2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Saturday

KICK Sauber F1 Team had mixed results in the final qualifying session of the season, with Gabriel Bortoleto lifting his C45 to seventh place, while team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg, set the 18th fastest time ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was a bittersweet result for the team, with the car displaying convincing pace but only one of the two sides of the garage able to profit from it.

With a fiercely fought battle for P7 in the Constructors’ Championship still raging, tomorrow’s race will be a thrilling affair. Gabriel will have a solid chance to add to the team’s 68 points in the standings, while Nico will need to draw on all his experience and racecraft to climb through the fields on his 250th start.

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal: “First of all, I want to apologise to Nico. He was absolutely capable of making it into Q3, but the timing was compromised, which affected his opportunity to progress to Q2.

“On the other side of the garage, though, it was an incredible performance from Gabi. He delivered exactly what was needed on every lap. It was great to be fighting up there with the front-runners, and he fully earned that outstanding qualifying position. He’s really shown his class today.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’re starting from a strong place, but our key competitors are all around us. There’s no clear advantage within that group, and our goal is very clearly to outscore Haas and Aston Martin. It’s going to be tougher than we originally expected, but still within our reach. Our focus now is on maximising the opportunities for both cars, doing everything we can to score points and to help Nico recover and get back into the best possible position.”

Nico Hulkenberg (car number 27):

FP3: 13th / 1:23.870 (17 laps)

Q1: 18th / 1:23.450 (9 laps)

“It’s very disappointing, it feels we just tripped over ourselves today, especially as the car’s setup felt very good and there was the potential for a very good result. The run plan and sequence just didn’t work out: we were the last car out there. We waited long in the pitlane, which meant the tyres were a bit too cold, and I hit a lot of traffic both on the out-lap and the timed lap. With the field as tight as it has been at the last few events, those small margins make a big difference, and we let it slip through our fingers.

The potential in the car was there earlier in the weekend and even this morning, but we didn’t put it together in Q1 and made our lives very hard for tomorrow. Following and overtaking here are very difficult with this generation of cars, so starting from the back will be a challenge, but we’ll do what we can from there.”

Gabriel Bortoleto (car number 5):

FP3: 17th / 1:23.791 (16 laps)

Q1: 1:23.374 (9 laps)

Q2: 1:22.874 (6 laps)

Q3: 7th / 1:22.904 (6 laps)

“It feels great to finish the season with a qualifying like this one. The whole session was incredibly tight: we were just a few thousandths away from being knocked out in Q1, then pulled out a mega lap in Q2 and kept it strong in Q3 as well. I think it’s been a really good performance today, one to be proud of, and hopefully we can turn it into a top ten finish tomorrow – it would be a great way to wrap up the season. The car has been working well, and we’ve been making the right changes to keep up with the shifting conditions from day to night. It’s never easy, but we found a balance | was really happy with. Now, the goal is to hold our position at the start and try to make our way forward.”