2025 Qatar Grand Prix – Sunday

KICK Sauber F1 Team concluded the Qatar Grand Prix with mixed fortunes under the floodlights at Lusail, as an early race incident brought Nico Hulkenberg’s race to an abrupt end while Gabriel Bortoleto delivered a strong recovery drive through the field.

After making a solid start, Nico was forced to retire following a racing incident with Pierre Gasly at Turn 1 on lap 7 while attempting an overtake, ending what had been a promising opening phase of the race.

On the other side of the garage, Gabriel produced a strong and determined performance. Starting from P19 after his grid penalty, the Brazilian fought his way through the midfield with consistent pace to finish in P13. The team’s pit crew once again delivered two very quick and clean pit stops to support his charge forward.

With encouraging underlying pace shown across the weekend, the team now shifts its full focus to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, determined to finish the year on a high.

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “Unfortunately, it was a tough day in the office for the team. After strong opening laps, Nico was caught in a racing incident at Turn 1, which ended his race early. Gabi delivered an impressive performance, starting from P19 and fighting through to P13 with strong pace throughout. The pit crew were outstanding once again, delivering two very quick and clean stops.

“Given our speed and where our competitors finished, a strong points result was within reach, so it is disappointing not to have converted that potential. Now we turn our focus to Abu Dhabi, the final race of an exciting season, determined to finish strong.”

Nico Hulkenberg (car number 27):

Race result: DNF

Fastest lap: 1:28.139 (Lap 5)

Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Soft – DNF)

“It’s such a big shame to have a promising race end so early, after being hit by Pierre [Gasly], as I genuinely think we could have scored points today. I felt confident with the car yesterday and the pace was there in the first seven laps. Overtaking opportunities here are very limited, so I went for a manoeuvre around the outside, which is always a bit riskier, but I gave Pierre plenty of space.

It’s very unfortunate, as there were definitely opportunities for us today. For now it’s only disappointment, but we’ll take a couple of days to refocus and try to finish our season in Abu Dhabi in the best possible way.”

Gabriel Bortoleto (car number 5):

Race result: 13th

Fastest lap: 1:25.233 (Lap 54)

Strategy & Pit Stops: Start (New Medium) – Lap 7 (New Medium) – Lap 32 (New Soft)

“It wasn’t the most exciting race for me: there weren’t many overtakes, and I spent most of it being stuck behind Lewis [Hamilton].

Once he pulled a gap, I couldn’t really close it again, so my race just kind of stayed there from that point on. I had some battles at the start, but after that not much happened. There’s still something we can take from the weekend, and a few things we could’ve improved. The penalty from Las Vegas obviously affected my race today, but our pace itself was encouraging. If we’d started around P14, we might have had a shot at the top ten. Overall, there are definitely some good learnings to carry forward into the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi next week.”