‘We knew it would be tough’ – Gabriel Bortoleto ‘convinced’ Kick Sauber can fight back after leaving Azerbaijan empty-handed

Gabriel Bortoleto chose to take the positives from his and Kick Sauber’s performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Brazilian rookie finishing one spot outside the points on what was always going to be a “tough” weekend.

Bortoleto and Sauber headed to the Baku City Circuit off the back of a strong Q3 showing and points finish at Monza, only for Q2 in Qualifying and a run to 11th place in the race – almost 30 seconds off Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in 10th – to be the limit this time out.

While he missed out on making it five top-10 results in seven events, Bortoleto knew the unique nature of the tight, twisty street track was never going to play to the strengths of Sauber’s C45 package.

Reflecting on his Sunday afternoon, he said: “Definitely an intense race, very close to the walls at all times – you need to keep your focus level very high the whole race.

“I’m happy that we finished the weekend without any damage on the car and that we delivered everything the car had available.

“I really don’t think we could have finished P10 today. Hadjar finished in P10 and was [half a minute] ahead. It’s just not a weekend for us that we had the pace to fight with them.”

Bortoleto added: “I’m quite convinced that we can perform in other weekends. We knew this was going to be a tough track for us. There are weekends where we can fight for it and weekends where we cannot, so it’s fine.”

Bortoleto’s team mate, Nico Hulkenberg, started the race in 17th after a Q1 exit and could only rise to 16th – having spent most of his day stuck behind Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.

Asked if early contact with Haas’ Esteban Ocon compromised his race, Hulkenberg said: “No, not at all. That was just Lap 1 racing. I think neither of us had a problem after that.

“I just didn’t get off to the best first lap, lost two or three positions. I got two back actually at the restart, a nice move into Turn 3, a double whammy – that was quite nice and rewarding.

“I had a long, long first stint behind Lance and unfortunately I couldn’t get him. We lost a lot of race time there and that was make or break. Then obviously no Safety Car, nothing happening, so eventually pitted and came out far behind.

“I think the pace at the end was good, but obviously the damage was done yesterday already and early in the race. [I need to] try to be better and cleaner next time around.”

Sauber remain eighth in the Teams’ Championship standings after Azerbaijan on 55 points, with Haas just behind on 44 and Aston Martin just ahead on 62.