‘Speed was there right away’ says Bortoleto after topping Day 1 of Barcelona testing

23 April 2024

It was a great start to the in-season test for Invicta Racing and Gabriel Bortoleto, with the Brazilian driver ending the day fastest of all for the Norfolk-based outfit.

Running on the soft tyres just as rain began to fall at the tail end of the afternoon segment, Bortoleto posted a 1:25.143 to end up P1.

Speaking after debriefing with the team, the McLaren Driver Development Programme talent was enthusiastic about his efforts.

“It was a positive day for us, that’s for sure. It’s an important three days for us as we are testing many things, and we only have these three days in the season to test things on the car.

“We don’t have this much time in FP so here it’s time to test, improve and learn new things and I think we’ve done a good job with that today.”

Top five in the morning session too, Bortoleto says the team did well to get through so many items in their run plan, finding several things that bode well for future race weekends.

Though what he was most pleased with was the immediate pace he felt at the wheel rather than his session-topping time, adding that the balance the team had in the opening sessions of the week were a great starting point.

“This morning was more about testing things, but we found out some nice stuff and then in the afternoon, it was raining as I went out on softs, but I still managed to put a lap in.

“It wasn’t great but enough to be up there, but what makes me happy is that when everyone was on the hards, we were there as well. It’s testing but it’s always good to know that I’m comfortable with the balance and in the car.

A late effort on the softs gave Bortoleto the fastest time of the opening day

“I don’t put much stock into the lap because at the end of the day, it wasn’t that quick of a lap. It was almost the same time that we were doing on the hards in the morning, so it doesn’t make much sense to.

“But we had some good laptimes and had a good balance on the hard tyres, so that makes me comfortable and happy. Let’s see if the next two days we can stay at the top. These days are for testing stuff, but I hope we can continue to do well in the days to come.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of the in-season test, the Invicta driver says that there is still plenty of work to do but the unseasonably changeable conditions will keep drivers and teams alike on their toes.

"I haven’t had much time recently in the car but today the speed was still there, I’m still comfortable with the car and it’s a reset moment"

“It depends how quickly and how comfortable we are testing stuff. We have a big list that’s for sure. But with weather like this, raining then it stops, then it rains again, you never actually know how many things you’ll get to test.

“But it’s a large list and we’ve been able to test quite a lot already and we’re comfortable with our progress so far.”

He also added that the Barcelona test was an opportunity to “reset” his season after a tough string of results that have left him with a points deficit to make up.

Still, with his work so far on day one and with the positive feeling he has at the wheel, Bortoleto says that he can bounce back and show his true potential going forward in 2024.

“We’ve been pretty quick in all FPs, Qualifyings up to a certain point actually. The speed is there since the first time I jumped in the car, I feel very comfortable driving it. I haven’t finished the last three races for various problems that were not my fault.

“So, I haven’t had much time recently in the car but today the speed was still there, I’m still comfortable with the car and it’s a reset moment. It’s a long Championship, much longer than F3, so that’s a good thing for me.”