Races marked by excessive tire wear

The sixth round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship concluded this Sunday (23rd) at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. The 22 drivers in the competition faced a challenging weekend, primarily marked by excessive tire wear.

In a phase of growth in the Championship, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto, part of the McLaren development program, arrived in Barcelona quite excited, having completed nearly 1,200 km of testing on that track in April. During the sole free practice session, the Invicta Racing team chose to test various car setups.

In the tightest qualifying session of the season, the top five were separated by just one-tenth of a second. With a time of 1m24.821s, Bortoleto secured fourth position for the Feature Race and, consequently, seventh position for the Sprint Race. Notably, this time was only 55 milliseconds slower than pole-sitter Paul Aron (EST).

In both races, Gabriel made good starts and stayed in the fight for the top positions in the initial laps. However, unable to maintain a good pace and suffering from significant tire degradation, Bortoleto lost positions in the final laps of both races, finishing fifth in the Sprint Race and seventh in the Feature Race. With these results, Gabriel earned a total of 10 points, maintaining fifth position in the standings, now with 60 points.

“It was a very tough weekend here in Barcelona. Our car was very good in qualifying, but we simply did not have the race pace. I managed to start well in both races, and the early parts were quite good, but the tire degradation on my car was ridiculous. In the final laps, I just could not keep the car on the track. I did my best, but unfortunately, we missed out on important points both yesterday and today. We’ll analyze the data thoroughly and will definitely come back strong and competitive in Austria next week,” explained the driver, sponsored by Banco BRB, Porto, Ebury, Snapdragon, and Barthelemy.

The Formula 2 World Championship resumes next weekend with the seventh round. The race, marking the midpoint of the season, will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

Pictures: James Gasperotti

Press Office of Gabriel Bortoleto

Responsible Journalist: Flávio Quick