‘I ended up taking too many risks’ – Bortoleto sorry for Audi team after Q1 crash in Monaco Qualifying

Gabriel Bortoleto felt that he had taken “too many risks” after crashing out of Q1 in Qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix, with the Brazilian admitting that he was sorry to not provide Audi with a top-10 result on a weekend where the team had displayed good pace.

It had been a positive day for Audi on Friday in Monte Carlo, the squad having looked to be the ‘best of the rest’ behind the leading four teams as both Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg placed within the top 10 in each practice session.

This trend continued into Saturday, with Bortoleto ending Free Practice 3 in seventh ahead of Hulkenberg in P10 – but Bortoleto’s Qualifying came to an early end when he made contact with the barriers in Q1, resulting in his R26 stopping on track at the Nouvelle Chicane.

While his previous time put him through to Q2, the 21-year-old’s day was over and he ended the session in P16, leaving him blaming himself afterwards for not managing to progress to the top-10 shootout.

“I think I’ve not done a good job in Quali – there is not really much I can say,” Bortoleto explained. “I think there was no need to take that many risks in Q1.

“We knew we were standing in top 10 pace since FP1. I ended up taking too many risks – I touched the wall and broke the suspension.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, the Audi driver conceded that it could be tricky to make ground from where he lines up as he again expressed his regret at not doing better for the team.

“We know Monaco is Monaco, right? It’s tough to overtake here,” said Bortoleto. “We don’t give up but still, it’s a shame to not be able to put the car where the team deserved.

“I’m sorry only for them because they have done an amazing job this weekend, and I understand that they fully deserved a top 10 in Quali and I was not able to deliver that for them.”

As for Hulkenberg, the German reached Q2 but could not climb higher than P13, a result that he admitted he was “obviously disappointed” with.

“I don’t know what happened,” he commented afterwards. “The last run was a bit unlucky in terms of traffic – definitely not the best timing for that, but not much I can do there. Apart from that, I don’t know.

“We’re just struggling to find more lap time or grip. When others were able to step it up and deliver a bit more, we didn’t or I didn’t find it. A bit of scratching our heads – certainly disappointing because it was looking way more promising.”