked competitive, so we’ll need to dig into the data and figure out what went wrong this afternoon.”
Sauber’s trackside operations chief, Beat Zehnder, praised Bortoleto’s steady improvement and strong effort. As for Hülkenberg, he offered a simple explanation: “His tyres overheated a bit too much on the second run. That cost him a few crucial tenths, and with that, a chance to advance.”
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Solid Start for Bortoleto – Painful Blow for Nico Hülkenberg Solid Start for Bortoleto – Painful Blow for Nico Hülkenberg
