Gabriel Bortoleto celebrates back-to-back F1 points finishes after Belgian GP. Gabriel Bortoleto hails Audi progress after consecutive top-eight finishes.

Audi moves within one point of Williams in the Constructors’ standings

The number eight has come to symbolise a positive period for Gabriel Bortoleto and Audi. At the last two Formula 1 rounds in Britain and Belgium, the Brazilian driver crossed the finish line in eighth place on both occasions after also starting eighth on the grid.

Gabriel Bortoleto once again delivered a strong race at Spa-Francorchamps, securing valuable points for Audi. The German team is now just one point behind Williams, which, coincidentally, also occupies eighth position in the Constructors’ Championship.

Bortoleto credits Audi’s hard work for recent progress

Gabriel Bortoleto’s objective is now to continue this positive run at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before Formula 1’s summer break. A further top-10 finish in Budapest would give Audi three consecutive points-scoring results.

“I am extremely satisfied with today’s result,” the Brazilian driver commented. “I believe we made the most of everything we had available this weekend, and that is thanks to the incredible commitment of the entire team.

“Achieving this result in front of our team-mates from the Hinwil, Bicester and Neuburg facilities makes it even more special. They have worked extremely hard to bring us this far, and it is fantastic to share this moment with them. These consecutive points finishes are a major boost for all of us.

“It is a fantastic feeling to know that we are capable of achieving results like these and continuing to fight for the top 10. That is where we want to be, it is where we deserve to be, and we will continue working hard to achieve even more, starting in Budapest next week, so that we can finish the first half of the season on a high.”

Nico Hülkenberg remains without points after difficult Spa race

Nico Hülkenberg’s difficult period continued at Spa-Francorchamps, where he finished 13th and remained without a point this season. The German driver was involved in several midfield battles but admitted that his low starting position and early loss of places made recovering particularly difficult.

“There was a lot of fighting in the midfield today, but we paid the price for starting too far back and losing several positions at the beginning, which made the race even more difficult,” Nico Hülkenberg explained. “From that point, it was always going to be complicated to recover.

“The encouraging thing is that our race pace was competitive and we remained in the fight throughout the entire race. The Virtual Safety Car allowed us to gain a few seconds, but it probably needed to last slightly longer.

“Instead, I came out directly behind Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson, became involved in that battle and, with our limited straight-line speed, it was difficult to make any further progress. The race pace itself felt reasonably good by our standards, so that is something we will take with us, even though there are other areas we need to review.

“It is fantastic to see Gabriel Bortoleto scoring points for the team. It is a deserved result and another positive outcome for everyone. Hopefully, we can build on this in Budapest, have a trouble-free weekend on my side of the garage and give ourselves the opportunity to fight for higher positions.”