MOTORSPORT – THE Kick Sauber pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto are eager to bounce back from a “difficult” qualifying last night for this evening’s Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025.
Hulkenberg managed to claim a place in the top 15 with a last-gasp effort in the closing stages of Q1, while Bortoleto was in 18th owing to a lack of balance in his car.
In Q2, Nico managed to extract the most from his C45, setting the 13th fastest time on the road – only to see his whole performance in the second qualifying segment expunged from the results due to a very late call by the stewards, who invalidated his final lap of Q1 – the one which originally placed him in the top 15.
The situation saw Nico relegated to 16th – a disappointing outcome after what had been a good performance by the German.
“Looking at our performance on track, before the call by the stewards, I think we had made the best of today’s conditions, and therefore I’m quite happy with the performance we put in,” said Hulkenberg, who made his F1 debut in Bahrain in 2010.
“It’ll be a big challenge to get into the fight for the points: we will need a good start and a good strategy, of course, and I have full confidence in everyone in the team that we’ll give it our best shot.”
Added Bortoleto: “It’s been a rather difficult qualifying for us today. I felt the lap I delivered was a good one, but we were lacking some grip, and ultimately, we haven’t been able to progress past Q1.
“After a promising Friday, I was hoping to reach Q2 today, so it’s disappointing. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we know it will be a challenging race, but we’ll give everything we have. We’ll stay focused and try to get in the mix to move further up on the grid, maximising any opportunities that come our way.”
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