Bortoleto hails Audi’s ‘incredible’ work as points momentum builds

Gabriel Bortoleto believes Audi are finally seeing the rewards of their “incredible” hard work after another strong points-scoring performance in Spa last weekend strengthened the feeling that the German outfit has turned a corner in Formula 1.

The Brazilian followed up his breakthrough result at the British Grand Prix with another top-ten finish in the Belgian Grand Prix, securing eighth place in Sunday’s race after qualifying ninth on Saturday.

For a team that endured a frustrating run of missed opportunities and disappointing near-misses earlier in the season, the back-to-back points finishes represents a significant step forward.

Consistency is slowly but surely beginning to arrive – and Bortoleto believes it is a reflection of the progress happening behind the scenes at Hinwil and Neuburg.

Audi’s hard work finally paying off

Bortoleto was quick to praise the effort of everyone involved in Audi’s F1 operations, particularly with hundreds of team members making the trip to Belgium to support the squad.

“[I’m] extremely happy,” he said after Sunday’s race. “I think that’s everything we could achieve this weekend.

“What can I say? The team did an incredible job. It’s also great to do this in front of more than 500 employees that came all the way from Switzerland, Bicester, Neuburg to watch us here. For sure, it was a great result.”

The Belgian Grand Prix also carried extra significance for Audi, coming four years after the manufacturer first announced its plans to enter Formula 1.

Bortoleto’s result served as a timely reminder of how much progress the project has made since those early ambitions were revealed.

A new belief inside the team

For Bortoleto, the biggest positive is not simply one strong result—it is the growing confidence that Audi can now fight for points on a regular basis.

Asked how important the recent performances were for team morale, the 21-year-old highlighted the significance of seeing the hard work translate into repeatable results.

“I hope a lot. For me at least it’s a big boost. Obviously it’s incredible to have the feeling that we are being able to deliver results like this constantly now, and be fighting for points,” he said.

The improvement was also reflected by team mate Nico Hulkenberg, who continued to show strong pace despite missing out on the points at Spa.

The German battled through a chaotic midfield fight involving Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson before finishing 13th, a respectable result considering he suffered a hydraulic issue during qualifying that left him starting from further back.

“It was okay, a lot of fighting in the midfield but I was kind of paying the price for starting too far back. I think both our cars lost quite a bit on the start of Lap 1, so that makes life even harder,” commented the Hulk, reflecting on his afternoon.

• Read also: Team Talk: Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps

“Otherwise, I think the performance is there, the speed for the midfield battle [is there]. I think we were best of the rest together with the Racing Bulls, from what I can see, so that’s pretty positive and encouraging.”

With Bortoleto now delivering points in consecutive races and Audi proving capable of challenging established midfield rivals, optimism is building around the manufacturer’s project.

The results may still be early steps in a much bigger journey, but Spa provided another encouraging sign that Audi’s steady climb up the F1 order is gathering momentum.

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