Haas leads Audi in the scraps
One week after narrowly missing the points in the Italian GP, Audi returned to the top 10 on the new Madrid circuit, once again thanks to Nico Hülkenberg. Just like in the recent events in Belgium and Hungary (albeit in different positions), the German crossed the finish line in 10th place, allowing the Four Rings manufacturer to further close the gap in the Constructors’ Championship on Haas.
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Decisive VSC
Like most of the drivers, the moment that decided Hülkenberg’s race was Stroll’s retirement, followed by the Virtual Safety Car. At that moment, the team took the opportunity to call one of the most experienced drivers in the Circus to the pits, who then defended the tenth position until the checkered flag: “Today we got the most out of what we had available – he said – starting on soft tires meant that the Virtual Safety Car arriving in the early stages of the race was the ideal moment for the pit stop; the mechanics did a fantastic job, allowing me to rejoin the track ahead of Ocon. It was probably the key moment of our race because it guaranteed us the track position we needed. From that point on, it was mostly about managing the tires. Overtaking was very difficult, as everyone kept a similar pace, so there wasn’t much room to gain further positions. We have been at the top of the midfield battle for a while; we hope to soon make the necessary step forward to continue progressing.”
Unluckier Bortoleto
On the other hand, his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto did not benefit from the VSC, once again close to the possibility of entering the points zone with 13th place but stopped by difficulties in completing overtakes on the new Madring circuit: “Today we were unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car, which practically upset our plans; after that, nothing else happened until the end of the race. There wasn’t much else to do, especially because overtaking opportunities were scarce. Overall, it was a useful weekend to learn something new. It wasn’t the best, but not so bad either, and I really enjoyed racing on this track. In qualifying, we came close to reaching Q3, roughly reflecting the race pace shown throughout the weekend. Now we have a week to recharge and get back to work before heading to Baku in two weeks.”
