Gabriel Bortoleto tried hard to catch Alexander Albon but is pleased to score still in F1 Italian GP, as Jonathan Wheatley expands on Nico Hulkenberg’s issues and strategy.
It was a good start from Sauber’s Bortoleto in F1 Italian GP at Monza after he managed to leapfrog Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Fernando Alonso on the line to move up to seventh. He even challenged George Russell for a brief period, before settling down to defend from Alonso.
He hung on well until the pit stop when Alonso smartly cleared him. Even though the Spaniard retired later on, Bortoleto eventually lost out to Antonelli and Albon in the process. The Thai went long in his first stint, which helped when the Brazilian opted for a short first stint to switch to hard.
Antonelli’s penalty helped Bortoleto to end up eighth but behind Albon. He tried hard but it wasn’t to be. He was still happy to score points. “I think it was a strong race, we delivered what we could, that was the pace,” he said to media. “We knew Williams is going to come fast, it was a bit surprising that they were out in Q2 in qualifying.
“Yeah, it was nice to put come quali laps after quali laps trying to beat Albon’s lap time. It was not easy, he had a very strong form. I think, we maximised in the race. I overtook Kimi, I overtook Fernando at some point and I tried to overtake George. So, that was nice, I knew it was not going to last long but at least I put myself there, I don’t care. I want to fight a bit,” summed up Bortoleto.
The Brazilian received praise from team boss Wheatley, who explained that the early stop was to cover Liam Lawson. They didn’t want to get stuck behind the Kiwi, who stopped very early in the race. Also, Bortoleto got stuck behind Pierre Gasly at one time, which allowed Albon through. “I think, if I look at the way the race developed, Albon did a really impressive stint on the hard tyre, really impressive,” said Wheatley to media.
“And Gabi kept him pegged behind for a lot of the race. We came across Gasly, and that’s where Albon got ahead. But I think, ultimately, he would have come out behind on a brand new set of mediums. I think the writing was on the wall at that point. Actually, the race panned out as we expected it to. We had to cover Lawson, which probably you all saw.
“You split the race into two, ultimately, on the medium and hard. The hard looked like a really good race tyre today. But then, again, I don’t think I can take away from the fact that Albon had serious pace. Gabi lost a little bit of time breaking into the pits with his pit stop, and that’s how you lose a position to Alonso,” summed up Wheatley.
While Bortoleto scored the valuable points to help it close on Aston Martin and Visa Cash App RB, the team lost a chance to score via Hulkenberg, who retired after the formation lap due to hydraulic issue. There were some signs already on the grid and as a precaution, they asked him to stop.
“For me, everything felt fine. I think something happened on the grid because it got a bit hectic just before the start of formation lap,” said Hulkenberg to media. “For me, everything was still okay but obviously they saw a big issue on the data. Definitely [frustration] for me and for the team, obviously. No one wants that, no one intended that.
“So, it is frustrating and disappointing for us. It is a technical sport and sometimes these things can and do happen, got to take it on the chin. On the good side is, we have been competitive this weekend, Gabi scored some valuable points for the fight in the championship.”
Wheatley added: “Yeah, everything was fine on the grid. That was my first pass up and down it. And then we did a normal fire up on the grid and noticed a hydraulic fault. You might have seen us about seven minutes ago putting a little bit more hydraulic fluid in the car. But ultimately, with it being a new PU, we decided to retire the car to be safe. It’s a shame. It was a real shame for Nico because I’m sure he was capable of points.
“And it would have been very good for us, championship-wise, to have both drivers in points. Yes, it’s always hard as team principal when one driver doesn’t start the race and the other one gets points. But, look, you can’t take anything away from the weekend.
“We had genuine pace, I think, this weekend. I felt confident in qualifying. I think a tiny little error by Nico in qualifying. Gabriel put a strong performance in all the way through the weekend, and he just delivered a brilliant race. I think he got everything he could out of the car.”
Here’s DNS for Nico Hulkenberg: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-italian-grand-prix-hulkenberg-forced-to-retire-on-the-formation-lap.1842611125141941376
Here’s Gabriel Bortoleto losing out to Fernando Alonso: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-italian-grand-prix-alonso-jumps-bortoleto-in-pit-stop-head-to-head.1842625384022247341
Here’s how F1 Italian GP panned out
