Gabriel Bortoleto credits Fernando Alonso for keeping him behind in F1 Austrian GP tussle amid first points, as Nico Hulkenberg adds on recovery.
It finally happened for Sauber’s Bortoleto and the reigning F2 champion in F1 Austrian GP. His fruitful start to the weekend materialised in the grand prix when he scored his first points finishing eighth. He was beaten by two one-stoppers, which was a bit of a shame but it was first points anyways.
To add to it, he had a brief fight against rival and manager Alonso in the Aston Martin, who was cheeky in the last couple of laps to deny Bortoleto a chance to take seventh and even sixth. The Brazilian credited the Spaniard’s experience, while cherishing his first points after a solid weekend.
He even took the drivers’ of the day award. The Brazilian was the last rookie to score a point, leaving only Jack Doohan to score, who was replaced by Franco Colapinto. “It’s great, it’s great to be driver of the day, but also to give these points for the team is very important, for everyone’s confidence,” said Bortoleto to media.
“Yeah, the blue flags didn’t help, but that’s something that is very difficult to predict, it depends on everyone’s pace, especially when it’s so tight like this. I feel like we did everything that was in our hands. We knew that the one stop and two stop was very close, it was clear on the paper, I guess maybe pitting earlier or not but I think the team did an amazing job.
“Every time, the pace was starting to drop, they pit me, they put me on a better tyre and gave me other possibilities to fight for the points today. I feel like I don’t regret doing the two stops definitely. It was fun [against Alonso], yeah, especially because he raced very hard and I had a lot of fun. Luckily, we didn’t crash – because then I would have no way to go home.
“He has a lot of experience, he knew how to play perfectly with the blue flags and everything, he almost overtook Norris back in the back straight…he knew exactly how to do, not doing it wrong, just perfectly. He knew exactly what he was doing, he was in control of the race there. He had worse tyres and he still managed to keep me behind for two laps, so that is a very good job from him.
“He was like: ‘I’m very happy for you, for your first points and everything, you did a great job’. Obviously it is a big thing and it is a lot of confidence that you get by this. I knew at some point I could score points, I just need to be in the right position and getting the luck on my side as well, then we did it. But the biggest target here is one day to win races and to be fighting for championships, so we have it very clear what we need to do,” summed up Bortoleto.
For Alonso as well, it was not only a good job from his side to keep Aston Martin in the points, but equally happy to see his protégé score in a tough field and in a car which didn’t started out to be the best. The Spaniard reflected on the cheeky moves he had to try to keep Bortoleto behind, which included taking some help from Lando Norris and Liam Lawson.
“It was a tough race,” said Alonso to media. “We didn’t have the pace this weekend, but we still managed a very good race, I think, first thanks to Liam. Because I took the DRS on lap 3. On lap 70, I was still in his DRS. I was just doing qualifying laps from Turn 4 to Turn 9, to the detection, and then after the detection in 9, I had the detection in 1, detection in 3, and then every lap was the same sequence.
“And at the end, Gabi was a lot faster. I thought, honestly, I could not defend, but luckily enough, Lando came just at the right moment, blue flags. And because Lando overtook us, the next lap was the chequered flag, because we got lapped. So, it was a perfect combination – and a lucky race to finish P7, to be honest.
“I didn’t want to pass Lando, but I could not stay just behind Lando, because then Gabi would pass me, so I had to try different moves to confuse Gabi a little bit about what I was doing and at what point. It was very special, I think, for everyone in the group of Gabriel. I think he has been outstanding this year, this weekend especially has been incredible, but for one reason or another, Hulkenberg always scored the points on Sundays.
“So this was maybe not fair in Gabriel’s head, sometimes, so it’s good that he unlocked now this thing, and hopefully the first of many points in Formula 1,” summed up Alonso. His points ended up being crucial especially in the fight against Sauber, who scored their first double since 2023 Qatar GP when they ran under the Alfa Romeo guise. As Sauber, the last double points was in 2018 Mexico GP.
It was a tough run from Hulkenberg, who finished ninth from last on the grid. He did the two stops strategy and still managed to claw his way back in the Top 10. He was equally happy for Bortoleto to finally get the points results, which the German thought was coming for the Brazilian.
“I think so, it was all a bit of rush now, so need to look back it but it felt clean,” said Hulkenberg to media. “I think pace was decent but it was difficult to judge at times, with obviously people stopping in different sequences. Yeah, happy obviously, a good recovery, yes some cars were out early but nevertheless happy after qualifying which was pretty dreadful for me.
“It was always with the hot temperatures, I think it was always a long shot with us and personally also I was more comfortable on two stop. Obviously there were two cars we are fighting that executed the one stop very successfully, which we need to look at but I think they were just too strong – Fernando and Liam.
“Very happy [for Bortoleto]. It was coming, it was clear. I can see how he works, how he drives, then I know how good he is, I could see it coming from a long way, from a long time. So, very happy for him and also for the entire team, double points, I don’t know, we must go back quite some time for the team. Yeah, very happy and positive day, now to keep the momentum,” summed up Hulkenberg.
Here’s Gabriel Bortoleto on radio: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-austrian-grand-prix-bortoleto-celebrates-his-first-f1-points-finish.1836280854950566298
Here’s Sauber on UK tech centre
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