Title fight is on as Bortoleto looks to carry momentum into Baku

Gabriel Bortoleto heads to Round 12 in Baku fresh from a last to first victory in Monza, and the Invicta Racing driver says “confidence” is high ahead of the weekend.
The Brazilian driver’s stellar performance in the Monza Feature Race meant he won by over nine seconds, helping him close to within 10.5 points of Championship leader Isack Hadjar.
But his attentions have turned to the Baku City Circuit, where he has never raced before, and Bortoleto says he has been hard at work to prepare for the challenge ahead.
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“I am feeling very good,” started Bortoleto. “I think confidence is great at this moment. Obviously looking at our pace in the last round, looking at our position in the Championship, I am very confident with the car, the team, how everything is working out, and I am looking forward to getting on with Baku and learning this circuit.
“It’s probably one of the circuits where I’ve done the most laps of in the sim, but it looks a very good circuit in the sim. It’s very nice, very easy to make a mistake because it’s a very tight circuit, a lot of 90-degree corners, but it’s looking very good, the castle section is looking very nice as well.”
Bortoleto’s pace in Monza, a low downforce track, was strong across both races, and despite Baku sharing similar characteristics to the Temple of Speed, with the long straights, he believes there are some differences that make it a different test.
“It’s a very different circuits because Monza is more based on other stuff,” Bortoleto explained. “There is a lot of braking, lots of straights, but Baku has a bit of a mix.
“It has very long straights, but at the same time, loads of corners with different layouts with chicanes, changes of directions, 90-degree corners, low speed, big braking zones, so I think there is a mix of everything.
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“So, I am very interested to see how it’s going to be because as I said it’s my first time here so I don’t have a clear idea in my mind.”
What will give the 19-year-old a lot of confidence going into the weekend is his rich vein of form, with Bortoleto having scored points in 14 of the last 16 races. During that time, he has achieved two Feature Race victories in Spielberg and Monza, as well as three more podiums.
“I think I am doing a decent job,” said Bortoleto of his recent results. “I think at the beginning of the year we lost some opportunities but the important bit is that the progression has been very good since the beginning of the year.
“Consistency has become a big factor on our side, even after a tough Qualifying in Monza we managed to respond with a win on Sunday. It’s a lot about our pace as well being good. This allows us to be fighting for points every round, so hopefully we can keep going like this.”
Baku kicks off the final three rounds of the campaign, with Bortoleto now hot on the heels of Hadjar in the title battle. At the summer break, he was 36 points behind the Campos Racing driver but after winning on Italian soil, he believes he is back in the hunt for the top prize.
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“As Isack said in the press conference after Spa, a good weekend can make a big difference,” Bortoleto continued. “I think that’s what happened in Monza for me, especially after Isack didn’t score any points.
“I was 36 behind, now I am 10.5 points behind, so it’s just great you know to be even closer to the title and to be able to fight for it because when you are 36 points back if the guy doesn’t make any mistakes or nothing happens to him, it can be quite difficult to cut the advantage but now we are in the fight again.”