The Stake F1 Team managed to secure a spot in Q2 during qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, thanks to a strong performance by Gabriel Bortoleto, who recorded the 13th fastest time of the session. On a busy day that saw conditions shift from heavy rain at the start of the Sprint to sunshine and heat for qualifying, the Brazilian delivered an excellent performance. On the other side of the garage, Nico Hulkenberg also came close to reaching Q2, but narrowly missed the cut. He will start from 16th on the grid.
“Today wasn’t the best Saturday. After the promising result in yesterday’s Sprint qualifying, I didn’t meet my expectations either in the Sprint or in qualifying. In the Sprint I lost ground on the first lap, which made it very hard to recover in such a short race, even though I finished P9 after some penalties for other drivers,” admitted Nico Hulkenberg. “As for today’s qualifying session, Q2 would have been possible: however, on my final lap, the rear of my car stepped out a bit on the exit of Turn 1 and I lost two or three tenths of a second, carrying less momentum down the long straight. I tried to make up the time in the final sector, but unfortunately it didn’t work out. Now we need to look ahead and prepare for the race.”
Gabriel Bortoleto was satisfied: “I’m honestly happy to be back in Q2 with a solid performance after a few difficult rounds where I wasn’t able to show our full potential, but there’s still a bit of frustration because I think we had the chance to go even higher, maybe even into Q3. Today felt like a step forward: the team did a great job with the car, I felt comfortable and was able to build confidence throughout the session, run after run. My second lap in Q1 was probably my best of the entire weekend; the car was in a perfect window.”
“I made a small mistake on my final lap in Q2, but no one ever does a perfect lap here. Overall, it was a decent job. The most important thing is that we managed to put everything together in qualifying and show the pace we have, something we haven’t been able to do consistently this season. Being able to do it today and show what the team, the car and I are capable of means a lot. Now the focus is on tomorrow: starting from P13, with the possibility of rain and some surprises, anything is possible. Others have scored points from these grid positions, so tomorrow we’ll give it our all and aim to bring home a strong result,” he concluded.
Jonathan Wheatley’s words
“Today’s Sprint was challenging. The race started in wet conditions and, although Nico didn’t get the start he hoped for, both drivers got through the first lap cleanly. In hindsight, we could have benefited from a more aggressive switch to slicks, but most importantly we brought both cars home without damage: Nico in P12 and Gabriel in P15. Qualifying was a relatively calm session. Nico wasn’t able to put together a complete lap and ended up in P16, but Gabriel delivered a very strong performance in both Q1 and Q2, just missing out on Q3 by two tenths. Overall, it was a positive day, especially for Gabriel, and a solid foundation for the rest of the weekend,” he concluded. In a race with many possible outcomes, Sauber has everything it takes to fight for the points zone.
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