Nico Hulkenberg could step on the podium for the first time ever in Silverstone. His teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, on the other hand, could not finish the race. While the Brazilian was happy for his teammate, he also wishes his decision paid off. The British Grand Prix was completed in changing weather conditions, leading Nico Hulkenberg to ultimately end up on the podium thanks to an excellent strategy.
His teammate Gabriel Bortoleto celebrated together with the German driver who could finally achieve this milestone, but the Brazilian would have preferred to be on the podium himself.
Bortoleto misses out on his first F1 podium due to wrong decisions
"I was super happy for Nico and I'm still super happy for him, but obviously I would love to be me there and fighting for that," Bortoleto told, among others GPblog, in Spa.
The Brazilian admitted that Hulkenberg's decisions were stronger over the race. "But he did the decisions himself, and it is what it is. If I had done the same decisions as he did, I would have been close to that or fighting for the podium myself."
The youngster admitted that he saw other experienced drivers pitting, and gambled himself. "The first decision I took in the race that was pitting for the slicks, it was the wrong decision. I saw some experienced guys ahead of me doing it, Charles, Russell and I thought you know they know the track very well the conditions. I saw as well some dry patches on track and I said I'm going for it you know trying something we are starting anyway in the back."
Bortoleto was unable to finish the race. "It ended up that he didn't pay off for any of these drivers we all struggle a lot I saw a lot of drivers going out a lot of driving crashing, like I did, so I feel that was a very tricky race. I tried something different, didn't pay off. I feel like those that did the basics very well done and executed a very good race, they managed to score points or even a podium like Nico did."
According to the Brazilian, this has to do with a difference in experience. "Like, when you are a rookie, I just feel like you can, you always want to do something a bit different. At least in my case, I wanted to go for the slicks, I felt like I could keep the car on track and try something different. It ended up that the track didn't dry up," he said, explaining that he reviewed the race. He also added that if there are tricky conditions in Spa, hopefully his decisions will pay off.