The Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan hosted the 17th round of the Formula 1 World Championship this weekend – from September 19 to 21. Continuing his path of growth in the competition, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto, representing Stake F1 Team | Kick Sauber, showed consistency throughout the weekend and finished the main event in 11th place.

As usual, the weekend program kicked off on Friday with the first two free practice sessions. Bortoleto completed 40 laps in total. On one of the longest tracks of the season, the Brazilian worked closely with his engineering crew in search of the best performance and reliability for the #5 car. In FP1, Gabriel finished 14th, and in FP2, 15th.

“Overall, it was a decent day despite the difficult conditions. Several drivers went off into the run-off areas – I had a few of those moments myself – but that is part of pushing to the limit. The positive side is that we learned a lot about our limits, which gave us something solid to build on before qualifying. I felt good about the work we did,” the driver said after the first day on track.

Back on the fastest street circuit of the season on Saturday, the Sauber driver took part in the final free practice session followed by qualifying to set the grid for Sunday’s race. With track conditions constantly changing due to dust and strong gusts of wind over 80 km/h, it was difficult to piece together a perfect lap. As a result, qualifying saw no fewer than six red flags, stretching the session over several hours. Bortoleto, however, showed maturity and confidence, advancing his car into Q2. With a best lap of 1m42.277s, he secured 13th on the grid for Sunday’s race.

“I did not manage the perfect lap in qualifying. I lost time in the final corner and, with the wind, it was tricky to put everything together. It was a decent result given the circumstances, but as a driver you always want more. I was a bit disappointed, but I think that was the best we could achieve today. I believe we can have a solid race and, who knows, maybe fight for points again,” said the Brazilian after qualifying.

At precisely 8 a.m. on Sunday, the Azerbaijan GP got underway. Bortoleto made a strong start, immediately gaining a position to move into 12th. Still on the opening lap, the Safety Car was deployed to remove Oscar Piastri’s car, which had crashed into the barriers. Three laps later the race resumed at full speed and, from that point on, it ran without interruptions. With the midfield cars running closely together, tire management and pit-stop timing played a decisive role in the outcome. Starting on hard tires, the #5 car stopped on lap 27 for the mandatory tire change, switching to medium compounds to the finish. Rejoining in 16th place, Bortoleto made several strong overtakes and, after 51 laps, crossed the line in 11th.

“It was an intense race, always close to other cars and the walls the whole time. I think we delivered everything we had in mind today, with 11th place being the maximum we could achieve. It was a tough weekend overall, and I don’t think we had the pace to fight further up the field. Even so, we kept pushing, maximized what we had, and brought home some important lessons. Being on the limit all weekend and giving the car back to the team without a scratch is also something positive we can take away. Some weekends you can fight, others not so much – that is racing. Now, we shift our focus to Singapore, in two weeks’ time,” concluded the driver, who is sponsored by Banco BRB, KitKat, Porto, and Motorola by Snapdragon.

Pictures: Stake F1 Team | KICK Sauber – Disclosure

Press office of Gabriel Bortoleto
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick