{"id":1489,"date":"2025-12-07T14:07:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T17:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/?p=1489"},"modified":"2026-01-19T10:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:21:30","slug":"abu-dhabi-round-marks-the-end-of-gabriel-bortoletos-rookie-f1-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/abu-dhabi-round-marks-the-end-of-gabriel-bortoletos-rookie-f1-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Abu Dhabi round marks the end of Gabriel Bortoleto\u2019s rookie F1 season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Brazilian showed very promising performance in practice and qualifying, but finished outside the points in the final race<\/em><\/strong><br><br>Gabriel Bortoleto wrapped up his debut Formula 1 season this Sunday (7) at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 24th and final round of the 2025 World Championship. The Brazilian driver, the country\u2019s sole representative in the category, crossed the finish line in 12th place, just two positions short of the points-scoring zone at the Yas Marina Circuit.<br><br>The weekend began extremely well for Bortoleto. In Friday\u2019s free practice sessions, the Brazilian showed consistency and speed, finishing 7th in FP1 (1:24.742) and 6th in FP2 (1:23.570). \u201cOverall, Friday was a very positive day. Obviously there were still some fine adjustments to make for Saturday, but it was very productive\u2014we focused on understanding the balance both with high fuel and low fuel,\u201d Gabriel commented after the first day of running.<br><br>On Saturday, the driver maintained his strong pace in FP3, setting the 11th-fastest time before delivering a memorable qualifying session. Gabriel advanced through all three qualifying stages and secured 7th on the starting grid with a lap of 1:22.904. \u201cIt is great to end the season with a qualifying like this. The whole session was incredibly tight: we were just a few thousandths away from being knocked out in Q1, then we nailed a mega lap in Q2 and stayed strong in Q3 as well,\u201d the Brazilian celebrated after qualifying.<br>Sunday\u2019s race, however, did not reflect the performance shown throughout the weekend. From the opening lap, Bortoleto struggled with porpoising in the car, which compromised his pace and prevented the team from maximizing the potential displayed on previous days. The Brazilian finished the race in 12th place, narrowly missing out on points.<br><br>\u201cI will not lie\u2014it is a bit disappointing to have finished outside the points today. Unfortunately, we struggled with porpoising from the first lap, and I do not think we maximized our race the way we should have. It is a shame, because the car was incredible yesterday and I really felt we could have scored some points today,\u201d Gabriel reflected after the race.<br><br>Despite frustration with the final result, the Brazilian made sure to highlight the positive aspects of his rookie Formula 1 season. \u201cLooking back at my first Formula 1 season, it was a special year for me, with several good results and strong qualifying sessions, so there is definitely a lot to be proud of\u2014I could not have done it without the team\u2019s support. It was a good and valuable year. The season is over now, and I\u2019m looking forward to our future. I am already excited to start working on next year and, hopefully, fight for bigger things.\u201d<br><br>Gabriel Bortoleto also expressed his gratitude to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber for everything he learned throughout 2025: \u201cI want to immensely thank the entire Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber team for their commitment, dedication, and guidance throughout this season. Every team member played a key role in my development as a driver. I learned a lot, grew a lot, and I carry with me experiences that will be valuable throughout my entire career. Now, with my eyes on 2026 and the new challenge with Audi F1, I am sure all this learning will be the foundation for us to pursue even better and more promising results. I am motivated and ready for what is ahead.\u201d<br><br>Starting in 2026, Gabriel Bortoleto will race for Audi F1, beginning a new chapter in his career in the top category of world motorsport.<br><br>Pictures: Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber<br>Press office of Gabriel Bortoleto<br>Responsible journalist: Fl\u00e1vio Quick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brazilian showed very promising performance in practice and qualifying, but finished outside the points in the final race Gabriel Bortoleto wrapped up his debut Formula 1 season this Sunday (7) at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 24th and final round of the 2025 World Championship. The Brazilian driver, the country\u2019s sole representative in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[34],"class_list":["post-1489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1-2","tag-f1-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1490,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489\/revisions\/1490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gabrielbortoleto.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}