What Gabriel Bortoleto learned from battling F1 mentor Fernando Alonso

Gabriel Bortoleto says he learned an important tactic while battling with his mentor Fernando Alonso in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Sauber rookie Bortoleto scored his first career points at Spielberg last weekend, as he converted a maiden Q3 appearance in qualifying into an eight-place finish in the race.

But despite having a tyre advantage towards the end of the race, he was unable to pass Aston Martin’s Alonso, who was running ahead of him on a one-stop strategy.

Bortoleto had already revealed how Alonso used blue flags to his benefit when race leader Lando Norris came to lap them both on the final tour to the chequered flag.

But speaking again about their epic battle on the eve of the British Grand Prix, the Brazilian revealed that the two-time F1 champion was also very “smart” with the way he exploited DRS rules.

At the Red Bull Ring, the second DRS detection point is located under braking for the uphill Turn 3, one of the most important overtaking zones on the track.

Bortoleto suggested that Alonso deliberately slowed down so he could drop behind before the DRS detection point - and thus gain the extra top speed on the following straight en route to Turn 4.

“I made a mistake from my side,” he told media including Crash.net. “I went for a move in T3 and then he got the DRS. So if maybe I waited a bit more, just before hitting the line and getting the DRS on exit, probably I would have got him there.

“That was a key moment because when we are fighting, you have only one or two laps to make a move because it was already the end of the race.

“When I went for the move, he really slowed down at that moment. I tried to slow down as well, but I was already committed to the move and I couldn't stop before the line, so I passed the DRS line before him.

“And there was a moment that he played very smart and he managed to overtake me back and keep me behind for another lap.

“And then the next lap I had Lando with the blue flags and obviously I needed to let him pass so I could not even try to overtake Fernando again and that was quite complicated.”

Bortoleto believes he could have hunted down and passed Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson for sixth place had he successfully made a move on Alonso earlier in their duel.

“More is always possible, there is no perfect scenario or situation,” he said. “We still did a good job of maximising things, but obviously P6 was quite a realistic thing there because I was on a two-stop strategy while Fernando and Liam were on a one-stop.

“If I managed to overtake Fernando in the first try that I didn't, he did a good job on defending, probably I would have been able to catch Liam from the tyre advantage I had and maybe overtake him as well.

“But it's always the ‘maybe, ‘maybe’ and ‘possibly’.”