Gabriel Bortoleto has explained how opting to pit for slick tyres at the start of the British Grand Prix led to his early exit from the race, with the Brazilian admitting that he “made a mistake” in the changing conditions.
While most cars prepared to take the start on intermediate tyres – following intermittent heavy rain showers at Silverstone in the hours prior to the race – a few, including Bortoleto, dived into the pits at the end of the formation lap to bolt on the slicks.
The Kick Sauber driver returned to the track on the medium compound but spun off just a few laps later, ending up in the gravel before getting going again. With a piece of his front wing left near the track, the yellow flags were thrown and Bortoleto subsequently pulled off, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car.
Asked to talk through what had happened afterwards, Bortoleto responded: “It’s not difficult, it’s very simple what happened. I made a mistake, I decided to go for the mediums for the slicks set.
“I thought the track was going to dry up a bit quickly, with a lot of wind we were having this week and sunny conditions at that moment. I thought it was the right call to do at the time, I didn’t expect rain as well after, so I thought, ‘Let’s do this, maybe we can gain some positions here’.
“Then the restart was very tricky, low grip. I went on the power out of T1 and I had a big snap, tried to correct it and I didn’t make it.
“I touched the rear wing on the wall and the rear wing was a bit broken, so I preferred to stop on track not to risk any debris staying around, and [it was] just race over for me there.”
Despite the challenging end to his own race, there was plenty of reason for the team to celebrate after Nico Hulkenberg scored a long-awaited debut F1 podium by finishing the race in P3, a result that Bortoleto was delighted about.
“It’s such a special day for me, for the team,” the 20-year-old smiled. “I really enjoy working with Nico – for me he’s one of the most talented drivers I’ve ever met in my life.
“Definitely the best team mate I ever had in many senses, [as a] person, as a driver and everything, and I think he deserves it. He’s such a hard worker and he puts a lot of effort in things. He’s been able this year to just do outstanding races, and he deserves it. Just amazing.”
The result has hauled Kick Sauber into sixth place of the Teams’ Championship on 41 points, putting them five points clear of Racing Bulls and Aston Martin in seventh and eighth respectively.
