Bortoleto says home race ‘was not how I expected’ after starting at the back
Starting 19th at his home race, Gabriel Bortoleto spent the São Paulo Grand Prix searching for clear air and finished 16th, a lap down.
His afternoon was shaped on Saturday. Bortoleto was eliminated in Q1 after damaging his Audi in a chaotic, rain-hit qualifying session, and a 10-place grid penalty followed for fitting a sixth energy store and a sixth control electronics unit, against an allowance of three of each. With several other drivers also sent to the back, he lined up 19th.
Bortoleto accepted that the grid position left him with a job to do. “It’s a consequence of yesterday, starting from the back, you need to overtake people,” he said.
The conditions made that harder. The race began on intermediate tyres, moved to slicks by lap 14, then returned to intermediates by lap 61 as the rain came back. Bortoleto pointed to the power available in the wet as a limiting factor.
“We are limited by the power that we have when it’s raining, so we’re limited on 250 kilowatts,” he explained. That made it difficult to create a top speed difference at the end of the straight, and he said he got “a bit stuck behind other cars”.
When the road opened up, the car looked far better. “When I was able to be in free air and put some pace out there, it was very positive,” Bortoleto said. He felt the same once the rain returned and Audi fitted intermediates for the closing laps. “In the wet at the end, when we put the inter on, it was very good,” he said.
The result was a disappointment at a race Bortoleto had been building towards. Last year’s home Grand Prix ended in a crash on the opening lap, after he had also crashed heavily in the sprint and missed qualifying. This time he reached the flag, but without the result he wanted. “It’s a shame. I think home race was not how I expected,” he said.
The Brazilian crowd gave him something to hold on to. “The love from the fans was there and I really appreciate it,” Bortoleto said. “So we go to the next one.”
Teammate Nico Hülkenberg took the final point in tenth, which drew him level with Bortoleto on 14 points. Lando Norris won from pole, Max Verstappen charged from 21st on the grid to second and Mercedes clinched the constructors’ championship. Formula One returns in Las Vegas in two weeks, the first of the final three rounds.
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