Sauber praises Bortoleto's debut at Interlagos and predicts a sprint finish.
Sauber was pleased with Gabriel Bortoleto 's performance in qualifying for the São Paulo GP sprint, held this Friday, the 7th. In his first weekend driving a Formula 1 car at Interlagos , the Brazilian will start 14th in Saturday's sprint race, a result considered solid by the team.
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley highlighted that Bortoleto had very little time to adapt to the circuit, despite racing "at home," and praised the maturity of the 21-year-old driver in the face of pressure.
"We had a very calm day. The team executed the FP1 program well, which prepared us well for sprint qualifying. It's worth remembering that this was Gabi's first time at Interlagos; with one session to prepare, he managed to handle it exceptionally well. With a little more experience on the track, he could have reached SQ3, but 14th place is a solid result," said Wheatley.
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The manager also praised the Brazilian's performance under high public expectation and predicted an unpredictable sprint : "Both riders (Hulkenberg and Bortoleto) handled the pressure brilliantly, and Gabi showed particular composure and maturity in his first home race."
"He didn't let the moment get to him and delivered a beautiful drive. The weather looks uncertain for tomorrow, and the promise is of an exciting sprint. Racing at Interlagos is never boring, it always brings some surprises," he concluded.
The sprint race for the São Paulo GP will be held this Saturday, the 8th, at 11:00 AM (Brasilia time). While the qualifying race will be at 3:00 PM on the same day, the main race is scheduled for the following day, Sunday the 9th, at 2:00 PM.
Currently, Gabriel Bortoleto has 19 points in the Drivers' World Championship, while Sauber occupies 9th place among the teams with a total of 60 points.
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