In a consistent weekend, the Brazilian driver scored points in both races of the fifth round

The F2 World Championship visited the most traditional track on the calendar last weekend. In the streets of Monte Carlo, Monaco, drivers and teams once again faced off on the narrow streets of the principality.

Coming from a stage with great results in Imola the previous week, Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto arrived highly motivated and, together with the professionals from Invicta Racing, worked to find the best setups for car #10. Unfortunately, the only scheduled practice session for the stage was held in the rain, and since no more rain was expected for the remaining activities, the collected information was of no use.

Aware that Invicta’s car did not have the best setup for the Monaco track, Gabriel and his engineers did their best to secure the best position in the qualifying session. With a time of 1m21s760, he recorded the fifth-best time in Group A, which earned him ninth place for the start of the Feature Race and second place for the Sprint start.

ANOTHER PODIUM

The Sprint race was held on Saturday morning. After a good start, Bortoleto nearly managed to overtake Taylor Barnard, who started in first. However, without space to take the first corner, he had to pull back and held onto second place. As is often the case on the streets of Monaco, the race saw little action. Gabriel pressured his competitor for several laps, waiting for a mistake, but it never happened. After 30 laps, the Brazilian crossed the finish line in second place. Still wearing a helmet in tribute to his idol Ayrton Senna, Bortoleto stood on the podium that had seen Senna crowned many times.

In the Feature Race, held on Sunday morning, Gabriel started from the fifth row. With another good start, the Brazilian driver maintained ninth place and, despite all the challenges, managed to overtake Denis Hauger, moving up to eighth place. In a race with several collisions and Safety Car interventions, the 19-year-old Brazilian stayed on track without making errors and finished the 42 laps in eighth place.

With the eight points earned in Saturday’s race and the four points on Sunday, Bortoleto now has a total of 50 points in the overall standings, where he holds fifth place, just six points behind the fourth spot.

“Honestly, I leave Monaco with a sense of accomplishment. From the start, we knew the track’s characteristics were not favorable for our car. We worked intelligently and strategically to accumulate as many points as possible, and with that, I managed to stay in the top five of the Championship. Our season is very long, and one of the key secrets is always to keep scoring points. I thank my team for all the support, my family, sponsors, and the fans who increasingly give me strength on the track and on social media. Let’s go to the next one!” concluded the driver sponsored by McLaren, Banco BRB, Porto, Ebury, Snapdragon, and Barthelemy.

The sixth round of the Formula 2 World Championship will be held in three weeks, from June 21 to 23, in Barcelona, Spain.

Photos: Diclosure | James Gasperotti

Press office of Gabriel Bortoleto

Journalist responsible: Flávio Quick