At the Chinese GP, Sauber faced a challenging qualifying session, with Nico Hülkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto attempting to extract the most from their cars.
Bortoleto’s traffic troubles
In Q1, Bortoleto found himself caught in a web of traffic during his outlap, which ultimately compromised his flying qualifying lap.
“I got a lot of traffic in the outlap with both Ferraris. They ended up doing a prep lap that I don’t think we expected, so I got stuck behind them the whole out-lap.
“Lewis [Hamilton] overtook me one corner before starting the push lap, and I needed literally to smash the brakes trying to make a gap to him.
“I started completely off the window and still, I did the same lap time as the second set, but it wasn’t ideal. Easily, we could have improved some lap time there, but it happens.”
His lap time was ultimately not enough to escape Q1, and he joined other rookies, Jack Doohan and Liam Lawson in the elimination zone.
Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg started from the pit lane in the Sprint after making setup changes to the car.
“We worked on the car further, changed it even more, so it’s all part of the process.
“Still early days in that car in a new team, so I’m still building the connection, building the confidence.”
Hülkenberg in Q2 and the battle in the midfield
In Q2, Hülkenberg came close to a Q3 finish, but ended up finishing in 12th as he missed out by 0.037s, demonstrating that Sauber has the potential to fight for points on race day at the Chinese GP.
“It was really, really tight. I think I was P15 in Q1, or 14, and we did three runs. Don’t forget that. It shows.
“I think we are four teams, like Haas, Aston, us, and Alpine. We’re all really, really close together, and the smallest of differences makes a difference.”
Asked if he felt a perfect lap would have been enough for Q3, Hülkenberg believed that to be the case.
“I think so, yeah. I think there was. Next time, maybe, hopefully.”
Bortoleto, watching from the sidelines after his Q1 exit, remained hopeful for his teammate.
“Let’s see where Nico puts because he’s quick, he’s going to be able to show where the potential of the car was today.”
Sauber’s tyres and tactics for the Chinese GP race day
Looking ahead to the race, both drivers spoke about the challenges posed by the Shanghai circuit, particularly when it comes to tyre management.
Hülkenberg shared his thoughts about the hard tyre compound, a compound that nobody on the grid had the opportunity to run today, due to the nature of qualifying.
“Hopefully the hard is a bit better than the medium, and a bit more resistant, but I think it’s going to be a challenging race on tyres.”
Bortoleto, meanwhile, will have his work cut out for him starting near the back of the grid.
A Sprint race to forget for Bortoleto
Bortoleto’s weekend took another hit during the Sprint race, where he was involved in an incident with Jack Doohan.
The incident left Bortoleto’s car with damage that carried over into qualifying, further complicating his session.
Despite this, he spoke maturely about the situation.
“Well, [Doohan] locked up and he hit me. There’s nothing too much to say. He missed the corner and that’s it. It happens, sometimes that’s what racing is, you know.
“He said sorry. If I didn’t lock up there, maybe I would have hit someone as well, so he ended up hitting one car instead of two.
“It happens. I’ve done the same in the past as well. I’m not going to blame the guy forever. Obviously, maybe it was avoidable because you’re fighting for P19.”
