The pupil and the master
The past weekend in Austria was special for Gabriel Bortoleto. His first time in Q3 and first points, to make him the youngest Brazilian ever to score F1 championship points. In a series of coincidences he takes that particular record off Felipe Massa who also finished eighth to pick up his first point (that was all eighth was awarded back then) in the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix, also driving a Ferrari-powered Sauber. Gabriel was in the top ten right from Friday: sixth in FP1, eighth in FP2, tenth in FP3 and then eighth in qualifying and the race.
It was a great team result, as Sauber's other driver, Nico Hulkenberg also finished in the points, his ninth place maybe even more incredible, given that the German had started from the back row of the grid! In fact, the team run by Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley is enjoying something of a purple patch right now: in the three races run in June (Spain, Canada and now Austria) it has picked up 20 points, the fourth best tally behind McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. It seems crazy that the Swiss team could outscore Red Bull Racing over three races, and yet….
In fact, Bortoleto could have picked up even more points, but for his manager. Why? Because the driver who denied him seventh place and maybe even a shot at sixth was none other than Fernando Alonso, who is to all intents and purposes, his manager, as well as friend, colleague and rival on track.
With just a few laps to go, the duel ensued between the two “green machines” - Aston Martin and Sauber both have that as their base colour. It seemed that Gabriel might easily get the better of the Spaniard, as he was on newer tyres, because Fernando was on a one-stop strategy and, by this point, he was struggling, although he had latched onto the back of Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls, also going for the one stop. With tyres that had done 16 fewer laps, Gabriel was closing fast
But Fernando produced his usual robust defence and then on the final lap he used all his guile and experience, allowing race leader Lando Norris who had lapped Gabriel on the previous lap, to come past the Aston Martin in the braking zone for Turn 3. It meant that Alonso was able to use DRS behind Norris on the downhill run to turn 4, this boost allowing him to pull away slightly from the Sauber. To make doubly sure, Alonso even repassed Norris on the inside line, before tucking back in behind him going into the corner. Gabriel was caught off guard and there was no longer any opportunity to attack in what was left of the lap.
“I didn't want to pass Lando, but I couldn't stay behind him or Gabi would have passed me,” explained Alonso after the race. “So I had to try a few moves to disguise my intentions from Gabi and it worked. He's been really special and I think he's had an exceptional start to the season. This weekend especially, he's been incredible and I'm pleased that he's finally got off the mark and let's hope it's the first of many points in Formula 1.”
“I think it was a really tough battle, probably the toughest I've experienced in F1 so far,” was Bortoleto's view of events. “Round the outside, down the inside, then using the blue flags with (Lando) Norris and then Oscar (Piastri). It was a crazy race you know. Nothing more to say, just a great fight. I'm happy I was able to battle Fernando all the way to the end for those points.”
Gabriel was also voted “Driver of the Day,” picking up 30% of the votes from the fans online. For Brazil, it's a small flame being rekindled: not since Abu Dhabi in 2017 has one of its own managed to finish in the top ten. That was also down to Massa, when he finished tenth for Williams in the race that brought the curtain down on his Formula 1 career. Since then, there have only been two brief appearances from Pietro Fittipaldi, standing in for Grosjean at Haas at the final two rounds of 2020. Now there is Gabriel, who comes to Formula 1 after winning back-to-back titles in Formula 3 in 2023 and in Formula 2 last year. And he can count on the support of a driver who knows all about winning.
