Bortoleto disappointed to miss out on points in Austria after driving ‘the best race I could’

Gabriel Bortoleto believes that he executed “the best race I could” at the Austrian Grand Prix, but it still wasn’t enough for Audi to return to the points as he just missed out in P11.

Despite some promising performances, the team haven’t finished in the top 10 since the season opener in Australia and were hopeful that their aerodynamic upgrades would help them be more competitive at the Red Bull Ring.

As one of just two drivers to start on the soft tyres – the other being Williams’s Carlos Sainz – Bortoleto gained a position from Pierre Gasly before struggling to keep up with the Racing Bulls pair, leaving him to settle for his third consecutive P11 finish.

“It is what it is,” he said. “I think I did the best race I could. I overtook the Alpine that was ahead of me. We had really good race pace but I couldn’t capitalise on P10 because I think the Racing Bulls were just a bit ahead of us this weekend.

“No one broke down ahead of us – I think the last races have been a bit chaotic with these types of things, but this race was very clean for everyone. When I did a mega race, I think there was not really much [more] to do.”

Although the wait for points continues, the Brazilian admitted he felt encouraged by how the updates to the car worked and was optimistic that Audi will continue to improve, especially with further work on the power unit.

“I think we did everything we could,” Bortoleto added. “I think our pace in Quali was quite decent. I think we brought an upgrade on the aero package that worked out, so pretty good, I would say.

“I think everything we were trying to bring worked. We just need to catch up a little bit on the other side and we’re going to get there.”

His team mate Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified P14 and also surged past Gasly to take P12, was similarly frustrated to not make enough progress to break into the points and admitted that an alternative strategy could’ve been a better option.

“Obviously we went for a late first stop, trying to get a bit of a tyre delta for later in the race,” he explained. “Unfortunately then all the lapping happened, quite a few – six, seven, eight cars. Obviously then it’s difficult to make progress.

“If anything, maybe we could’ve stopped early and been a bit more aggressive, but I think you saw the pace. With the Racing Bulls, they were strong this weekend but on race pace, I think we were matching or slightly quicker. We didn’t have the good starting position so it becomes difficult.

“Although there’s all these long straights, it’s just difficult to follow cars at the exits. It’s like someone has taken the front and rear wing off the car and you’re just sat there with nothing.”

With the teams and drivers preparing to switch focus to the British Grand Prix, which takes place over the weekend of July 3-5, Hulkenberg expressed his excitement of racing at the circuit where he achieved his long-awaited maiden podium last season.

He said: “I think we need a few more weekends to really learn and optimise. Silverstone is obviously a very different circuit – fast, flowing. I personally look forward to it – good memories from a year ago. [It’s a] Sprint there so that’s going to be interesting and spicy. I look forward to that and a bit of British weather too.”