Gabriel Bortoleto became the second Audi driver this weekend to have his R26 break down in Miami
Following his disqualification in the Sprint race, Gabriel Bortoleto’s car broke down during qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. After the Brazilian left the pits very late in Q1, the Audi driver had qualified in 22nd place, only to come to a stop at the side of the track during his cool-down lap.
After the session, Bortoleto was asked whether the problem in qualifying was related to the disqualification in the Sprint race. It had been determined that the engine’s intake pressure was too high here.
“No, that has nothing to do with the disqualification,” replied the 21-year-old. “It was a completely different problem, and we had to take the entire car apart.”
A small miracle in qualifying
“That’s how I see it. The mechanics worked quickly to get everything back in order, and they did an incredible job today. Completely reassembling a transmission, putting the entire rear axle of the car back together within half an hour—that’s a really difficult task.”
“They managed it; we got back on the track and had a lot of problems again, but those are understandable. I think getting back on the track was a small miracle in itself. We gave it our best; we had problems; I had to pull the car over on the track and couldn’t do anything about it.”
Bortoleto was then asked if they were currently struggling with the temperatures. “Guys, I don’t think it has anything to do with what you’re thinking,” replied the Audi driver.
“Forget it. We had a problem; we had to replace the entire rear axle of the car, and when you do something like that on such short notice, mistakes are bound to happen. Things can overheat quickly and a fire can break out fast—that’s exactly what happened.”
Despite these setbacks, Bortoleto remains optimistic: “I don’t think we need to worry. What we should be worried about is the problem before qualifying. What happened during qualifying was just the result of what happened after we got the cars back on the track.“
”That’s all I know. After all, I came straight to you after the session. Once I’m back in the garage and have spoken with the engineers, mechanics, and all the team members, then we can talk further.”
No start for Bortoleto on Sunday?
The 2024 Formula 2 champion could not say whether Bortoleto would be able to participate in the Grand Prix. “I don’t know, maybe something on the brakes caught fire; then we just have to replace the brakes, and everything will be fine tomorrow,” explains Bortoleto. “Maybe it’s a bigger problem.”
Even before the sprint race, Nico Hülkenberg had caused a stir with his Audi R26. Ultimately, his car also caught fire, which is why the 38-year-old was unable to participate in the sprint. At the Miami Grand Prix, the German will start from eleventh place.
When asked whether Hülkenberg understood the issues with his car, the Audi driver replied: “I don’t know; I haven’t looked into it in depth yet. That’s not my responsibility or my area of expertise. That’s Neuburg’s job; they’re looking into it closely, certainly already.”
Aside from these issues, Hülkenberg also praised the team for setting up both cars: “Kudos and huge thanks to the mechanics, who did a great job and put in a lot of sweat and effort over those three hours,” the Audi driver emphasized on Sky Deutschland.
According to Hülkenberg, addressing the root causes of the series of breakdowns won’t be on the agenda until after the weekend. It remains to be seen whether we’ll see both cars on the starting grid at the Miami Grand Prix.