Kick Sauber did not have a great Sunday in Bahrain, with Gabriel Bortoleto running last for much of the Grand Prix while Nico Hulkenberg found himself disqualified for a technical breach after initially finishing P13.
Hulkenberg’s disqualification only made a bad weekend marginally worse. An uncompetitive car coupled with difficulties following in the dirty air of surrounding cars hampered Bortoleto’s progress from the very start, while Hulkenberg himself endured an difficult opening lap.
“Not the best start,” Hulkenberg said afterwards. “I recovered a little bit on the inside into Turn 1, but then I was on the outside into Turn 2 and got pushed wide over that kerb and lost all the drive down to Turn 4, lost all the positions and think I was last by the time we arrived to Turn 4.
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“So, a pretty dreadful start to the race, which doesn’t make things easier of course.”
Hulkenberg laments ‘pretty dreadful start to the race’ after P13 finish in Bahrain
While the German did recover up through the field courtesy of an aggressive undercut that saw him pit first out of the field, his efforts were ultimately fruitless before the DSQ was announced.
That was for a skid wear infringement, the same error that saw Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly disqualified in China.
“This track today caused a few more weaknesses that we need to work on with the car and the package, so definitely some interesting lessons and learnings, but work to do,” concluded the German.
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As for Bortoleto, he gambled on a medium tyre start – but was uncompetitive on the hard tyres in the middle stint. Although he moved back to the C2 rubber for the Safety Car restart, he couldn’t find enough grip to gain any positions.
Bortoleto endured a difficult day along with his team mate in Bahrain
“Overtaking was definitely a challenge – as soon as I got close to the car ahead, I just couldn’t find the grip to make a move, especially through the corners. It’s obviously frustrating, especially after the Safety Car restart when I was on mediums against the hard tyres of the car in front but still couldn’t find a way through,” the Brazilian said.
“Overall, it’s crucial to take time to analyse everything and understand how we can improve our performance. In the short term, the goal is to move on from a challenging weekend, take the learnings with us, and focus on Jeddah to finish off this triple header.»
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Bortoleto remains one of four drivers yet to score this season, as Kick Sauber find themselves in P10 in the Teams’ Championship – Alpine jumping ahead courtesy of Gasly’s seventh place finish in Bahrain.
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