In Formula 2, McLaren’s driver will start from the front row this Sunday

During a weekend in which the Formula 1 circus pays tribute to the greatest idol of Brazilian motorsport – Ayrton Senna – the country once again demonstrates that the new generation is very strong and heading towards the main category of world motorsport. Gabriel Bortoleto, a driver from McLaren’s development program, secured the pole position on Friday (17) for the fourth round of the F2 World Championship and will start from the front row at the Imola circuit this Sunday.

The current FIA F3 champion, Bortoleto is competing in his debut season in F2 and has now secured pole position for the second time in four possible opportunities. The first was in the opening round of the year, held in March in Bahrain.

Like many drivers, Gabriel is paying tribute this weekend to the 30th anniversary of his idol Ayrton Senna’s death by competing with a special helmet painted by artist Luciano Cipulo.

Expressing his fondness for the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit, Gabriel Bortoleto arrived in Imola extremely excited. In the free practice session on Friday morning, he showed great speed and finished with the second-best time.

With full support from the Invicta Racing team, the Brazilian helped the engineering team find the best setups for the car #10 and confidently headed into qualifying. Without making any mistakes and using the equipment to its fullest, the driver quickly secured the fastest lap with the first set of tires. After switching to the second set of tires, the Brazilian was once again precise, and with a time of 1m27s056, he secured pole position by a margin of 55 thousandths of a second over the second place.

“Without a doubt, I am very happy. Our category is extremely competitive, and achieving a pole position is really not easy. Even more so, the second in four qualifying sessions so far. This shows that we have a very fast car on different tracks, giving me confidence to push my limits further. I firmly believe that, wherever he is, my idol Ayrton Senna has been sending positive energy and is celebrating this pole with me. We will celebrate, but we must remember that this was just the first step of the weekend, and we still have two races ahead. The goal is to secure the maximum number of points with the reverse grid tomorrow and, on Sunday, I definitely want to fight for my first F2 victory,” concluded the driver sponsored by McLaren, Banco BRB, Porto, Ebury, Snapdragon, and Barthelemy.

The Formula 2 schedule in Imola continues this Saturday at 9:15 am with the Sprint race. The main race, with Bortoleto starting from pole position, will take place on Sunday at 5 am (Brasília time). The races will be broadcasted on the subscription channel Band Sports.

Pictures: Disclosure

Press office of Gabriel Bortoleto

Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick