Gabriel Bortoleto will get serving to hand from Max Verstappen in F1 Austrian GP qualifying

Max Verstappen says he was comfortable to offer Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto a tow in qualifying for System 1’s Austrian Grand Prix after seeing his personal lap ruined.

On the second and last Q3 run, Verstappen needed to again off after encountering a yellow flag within the last sector for Pierre Gasly, who spun his Alpine out of the ultimate nook.

Verstappen wasn’t in a position to begin one other lap at tempo, however noticed Bortoleto behind him and determined to offer the Brazilian a slipstream on the principle straight, earlier than leaping out of the way in which into Flip 1. The gesture helped Bortoleto declare eighth, his greatest grid place to this point this 12 months.

Verstappen and Bortoleto are recognized to get on very nicely and sometimes race one another on-line on iRacing, and the four-time world champion felt the Sauber rookie deserved a bit push having been spectacular all weekend on the Purple Bull Ring.

“Sure, as a result of my lap was ruined anyway,” Verstappen advised Viaplay. “I noticed him behind me, and he has actually had an excellent weekend to this point, so I believed, let me try to assist him a bit bit.”

Bortoleto appreciated the gesture, and stated he had truly tried to offer Verstappen a slipstream as nicely a couple of corners earlier.

“He at all times offers me a tow, he is the very best,” Bortoleto laughed. “He is tremendous sort, I attempted to offer him a tow as nicely from Flip 8 to Flip 9 however then there was a yellow flag. However I attempted my greatest, I even tried to take the [battery] cost off to spice up the engine.”

Whereas seventh-starting Verstappen suffered a troublesome day with a complete lack of grip within the Purple Bull, Bortoleto loved his greatest qualifying efficiency to this point on his tenth grand prix weekend after lastly feeling extra comfy along with his Sauber.

“I really feel prefer it’s the primary weekend that I am that snug since FP1, issues are clicking for me and I am stepping into the proper course,” the reigning F2 champion stated.

“It is very promising and hopefully we will obtain this kind of qualifying each single time. It isn’t solely coming from the workforce’s upgrades but in addition from myself, understanding the automobile.”