Gabriel Bortoleto rues bad 'decisions' in rare podium chance failure

Gabriel Bortoleto believes he could have challenged team-mate Nico Hulkenberg for a British GP podium, if not for the "wrong decision." 

At Silvestone, the reigning F2 champion started ahead of team-mate Hulkenberg, but elected to pit on the formation lap for slick tyres, whilst Hulkenberg started on intermediates from the grid.

This proved to be a fateful decision for Bortoleto and the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell on a similar strategy as rain quickly appeared, meaning they were forced back to intermediates.

As it was, Bortoleto spun off on the fourth lap, whilst Hulkenberg secured a first F1 podium at the 239th attempt, something the Brazilian feels could have happened for him.

"Absolutely," Bortoleto replied when asked by RacingNews365 if he wished he were on the podium and not Hulkenberg.

"I was super happy for Nico, and I'm still super happy for him, but obviously would have loved it to be me there fighting for that, but he made the correct decisions.

"It is what it is, and if I had made the same decisions he did, probably I could have been close to fighting for that podium myself, but the first decision I made in pitting for slicks [on the formation lap] was the wrong decision.

"I saw some experienced guys ahead of me doing it like Charles [Leclerc] and [George] Russell, and thought: 'They know the track very well,' and I saw some dry patches on the track, and I said: 'I am going for it.'

"We tried something as we were starting from the back, and it ended up that it didn't pay off for any of these drivers, and we struggled a lot.

"I tried something different, it didn't pay off, and I feel like those who did the basics very well executed a good race and managed to score points, or even a podium like Nico."