Gabriel Bortoleto credits Nico Hulkenberg's decision-making for British GP podium

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto praised team-mate Nico Hulkenberg’s drive to a surprise podium at the British Grand Prix

Sauber Formula 1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto has highlighted Nico Hulkenberg's role in securing a third-place finish at the British Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg drove from 19th on the grid at Silverstone to take home his first podium finish in F1, along with 15 points for him and the team.

"Yeah, it was great. I mean, obviously, it's a big achievement for the team," Bortoleto explained to Motorsport.com and other media in Belgium.

"It gives a lot of confidence for everyone. It shows that all the steps we have been doing this year have been paying off. Yeah, just everyone is super happy and excited to keep up with this momentum that we are having the last five rounds."

The Brazilian driver watched his team-mate celebrate on the podium after he retired from the race after just a handful of laps. There were four retirements in the British Grand Prix: Bortoleto, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson. Additionally, Franco Colapinto did not start the race. The intense weather conditions made for a chaotic race, which Hulkenberg was able to manage to his advantage.

"Absolutely, I mean I was super happy for Nico and I'm still super happy for him, but obviously I would love to be me there and fighting for that, but, I mean, he did the decisions himself and it is what it is," he added.

"I mean, if I had done the same decisions as he did, probably I would have been close to that or fighting for the podium myself, but the first decision I took in the race that was pitting for the slicks, it was the wrong decision.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Steven Petrik, Nico Hulkenberg race engineer

Photo by: Sauber

"I saw some experienced guys ahead of me doing it, Charles [Leclerc], [George] Russell, and I thought, you know, they know the track very well, the conditions, I saw as well some dry patches on track and I said, 'I'm going for it', trying something, we are starting anyway in the back. Ended up that it didn't pay off for any of these drivers, we all struggle a lot, I saw a lot of drivers going out, a lot of drivers crashing like I did.

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